Tonight is only the third night of The Twilight Sad’s extensive tour, with some dates in the UK followed by a number in the US. It’s also been a long time since the band has played Nottingham.
Starting off the night was fellow Glaswegians, the three-piece Errors who warmed up the crowd with their excellent synth pop songs. Perhaps they seemed like a strange choice for a support slot, considering how different they are in sound to the headliners of tonight’s gig. However, the majority of the crowd seemed to enjoy the half hour set they played. Errors play upbeat, danceable, electronic songs layered with “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” which induce instant foot tapping. Contrast this to The Twilight Sad, who focuses their energy on extremely distorted, emotionally overwrought shoe gaze.
Errors play upbeat, danceable, electronic songs layered with “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” which induce instant foot tapping
Twighlight Sad frontman, James Graham, is humbled by the size of the almost full capacity Bodega, half-joking that he’s glad it wasn’t only “5 people” who turned up. The set list is comprised mainly of material from the newest album Nobody Wants to be Here, and Nobody Wants to Leave which is to be released at the end of the month. Older songs such as ‘I Became a Prostitute’ and ‘Cold Days from the Birdhouse’ receive loud cheers from the audience.
Older songs such as ‘I Became a Prostitute’ and ‘Cold Days from the Birdhouse’ receive loud cheers from the audience
Most importantly, everything about the band’s sound is on point and you can tell that this is a band with years of experience. When singing, Graham throws himself into his performance, mostly due to the highly personal nature of the lyrics. The guitar and bass create relentless walls of sound and the drummer thrashes away to build a hugely euphoric atmosphere. It’s near on impossible as a member of the audience to tear your eyes away from the ferocity of the performance, which is completely enthralling to witness.
Graham throws himself into his performance, mostly due to the highly personal nature of the lyrics
The Twilight Sad translates their brilliantly dark, powerful and emotive songs on record onto the live stage almost seamlessly and in doing so, they heighten the overall intensity.
Tasmin Chowdhary
Tasmin is listening to: Girl Band – ‘De Bom Bom’
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