Stereo is a basement venue close to Glasgow Central station so is an ideal location for a gig, holding around three hundred at a push and we are expecting it to be near capacity tonight. Small venues like this are important for the city as it allows up and coming bands to play headline shows to a small intimate audience. Our late arrival meant that we only saw two songs from first support band Kilgour, it would be unfair to review a band on the basis of two songs.
Glasgow-based band Her Picture are known to us at Bring The Noise after seeing them playing at King Tut’s in December 2023 so we knew what to expect from them: half an hour of heartfelt music with haunting awe-inspiring vocals alongside shimmering guitar work. Her Picture are Anny Tahaney (vocals), Lewis Docherty (guitar), Cat Reid (bass) and Finlay Smith (drums), they have developed an impressive stage presence and are not frightened to express themselves on stage, a really important attribute for a band we think. The band released debut EP Don’t Try To Comfort Me in February 2023, we would get to hear the four tracks from that tonight alongside two unreleased number, Can’t Think is soon to be released and was played live for the first time at Stereo, the sound wasn’t perfect for this one but that’s understandable with it being a new song. Choir Song is another of the tracks that haunts the soul, the vocalist and bass player were on top form here, the lighting helps make this moment into an almost gothic movie scene. Biggest song to date The Nature Of It ends the set on a high, the crowd seem very impressed by what they have saw and we are sure the band have won some new fans tonight judging by the applause they get as they leave the stage. Sometimes it’s the really small up and coming bands that attract your attention and Her Picture are just that, offering a unique soundscape with haunting lyrics backed up by four hard working musicians, if they are lucky to get signed to a record label they have lots of potential to rise up quickly. 9/10
The first time we saw Lacuna was at SWG3 supporting Lucia & The Best Boys where they were outstanding playing a mixture of indie-rock and folk music to entertain the fans, the track Robin stood out as it did at the end of the year at King Tut’s. The band now consists of seven members but at the beginning it was Emily Beckwith (vocals), Jack McLellan (guitar), Will Taylor (bass) and Sean Choon (drums) who also takes a turn on vocals. Sean played out a nice drum intro for the rest of the band taking to the stage, immediately building the atmosphere that the band wanted, they start with biggest track to date Robin getting the crowd worked into a frenzy, the energy in the room is electric as the drummer joins Emily on backing vocals. All seven band members on stage for the next track as the saxophone makes an appearance, the musical diversity of this band is what makes them stand out against other. One of their early releases Viking Funeral is up next and is one of the best of the set, like most of their tracks starts off slow building into a collective musical crescendo, the crowd reaction tells you that they are having a great time.
“The next song is a sexy one,” comments singer Emily as they play a new one for us, the guitar work from Jack McLellan is very impressive here, May release Sinking Woman is dedicated to Jack’s mother as the crowd listen intently to the words of vocalist Emily, we then have a slower acoustic song written around the singer losing her job! Drummer Choon then shows his class while introducing the band to the crowd before yet another new track is played, this one called Big Bear, the Stereo venue is dripping with sweat now as Emily promises that this song will be part of something bigger, could it be a debut album? Lets hope so. Latest single Saint Bernadette goes down a treat with the enthusiastic fans as we move towards the end of the set, the encore ended the night with high energy as the two vocalists came down to the crowd. If Lacuna can get support slots to bands such as Tidelines, Skerryvore or Brogeal that would help move them on to the next level, they certainly deserve it. 9/10
Written by: Alan Brown
