It’s hard to believe that this is the first national tour that Swim School have undertaken, judging by tonight’s performance and crowd response you would think that the Edinburgh-based band had been touring for years! Swim School formed in 2019 and are Alice Johnson (vocals/guitar), Lewis Bunting (guitar) and Billy McMahon (drums), the Saint Luke’s date was the last on the tour and the sold out venue, a renovated church in the east end of Glasgow, was filled to the rafters with six-hundred or so fans creating a very unique atmosphere, the acoustics in this old building are second to none. It’s true what they say Glasgow never lets you down.
Newcastle’s Lizzie Esau was tonight’s support and as they took to the stage at 8pm to a massive cheer we knew we were in for a great night of music. We were lucky enough to see Lizzie Esau at The Poetry Club a few months back so we knew what we were going to get; half an hour of full on indie-rock music as the first track Wait Too Late which was released last month kicked in, it got the crowd onside straight away. Killer and Roadkill kept the energy high as the band worked the full stage to the delight of the capacity crowd. By far the band’s biggest song is Bleak Sublime with over 600,000 plays on Spotify alone, this is the track that left the crowd in awe as the talented vocalist worked the crowd into a frenzy with her superb guitar playing and beautiful voice as she sang “Bleak sublime, I’m going till I feel alive/Bleak sublime, I’m staying till I feel alright”. If you get a chance to see Lizzie Esau live you should take it. 8/10
As we headed up to the balcony for Swim School the energy emanating from the crowd on the floor was memorable with a selection of music from the speakers keeping the crowd happy. A great choice of opening song BORED had the fans bouncing around and it basically stayed like that for the full set as Alice Johnson used the full stage to her advantage. The last date of the Seeing It Now tour had got off to the perfect start as the set continued with Outside and Kill You raising the roof off this intimate venue, the massive glitterball had been switched on by this point lighting up the whole hall, rumour has it that this is the biggest glitterball in Scotland. Swim School released a five-track EP – Seeing It Now – on 17th April and we would get to hear all five tracks tonight during the thirteen track hour-long set. Let Me Inside Your Head was one of the highlights of the set as Johnson worked the crowd into a frenzy, even saying that tonight was the best night of her life, you can’t get higher praise than that!
Acoustic track To Grow was a very emotional song for vocalist Alice to sing tonight as the crowd fell silent taking in every word and by the end she was in a flood of tears. Quickly the mood changed with Seeing It Now bringing the energy levels up a notch or two, the first of a run of three tracks from the aforementioned EP, followed by Give Me A Reason Why and See Red, these new songs feel so fresh and certainly added to the excitement withing the crowd, most would be hearing these songs live for the first time tonight. As the set drew to a close with Anyway this was the biggest moment of the night as Alice came out into the crowd to have a sing-along with the fans amid wild scenes, ending the night on a massive high and it was a memorable moment. Swim School now have a few days off before heading out on tour with The Royston Club when we are sure they will add more fans to their growing fanbase. We recommend seeing this band live, you won’t be disappointed. 9/10
Written by: Alan Brown
