LIVE REVIEW: Shambolics, The Rooks, The Rampants, SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow, 22/11/2024

Originally from Kirkcaldy, Fife but now based in Glasgow Shambolics have had one hell of a year with their debut album Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams being released back in February and now a first headline UK tour that finished tonight with a sold-out show at the popular SWG3. Here is a band with so much talent that even Alan McGee, the Creation Records mogul signed them up, Bring The Noise were lucky enough to catch Shambolics set at the Y Not Festival during the summer where they went down a storm.

The cold night was soon left behind with Kilmarnock band The Rampants already on stage when we arrived as they played a decent version of Blur’s track Song 2, they are a mix of indie rock almost verging on punk at times, you can feel the raw emotion of their music in every song. With more than a few releases to date they are definitely a band to look out for on the way up, new track Secret Girl and 1 In The 99 were the best of the set for us, there were a few Killie fans in early with the band also displaying a large football flag on the stage. 7/10

The Rooks are and up and coming band from the Glasgow area who have sold out venues such as King Tut’s recently, they may only have two releases to date on the streaming platforms but their sound is very defined and very easy on the ears. The five-piece band had quite a few fans in tonight helping to encourage them and the response was electric as they worked through a twenty-five minute set packed with crowd pleasing indie tunes including latest releases Renegade and Lay Me Down. Vocalist Ross Gardiner has a very distinctive voice and the crowd responded well. The Rooks have supported Shambolics previously and just announced a headline show at King Tut’s in February, the last track of the set Back To Where We Were Before was a highlight and seemed to go on forever in the best way. 8/10

Upstairs at SWG3 was now jam packed as we awaited the arrival of Shambolics to the stage, the young crowd were excellent throughout the night as chants of “The shams are on fire” reverberated around the five-hundred capacity venue. Sharp As A Razor is the best start to a set of thirteen tracks, the crowd are well up for this one tonight and don’t need much encouragement to get the first mosh pit of the night started and it basically stayed that way for the whole set. The fans have taken to the new songs very quickly as the set continues with a few from the debut album – Influencer, If You Want It, Coming For You and Never Be Mine. The fast pace of the music keeps the intensity high in the room, new song Do It Like You Do It was only released the previous week and is sounding great live here. We have been reading so many positive reviews of Shambolics tour down South where they are gaining a lot of new fans.

Losing Your Mind is a personal favourite as Darren Forbes and Lewis McDonald share vocal duties during a track written about the happenings of life which has some great lyrics “There’s a banging on the door, exchanging of the score/He says “just one last time” but he’ll be crawling back for more”. Lewis asks the crowd how many have made the journey from Fife tonight and there are a lot of responses as Kirkcaldy’s finest continue the set with Everything You Should’ve Done and the excellent When She Goes Home. There is even time for a cover of dance act Faithless song Insomnia that drives the crowd wild, the energy in the room is unreal as people young and old mosh together creating great memories while Universal Credit dives head-first into how it feels to experience the benefits system in the UK. There can only be one set closer and it is the title track of the album Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams giving everyone the chance to expend every last bit of energy they have left in the tank to end a very memorable night of music, it’s true what they say a Glasgow crowd never lets you down! As we write this Shambolics are just about to take to the stage at the OVO Hydro supporting Jamie Webster alongside The Ks, this had only been announced a couple of days before and is a massive step to the next level for this band. Mon The Shams! 10/10

Written by: Alan Brown