As we entered the old church that is Saint Luke’s, the first thing we notice is the banner at the back of the stage reading “Arriving from a beautiful place called Madrid tonight we are pleased to introduce Hinds”. It was almost exactly a year ago that Spanish indie-rock band Hinds played at Stereo in Glasgow and a lot has happened since then with the release of the band’s fourth album VIVA HINDS pushing them up the indie-rock network. Especially when they have collaborations on the album with good friend Grian Chatten, the vocalist for Fontaines D.C. and also a ‘cameo’ from the legendary Beck. Saint Luke’s is just a stone’s throw from the famous Barrowland Ballroom and every time we attend a concert here it is a very special night and tonight is no different, there must have been a good six hundred fans squeezed between downstairs and upstairs in the balcony.
After seeing Swedish band Girl Scout a couple of weeks ago we have yet another one as tonight’s support is Clutter, who hail from Stockholm. They may only have three songs released on the streaming platforms but this band are the real deal with a set filled with a deep raw grunge sound. After doing three nights in a row standing we thought a seat up in the balcony sounded appealing as Emma French, Hilary Ander and Ville Scott took to the stage with their closing track being ironically Jesus (they would also play Holy Brother!). The twenty-five minutes went by in a flash as French and Ander swapped guitar for bass (and vocals) and vice versa proving they have great versatility as musicians … this doesn’t happen often enough. Clutter announced during the set that a debut EP would be released on 11th April which is definitely one to look forward to. Kraut has 90s grunge written all over it and is the perfect end to the set, we hope to see Clutter tour the UK with the upcoming debut EP. 8/10
There was only one appropriate song for Hinds to take to the stage: Hi, How Are You, taken from the VIVA HINDS album, they built up the intensity slowly with The Club and New For You (from I Don’t Run). Followed by the excellent Boom Boom Back, one of the best from their new record, they would play eight tracks from the VIVA HINDS album alongside three covers: Charlie XCX Girl, So Confusing went down well with the younger members of the crowd but it went over the top of my head to be honest, Charlie XCX not really my type of music! Spanish Bombs by The Clash was more up our street, a track they also played at last year’s show and it always goes down really well live. They also played a version of Thee Headcoats song Davey Crockett as the last of the set mixed in with a few songs from the three previous albums. Most importantly Hinds shows are FUN FUN FUN as the personalities of Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote shine through immediately and the show continued with the happy vibes until the end. They are joined by a new bass player in Paula Ruiz alongside Maria Lazaro on drums, Ruiz got very involved in the party tonight even replacing Grian Chatten for vocal duties on the excellent Strangers, a track that is a standout tonight.
The fun didn’t stop there though, Hinds invited Lee up from the crowd to play saxophone during Bon Voyage and he is actually playing in the pulpit … that doesn’t bother the girls though as they have already told the crowd that they don’t believe in God! The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You is another of the new tracks that impressed us with Ana taking to keyboards for this one. En Forma may be sung completely in Spanish with probably only a few understanding the lyrics but it is still a very catchy tune. Last of the set Davey Crockett sends the crowd wild as both Carlotta and Ana come down into the crowd for a bit of fun among the crowd, it looked like they were trying to recreate the scene from the movie Dirty Dancing. Clutter are also back on the stage to help out during this closing track. After Davey Crockett, Hinds stayed on the stage for an outro to the Dragonette’s song Hello prompting a singalong among the crowd as they slowly left the packed-out Saint Luke’s with big smiles on their faces capping off a memorable night of music. This venue never lets us down! 9/10
Written by: Alan Brown
