Photo Credit: Shiona Walker
It’s hard to believe that Glasgow rockers Twin Atlantic have been making music since 2009 (formed in 2007) with the release of Lightspeed and What Is Light? Where Is Laughter? you could call this year’s gigs the 15th anniversary tour. During that time the band have built a large fanbase throughout the UK and played more than a few major festivals, in the past year they have also supported Muse and Fightstar. Vocalist Sam McTrusty, who lives in Canada these days, stated during the set that they last played the O2 Academy twelve years ago, they would show the fans what they have missed tonight! Founding member and bass player Ross McNae joined McTrusty alongside Barry McKenna on guitar and the line-up was completed by Joe Lazarus on drums, he of Biffy Clyro and GUN fame.
First up were fellow Glaswegian alternative rockers Saint Phnx (pronounced Saint Phoenix) who are very well known in this music city with vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Jukes being joined by his brother Alan Jukes, also being joined by a guitarist on stage. As they arrived on stage at 8pm the venue was very busy, it was a packed half hour set with Death Of Me being played early on, this one went down well with the growing crowd. Happy Place was the best of the set, a track dedicated to their late father and a very emotional moment for both of them, the band requested phone torches and this was a nice touch from the fans. The beauty of a Saint Phnx gig is how the two brothers change between vocal and drumming duties, adding to the atmosphere. 8/10.
Only the previous night Twin Atlantic played The Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen and the band posted on their socials earlier in the day asking “If Glasgow could match Aberdeen’s energy”. The answer was a resounding yes! As the famous Bohemian Rhapsody played from the speakers prompting a sing-along getting everyone’s vocal chords warmed up, the band took to the stage to a very loud welcome from the capacity crowd. They fired straight into new April release Get Out which sounded amazing live quickly followed by Asleep which rocks the whole house to it’s foundations then in contrast I Cannot Sleep, the intense energy emanating from the stage was huge during the last mentioned song. Strangely we only got to hear one track from the bands most recent 2022 album Transparency, Bang On The Gong being the track, featuring the vocalists mum on this expletive laden track, but they sure as hell made up for this with four from second album, 2011’s Free, the LP that put the band on an upwards trajectory with Make A Beast of Myself and Crash being the best from that particular album, the latter track starting off with Sam on acoustic guitar and Barry McKenna on electric cello.
Actions That Echo was brought out on tour for the first time since 2015 to the delight of the crowd, the first of six tracks from the 2015 album Great Divide. We were also treated to an acoustic version of Oceans when Sam McTrusty had then whole stage to himself the fans fell silent taking in every word, one of the highlights of the set. As we neared the end of the set it was two tracks from Great Divide that sent the fans home delighted. First up Brother & Sisters then the bands biggest song to date by far with over 26 million streams on Spotify alone – Heart And Soul – ended the night on a massive high, everyone up in the balcony was up on their feet clapping, dancing, singing, the atmosphere was electrifying. An amazing end to a fantastic night of music.
The Twin Atlantic boys were back at the O2 Academy the following night with the addition of Bottle Rockets as well as Saint Phnx promising another great night of music. The bands 7th studio album Meltdown will be released in August while they also embark on a wider UK tour in November, catch them if you get a chance, you won’t regret it. 9/10
Written by: Alan Brown
