RESOUND are back in Glasgow Green to check out this year’s TRNSMT Festival, as anticipation grows for today’s headliners, PULP, back on tour after 12 years. Here’s a look at our FRIDAY highlights.
A trio of Glasgow bands welcome festival goers to the MAIN STAGE on the first day of TRNSMT, Dead Pony’s grunge-infused rock kicking things off in exuberant style before indie-rockers Declan Welsh & The Decadent West sear through a politically-charged set, the pace finally lowered with the soulful intones of Joesef.
Next up, Dundee lads The View showcase their propulsive indie anthems ahead of the release of their first album in eight years, Exorcism Of Youth, due out in August. Opening with the chant-inducing Grace, they blasting through hits such as Wasted Little DJs and Same Jeans, singer/guitarist Kyle Falconer looking every bit a cheeky DC Thomson character in his red and black Umbro attire.
Meanwhile, over on KING TUT’S STAGE, Glasgow’s Joy Hotel waver from pop to surf to psych-rock, their songs meandering and immense, with vocalist Emme Woods’ soulful, vast vocal range simmering through a distorted fusion of layered nostalgia. Enigmatic Edinburgh singer/songwriter Hamish Hawk follows, his astute lyricism charming the growing audience while Manchester’s Hot Milk give it everything with a high-octane performance, their menacing emo-laced pop reeling in the mid-afternoon crowd, co-vocalist Han Mee’s energetic antics finding her joining them for a few moments too!
CLOTH
Glasgow duo Cloth prove to be the perfect late-afternoon tonic, their stripped-back sound sending tranquil vibes through the trees which surround the RIVER STAGE. The duo, twins Rachael and Paul Swinton, are another great signing by Mogwai’s Rock Action records and today showcase tracks from latest album Secret Measure, follow up to last year’s Low Sun EP. Moving into new folds, this collection sees them enrich the fragile space they permeate with lush textures, Rachael’s breathy vocals dreamlike against subdued but addictive beats on numbers such as Pigeon, with echos of The XX seeping through their shimmering core.
THE BIG MOON
The laid back vibe continues with London indie four-piece The Big Moon who shine through a set which trawls the messy waters of pregnancy and parenthood with songs from last year’s Here is Everything. Opening with uplifting lead single Wide Eyes, this track encapsulates the overwhelming emotional journey which parenthood took lead singer Juliette Jackson on from crushing sleep depravation and anxiety to glimmers of hope and joy. Daydreaming soothes through a luminous poppy groove while they dip into 2020’s Walking Like We Do for closing number Your Light, it’s a breezy melody charming the crowd.
PAUL HEATON
I was never the biggest Beautiful South or Housemartins fan so am surprised by how many memories Paul Heaton’s set awakens today, and even more surprised by how much they make me smile, though no doubt cider does play a small part. The crowd are buzzing and although it’s predominantly an older bunch, there’s a healthy dose of young ones dancing away to the irresistible beats of numbers like Happy Hour, Sheep, Perfect 10, You Keep It All In and Rotterdam. With Jacqui Abbot sadly unable to be here due to health issues, local singer Rianne Downey steps up to the occasion, clearly thrilled as she beams from ear to ear, complimenting Heaton’s vocals superbly. Heaton introduces each band member, going on to list ‘their’ football team, Downey getting the biggest cheer (and a few boos) for Glasgow Celtic. The hits just keep coming, a fantastic blast through the past, ending with “a song of peace”, their cappella version of Caravan Of Love, creating a joyful festival atmosphere. But Heaton’s influence doesn’t just span Glasgow Green, the generous singer earlier leaving money behind the bar of several pubs, allowing locals to enjoy a drink on him during “the cost of greed crisis”. Nice work, Paul!
