LIVE REVIEW: Zebrahead, Teenage Bottlerocket, [Spunge], Millie Manders and the Shutup, Garage Glasgow, 21/01/2024

Storm Isha tried its best to ruin a good night of music at The Garage in Glasgow but there wasn’t a chance that a Glasgow crowd would allow that to happen as the fans turned up for the Slam Dunk: Winter Jam tour in their droves, almost selling out the 700 capacity venue. The previous two nights of the tour in Manchester and Leeds were completely sold out and everyone was anticipating a full on night of music with four bands on the stage tonight, starting off with Millie Manders and the Shutup, who brought their high octane cross-genre punk show to the half full room. Manders is an artist that isn’t afraid to sing about some important issues such as racism, mental health and bullying sometimes at a frenetic pace! The six track set highlight for us was Not OK and the new single Shut Your Mouth which had a section of the crowd bopping along. Millie Manders head out on a UK tour in April. 7/10

Tewkesbury based ska-punk outfit [Spunge] have been around since 1997 with no less than seven album releases and they didn’t disappoint tonight as they brought their high intensity set to the Glasgow crowd. From the first track Jump On Demand vocalist Alex Copeland had the crowd moving along to their Ska beats to the last song Kicking Pigeons, their most popular track. As happened at a lot of gigs we attended in 2023 there was a tribute to Terry Hall the late Specials singer when Monkey Man was covered giving the crowd a chance to sing along. Toots and the Maytals were the original performers of this track which went down really well with the growing Garage crowd and was one of the best songs in the eleven track set. 8/10

Looking around the room there were plenty of Teenage Bottlerocket t-shirts on display as the band took to the stage to perform a pre-set soundcheck which was very unusual in the fact that the room was now packed out! Once the set began we could all understand why they did so as the continuity of the songs was incredible, with no breaks in between. This was punk rock at its finest. Semi-Truck from the 2021 album Sick Sesh! kicked off the seventeen song set as the Wyoming band continued the high intensity set working through all the big hitters that the fans were there to see such as Skate or Die, Bigger Than Kiss and the controversial Headbanger, a song about a heavy metal party. Teenage Bottlerocket have a massive back catalogue since their debut album Another Way in 2003 but it was a fitting end to the set when they finished with They Call Me Steve and Necrocomican, both fans favourites. 9/10

This was the first time Californian rockers Zebrahead have played in Glasgow for five years and the band have since then released new album III.II. from which we would get to hear a few tracks tonight.  Formed in 1996 the band have been through several reincarnations with Adrian Estrella joining the band in 2021 on joint lead vocals with founding member Ali Tabatabaee. Dan Palmer also joined the line up on lead guitar in 2013. Drummer Ed Udhus and bass player Ben Osmundson complete the quintet with three ‘backing dancers’ dressed in skeleton outfits also joining them on stage for some antics, more on that later. The packed out Garage were ready for the final band of the night with the set getting off to a frenetic start with When Both Sides Suck, We’re All Winners from the 2019 album Brain Invaders as the circle pits opened up in the middle of the room. During Lay Me To Rest the band announced that the world record for crowd surfing is 52 during one song and would they like to try to beat that record tonight? It was a resounding yes from the Glasgow crowd as the security were tested to their limits with wave after wave of people being passed over the crowd. We’re not sure if they did beat that record but the enthusiastic crowd gave it one hell of a go! It so happened that it was one of the dancers nineteenth’s birthday so after a rendition of happy birthday breaking out around the room an inflatable platform came out onto stage and the birthday boy was passed around the room on the platform for the duration of the penultimate track All My Friends Are Nobodies which was a great touch. Falling Apart from the MFZB album was the last song of the night and the crowd gave every last ounce of energy to this one to end the night on a high. The Slam Dunk: Winter Jam Tour was a massive success in Glasgow and we hope that it comes back next year. 9/10

Written By: Alan Brown