The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets opened day two in the sunshine, the Australian band were given an hour long set that was well deserved, this band seem to be touring non-stop this year. In fact they played a gig at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut later that day, their mix of progressive rock and psychedelic sounds entertained the crowd. There is a definite quirkiness about this Perth band especially when you look at some of the song titles such as Found God In A Tomato. 8/10. After half an hour we quickly ran over to the main stage to catch NewDad, a band we haven’t had the chance to see live yet and they didn’t disappoint, the only disappointing aspect was the lack of crowd as it was so early in the day. It didn’t seem to bother the band though as singer Julie Dawson worked through an eight track set, playing four tracks from January’s debut album release MADRA. The set ended with a surprise, we were expecting Blue, their biggest song to date, but it turned out to be How their first ever release in 2020. The Galway quartet played an outstanding set with Sickly Sweet and Angel being the pick of the tracks. NewDad have had a massive 2024 and will continue to attract more fans to their unique shoegaze style. 10/10
Next up for us were Glasgow band Bottle Rockets who were invited to the festival after winning the BBC Introducing award for band of the year. We were lucky enough to catch them at King Tut’s in April for a sold-out performance so knew how good they were live, a few hundred fans had made their way down to the River Stage for this performance and they didn’t let us down, from the first note they took fans on a journey of indie-rock and shoegaze music creating a good vibe with the crowd. Latest release Winter Baby is one of those tracks that hooks you in immediately, the chorus being sang back to the stage by more than a few of us. Previous releases Backburn and Community Service also went down well and an unreleased track Video Call was outstanding. A memorable singalong ended the set as Kenzi Murray sang a cover version of Fontaines D.C. song I Love You, a great end to a great set. Next up they play at the Reading & Leeds Festival in August, watch this band rise! 10/10
Royel Otis are a relatively new band for us but what a performance they put in on the King Tut’s stage, the second Australian band of the day to make an impression on us, the Sydney band formed in 2019 by Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic worked the crowd really well prompting an early singalong during Sofa King, the band encouraging everyone to sing back the lyrics “You’re so fucking gorgeous” to the delight of the band but the best crowd reaction was during the cover of Sophie Ellis Bexter track Murder On The Dancefloor, EVERYONE seemed to know this classic, a memorable moment. This band honestly don’t have a bad song, Oysters In My Pocket and Kool Aid were great tracks to end the set on a high energy level and everyone left with big smiles on their faces. Royel Otis return to Glasgow later in the year to play at SWG3 and it is honestly a gig not to be missed. 10/10. We always like to support the local bands when at festivals and were so glad to have caught SOAPBOX back down at the River Stage. The Glasgow punk band fronted by Tom Rowan had the crowd mesmerised from the off as the charismatic singer came in and out of the crowd to help generate an electric atmosphere as the first mosh pits of the day broke out. SOAPBOX released EP HAWD THAT in April and we mostly got tracks from that including standout track Private Public Transport. We will watch this bands progress with interest. 9/10
On the Main Stage next were The Vaccines, a band that needs little introduction, the latest album Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations has had rave reviews, they seem to be constantly touring and play so many festivals during the summer. With their large back-catalogue the tricky part was keeping it down to ten songs, they played a good mixture of songs, the best for us was Headphones Baby prompting a massive singalong amongst the large crowd. It was a lively end to the set as they played well known tracks If You Wanna and All My Friends Are Falling in Love. These guys just get better and better. 9/10. Another local band indie rockers Plasticine were just about to start as we ran to the River Stage for an energetic half hour performance from a band playing TRNSMT for the first time, Deep End was the best of the set. 8/10. Seb Lowe was a band we were keen to see today and they did not disappoint, with the recent general election in the UK 5168 Days is a reference to the amount of days the Conservative party were in power, the Glasgow crowd were delighted to hear lyrics such as “Boris Johnson, goes without mention/He’d lie about breakfast if it meant that he got seconds/Did you smile at the face of death/As your cronies described it as ‘unfortunate excess’”. Terms and Conditions was another memorable track, Seb Lowe is a voice for the people and will continue to rise up as the political landscape changes in the UK. 8/10
