We have almost completed January and to celebrate White Lies bring the second night of their tour to the sold out SWG3 Galvanisers
In support were The Florentinas, 4 piece alt-rockers from Northern Ireland on their second outing to Glasgow. They are decidedly anthemic and big on their hooks, “Nothing But Thieves” comes to mind and the punctual audience didn’t seem highly familiar with the band but were quickly on board, Bassist Jacob Kane was particularly impressive dancing around the stage for a full set before singer Paddy Boyd pointing out he was doing so with a broken foot.
Next up were White Lies, It’s been 17 years since the release of “To Lose My Life” and they rose to the top at the tail end of the indie rock era. A lot of bands of that time have been long forgotten but White Lies have sustained an enduring appeal and I have never seen SWG3 Galvanisers as packed as it was tonight. Kicking off with “All the Best” singer Harry McVeigh warns us that we are in for a long set (he was not lying). It doesn’t take long to get to the hits though as we dive next into Farewell to the Fairground to much elation.
They are not a band for much banter, aside from a couple of earnest thank yous to the crowd the band move quickly between songs, Harry’s immediately recognisable voice and emotive stage presence keeping everyone hooked. Not having seen the band since 2007 when playing as “Fear of Flying” I was curious about how the much hyped indie darlings would keep things going but these aren’t aging hipsters hanging on golden days.They are synthy, uplifting and anthemic best on show during the singalong that is “Tokyo”. It’s a band that has aged well.
A brief break for the encore and we end with “Night Light” followed by a huge wave of excitement for “Death”, it’s one of my favourite songs and apparently that feeling is shared by most of the room. We are sent off by “In The Middle” to complete the lengthy set. It was a very entertaining evening and one of those shows of mixed expectations that turns out for the better, definitely worth catching as the rest of their tour continues.
Words and pictures: Dale Harvey @daleharvey