Having first came across the The 502s in 2022 at the Neighbourhood Weekender festival, their infectious energy created a wonderful atmosphere in the tent and it was then that we made a mental note that we had to see this band live on a headline tour … and tonight was the night. As streams of people headed along to the West End on the train, some disembarked at Exhibition Centre for the Sleep Token gig in their metal clobber but it was the next stop at Partick for us (and quite a few others), with Myles Kennedy also playing at SWG3 tonight it was a busy wee place when we arrived.
All the way from Castlederg in Northern Ireland, Gareth was tonight’s support as he played acoustic guitar alongside his friend Justin on electric guitar. The duo were very entertaining even though the crowd were relatively quite throughout the set. Well that was until a cover of Stick Season was played, the Noah Kahan track is very well known and immediately prompted a sing along from the crowd; we are talking here about a universally known song with no less than 1.28 BILLION streams! Gareth has a very unique voice and the growing crowd showed their appreciation after each song, the best of which were What You Don’t Know, Coal and I Never Prayed For The Rain. 7/10
A 502s concert is all about having fun and the crowd reciprocating the energy coming from the stage and that they did tonight in abundance! Their music can be described as indie-folk with a twist, the twist being the intermittent use of a banjo, saxophone and trumpet. They played at this very same venue in November 2023 and were now back as part of the album tour, the self-titled The 502s album was released back in April. Forming in 2015 the band hail from Maitland, Florida and began as a solo project of Eddie Isola but they soon added new members and now consist of Matthew Tonner (piano), Sean Froehlich (drums), Joe Capati (horns), Nick Melashenko (bass) and recent addition Graci Phillips on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, in case anyone is wondering where they got the band name from it is derived from the street address of Eddie Isola’s home when he was a child.
The Great Road Trip Tour began with opening track If Good Times Were Dollars setting the scene nicely for a night of infectious grooves and singalongs, taken from their latest album all six band members know exactly what their jobs are on the stage, every time the talented Joe Capati played the saxophone or other horn instrument the crowd let out a massive cheer. Before Backstage In Glasgow, Eddie tells the story of how there were only around thirty people at their first gig in the city but the crowd still managed to make it sound like hundreds more, in contrast tonight’s SWG3 TV Studio gig is completely sold out proving the pull that the 502s have around the UK. The song itself gets a great crowd reaction tonight, but it is the The 502s biggest track to date Just A Little While that steals the show tonight, it’s a song with over 100 million streams and the crowd are singing every word back to them. Eddie comments that he loves the energy of the crowd when they play in Glasgow and we can see why. The high-energy performance continued with another crowd pleaser, Feels Good To Be Me as the excitement reaches fever pitch thus ending the main set on a high.
Their latest album is prominent during the encore as Road Trips and Perfect Portrait of Young Love gives the fans one last chance to connect to the music and the last track of the encore Stories To Tell seems to go on for an age as the band members individually come to the front to show of their music skills and it’s drummer Sean Froehlich that is the standout as he uses a small drum to keep the crowd entertained showcasing his skills with the drum sticks. Special mention also to newest member of the band Graci Phillips who played throughout the set with a big smile on her face even taking on vocal duties during a couple of tracks. 9/10
Written by: Alan Brown