Dylan John Thomas needed no introduction to this young enthusiastic crowd, the place was packed for this young Glaswegians forty-five minute set and the crowd went wild when they heard the intro to the first track Jenna, basically it stayed like this for the whole of the set as the talented folk/rock singer played a selection of songs old and new including a cover of the classic ABBA song Mamma Mia. The tracks from Dylan’s self-titled album released earlier this year have been going down well live, Up In The Air is another fists in the air moment as the crowd join in with the simple chorus. As is normal with his gigs Wake Up Ma gets an amazing response and is a memorable moment from the set. The Hydro show in December is going to be a good one. 10/10
Making their TRNSMT debut Overpass attracted a large crowd down at the River Stage, the Birmingham quartet got the crowd moving with their biggest songs to date including Other Side Of Midnight and 3AM but there was also time for a new track Slow, Overpass are gaining a good following around the UK. 8/10
Rick Astley is not someone we would usually go to watch but after watching his Glastonbury sets last year we were very impressed with his musical range, the set Astley did with Blossoms playing an hour of The Smiths songs was memorable. A couple of interesting covers such as Sam Fender track Seventeen Going Under and even an AC/DC cover Highway To Hell, Astley played drums on this one. This all kept the crowd entertained but we were heading back to the King Tuts stage soon enough for Vistas set. The Edinburgh indie rockers attracted a large crowd for their hour long set as Prentice Robertson (vocals), Dylan Rush (guitar) and Jamie Law (bass) played tracks from their three album releases to date, six of the songs coming from their 2020 debut Everything Changes In The End. The crowd interaction with the band during the last two tracks of the set (and their biggest) Stranger and Retrospect was great to see. Looking forward to the next tour already. 9/10
It was then a quick dash back to the main stage for Manchester outfit Courteeners and we are so glad that we did, the size of the crowd for them was impressive as Liam Fray took the fans through the bands back catalogue with all the big hitters coming out including opening track Are You In Love With A Notion? Bide Your Time and new track Solitude Of The Night Bus. During Not Nineteen Forever there were absolute scenes, the energy levels from the crowd were memorable and Liam Fray himself saying after the song “That was the fucking best one ever”, and he wasn’t wrong, the young crowd have been excellent today so far in comparison to yesterday. It won’t be long until Courteeners are back in Glasgow for a headline show at the OVO Hydro in November. 9/10
The penultimate band of the night for us was Cian Ducrot on the King Tut’s stage, the stage setup was interesting as everyone other than Cian was up on a platform at the back of the stage. As the young ones took their places for the main headliner Gerry Cinnamon we went the other direction for this talented singer-songwriter from Cork, Ireland who went viral on TikTok in 2022 when he released All For You. I’ll Be Waiting is by far Ducrot’s biggest track to date and he left this one right to the end sending the fans away with big smiles on their faces and everyone scampering to make it to the main stage for tonight’s main headliner. 8/10
Gerry Cinnamon needs no introduction to the TRNSMT crowd as he had previously headlined in 2019 but this would be his first Scottish show since the two sell-out shows at Hampden Park in 2022, the crowd would have been wondering if he had any new music tonight. Sacred was the only new one we heard tonight unless you include the Billy Connolly cover I Wish I Was In Glasgow but nobody was complaining about that, we were all hear to listen to ninety minutes of classic Gerry Boy. He provided that and more as he ran though a seventeen-track set kicking off with Lullaby, Sometimes and What Have You Done to the crowds delight, Cinnamon running around the stage like a man twenty years younger with his acoustic guitar checking that everyone is onside and singing along. He didn’t have to worry about that though, the ninety minutes went by in a flash as 50,000 people sang back the lyrics to the stage. Track such as Belter, The Bonny and Discoland are so well known in this city and we don’t think the Castlemilk boys next album is too far away, we hope not anyway. The set ends memorably with Canter sending everyone home happy. The day two crowd were great, let’s hope for more of the same on day three. 10/10.
Check out our review of Friday HERE.
Written by: Alan Brown
