Where: Leicester
Venue: Firebug
Venue: Firebug
I arrived 30 minutes after the doors had opened. I'm usually one of the first to arrive as I like to have a drink and check out the venue. I wasn't surprised to find an empty venue, the majority of people were downstairs in the bar. I bought myself a pint of Scrump Jack, which is an English cider. Then I spoke to a man about tickets for the show, he directed me upstairs.. So I made my way upstairs, passed two very friendly chaps in plaid shirts, then saw the doorman. I was holding my drink, which meant I had to give him my drink in order to get my £10 entrance fee out of my wallet, so that was embarrassing.
I enjoyed the first two support acts, the first being a Folk artist singing some very melancholy numbers of his own. The second was an upcoming band I've seen before, Dark Dark Horse, who are very good mixing synths with guitar to create an eerie atmosphere. The Twilight Sad began shortly, to an outstanding introduction, which is taken from a new song on the upcoming third album dated for next year.
I'm not an experienced Twilight Sad fan, but I've heard all the material in the past and enjoy both studio albums. I was surprised to see the lead guitarist looking like a roadie, with the Fred Perry shirt and a bold head, very Scottish. The drummer was very big, he wandered through the audience with his seat. I didn't know what the band members looked like, so I was surprised to see them moving their own equipment and tuning their own instruments. The stage is very small and the sound system was also small,. But the band created a wall of sound which basically was Shoegaze, with modern Pop aspects of their music. The opener was very strong and will be a highlight on the upcoming album. They played a small set, but it was very energetic and ended with two of there best tracks, the first two on their debut album.
The show didn't drag on, it was a short set. In a way, I was glad to exit rather early because the venues sound system was shockingly bad. To summarise, I would call this an intimate show aimed at the dedicated and interested music fans who have the willpower to go out on a Wednesday night and watch a very talented Scottish band. We have bigger venues in Leicester which are more suited for this act, for instance the newly built O2 Academy (which is failing).
