LIVE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2010 (Part 1)

There were loads of great gigs this past 12 months. And tonight sees the last of them for 2010. Butcher Boy supporting Belle & Sebastian at the Barrowlands. Nice way to finish.....

Its hard to say which of the gigs was the best as they all had something different to offer. But for something quick different than most, my mind goes back to the month of April and the triumph that was The Twilight Sad at the Glasgow ABC.

My words couldn't do justice to that night, so I ripped off review that was in a local broadsheet newspaper. And I make no apologies for repeating it word-for-word as it was a damn fine piece of writing:-

The Twilight Sad’s live shows have never been genteel affairs, so adding an extra PA to increase the volume could easily have been an unnecessary gimmick.

Instead, it gave the band an extra boost, on a night that confirmed just what a magnificent band the Kilsyth group have become.

They were bathed in a host of different lights throughout, as if acknowledging their step up to bigger venues, and towards the end it became a true audio-visual assault on the senses. Fancy tricks haven’t changed the band and they still brood with intensity, thanks to the hulking figure of vocalist James Graham, while shaven-headed guitarist Andy MacFarlane simply piled on distortion in increasingly imaginative ways.

And what noise it was. Heavily distorted music can often be a shortcut for a band to disguise their shortcomings, but that is not the case with The Twilight Sad. Sweet melodies still slid out, as on the folksier stylings of That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy, and there was a fantastic, bruised pop song underneath the feedback of Made To Disappear.

At times, it could be dizzying, and Graham’s gloom-infested vocals were occasionally buried beneath the torrent of noise. That salvo of sound is certainly an acquired taste, but the methodical dread that pervaded The Room made full use of the added PA to roll noise around the venue superbly, while a epic Cold Days From The Birdhouse highlighted a sensational closing run of songs that would provide a fitting soundtrack for Armageddon, such was their ringing force.

One of Graham’s few acknowledgements to the crowd was to ask why everyone was there. A fantastic gig was the answer.

It was one of the loudest nights I've ever experienced but also one of the most exhilarating. I marked the original review by featuring the band's debut single from 2007. Today features the sophomore single from the same year:-

mp3 : The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken The Memory
mp3 : The Twilight Sad - That Summer, At Home I had Become The Invisible Boy (decomposed by Ensemble)

An alternative recording of the song was made for a mini-LP in 2008-

mp3 : The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken The Memory (later version)

And here's a promo from a 2009 single:-



Happy Listening