WARMDUSCHER
With Niall Horan on the main stage, a trip to see Warmduscher over on King Tut’s is a no brainer, their murky shower of disco-fringed punk, hip-hop and funk a joy to behold. Lurking under black boiler suits, the London-based five-piece ground TRNSMT with no-frills thrills, corrupting addictive grooves with lyrical menace, delivered through the charm and swagger of Clams Baker Jr. Revolving riffs and sordid synth drive trance-like through numbers such as opening track The Salamander while Midnight Dipper, from latest album At The Hotspot grinds propulsive disco beats which acts like a siren call to alert more and more people to drop by and check out the glorious commotion. Continuing with the new album, Wild Flowers throws in a Borderline-like disco beat, though that’s where the similarities end, Baker launching into a tirade of f**k this and thats, his wrath not limited to rules, regulations and smartphones, with “that little stupid dog with the furry collar” in for it too! Nevertheless, this song is nothing short of therapy to music and if you don’t resonate with the sentiment, you’ve had it way too easy… Completing the set, which unfortunately includes a mosh-pit induced injury, the squalid drones of I Got Friends, from 2018’s Whale City, radiate around King Tut’s, Baker heading out into the pit to get up close and personal with the crowd. Great stuff!
PULP
Pulp’s 529th concert, as the big screens inform us, opens with a splash of cinematic grandeur as I Spy’s extended orchestral intro unfolds from behind a set of curtains, finally drawn back to reveal the one and only Jarvis Cocker rising from a podium. With his sullen intones weighing heavy against the big moon he silhouettes, it’s impossible not to smile at his elaborate dramatics, surely the best Bond opening sequence that never was.
Although it’s 12 years since Pulp last toured, in this moment nothing’s changed, Cocker as nimble-fingered as ever, gesturing away like it was yesterday…or rather 1995, his gangly physique tottering down an illuminated set of stairs as his velvet flares flap around his ankles, one false move all it will take to see him tumble like he did from a window sill back in 1985 (though it was an incident he’s described as an epiphany in terms of his song writing). But that clumsy nature is part his charm, though as the night goes on it’s clear he’s still got a scissor jump or two in him, the athletic old scamp that he is.
Of course, it’s a festival and so it’s not long before the band delve further into best-selling album Different Class, enticing a clap-along on Disco 2000, one of Pulp’s biggest hits and a number as kitsch as it is timeless, despite its date-stamp. The album’s Mis-Shapes resonates with the crowd, Cocker jerking and ‘uh’ing like he’s been possessed by the spirit of an unsavoury 1970s TV presenter before emotions run high when he introduces Something’s Changed, dedicating it to the band’s bassist Steve Mackey, who passed away earlier this year.
Although Pulp hit the big time in the mid ‘90s, the band have been around in one form or another since 1980 when Cocker, still a school boy, penned the ‘Pulp Master Plan’ which outlined the band’s preferred route to world domination, hot on the heels of his illustrated ‘Pulp Fashion Guide’ which became the foundation of that Pulp look we know and love including the ‘rancid tie and Oxfam jacket’, never mind the fact that at this point he had neither a band nor the ability to knock out a note on the guitar. This is when you realise that Pulp’s not just a band to Cocker, but a life-long calling, the importance of this tour almost 45 years since the band’s conception, something that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Cocker continues to chat away between numbers, wishing Ringo Starr a happy 83rd birthday, which seems perhaps a little random even if he is a Beatle, but nevertheless very Jarv-like, as the crowd join him in singing Happy Birthday. He later reminisces about the band’s first trip to Glasgow, when they played King Tut’s in 1992, a nice wee link into Do You Remember The First Time…well they clearly do. Although the set leans heavily on Different Class, they also dip into 1994’s His n Hers including the breezy charm of Babies and breathless fetish of Pink Glove, a fur-trimmed set of pink Marigolds raised high into the crowd in celebration. They even dig out This Is Hardcore, their gloom-stained title track from the 1998 album which leaves Cocker so forlorn he has to take a seat in an armchair before indulging in some precarious dance moves on those darned stairs which I’m sure will end in tears (and perhaps another epiphany) but thankfully don’t. Closing the set with Sunrise, the 2001 track embodies a feeling of joy which radiates through the crowd.
Of course, with their current tour called This Is What We Do For An Encore, the audience are in no doubt there’s been one glaring omission from the main set, Cocker teasing them as he asks if they’ve missed one out after Different Class number, Underwear. As the inevitable finally fills Glasgow Green, Common People is sung back to the band word for word, arms aloft as a spine-tingling air of nostalgic jubilation prevails. It’s the perfect end from the perfect festival band…don’t leave it so long next time, guys!
Check out our TRNSMT 2023 Day 2 coverage including Sam Fender & Kasabian >>
Words: Shirley Mack @musingsbymarie
Pictures: Calum Mackintosh @ayecandyphotpgraphy
Additional photography: Euan Robertson and Rory Barnes