The newly refurbished Relentless Garage in Highbury & Islington began filling up almost breaching the capacity, as the fans arrived in anticipation for the progressive Indie headliners The Twilight Sad to Don their musical prowess and play into the eclectic crowds hands.
The lights faded slowly when the delayed fuzz began, as the lads entered stage right, the drummer got straight to work on the bass toms as the guitarists held aloft their axes, quickly adjusting their tuning pegs. Johnny’s Bass line kicks in repeating the riff, accompanied by the guitars and finally the opening line ‘There’s people downstairs’. This lyric is repetitive and perhaps this is truly an acknowledgement of such a fine turnout. ‘Reflection of the television’ is the opening track of the gig.
There’s a romantic continuation from one gloriously layered composition to the next, using laptops and noise suppressing loops to alleviate the ceaseless drone. Lead singer James Graham barely stops for a breath, sweat pouring from his animated gestures as he immerses himself deep within the theme of the stories rife throughout each track. I commend James’ passion for the Sad’s cause, it really is difficult to take your eyes off him as he epitomises the persona of every character of every song. Floating on emotions with several signs of dehydration he occasionally pauses to refill his lungs, giving thanks to the admirable crowd.
The Sad fiercely launched themselves into ‘And she would darken the memory’
Closely followed by ‘I became a prostitute’ which receives the warmest audience reaction, singing along to the catchy hooks the chorus cleverly conceives. The crowd watch admirably on, they are with the Twilight Sad all the way throughout their biggest London headlining show to date
The boys from Glasgow creatively whisk you away to a beautifully calm dark place miles from here. Dynamically the tunes are very similar but it’s the way the band roll from one song merging to the next seamlessly. Their unique brand of post mellow indie has caused waves on the British shores and abroad as well as a second North American tour in as many years this May, not before playing several UK venues of course.
Words : Outer Audio Joe
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