Surprise Surprise!
Tonight was one of those nights. I should have seen the signs when the support act, a Glasgow band called ‘The Twilight Sad’ took the stage and were greeted with warm applause from a crowd with a wider than usual demographic.
At the outset, their first two songs gave the impression that they were capable, but disjointed. Then something magical happened and vocalist James Graham found his groove, taking the performance to an altogether higher plane.
Reminiscent of Joy Divisions Ian Curtis, he is mesmerising, energetic, enthralling and definitely driving a band that will make the grade if they remain focussed and get that bit of luck that their years in the business deserve. The highlight of the set is definitely ‘I became a prostitute’ as it was there that the startling transformation took place. Oh for a few minutes with James to see where it is that he goes in his mind!
Editors took the stage to a rapturous welcome ending a crowd sing-a-long that started some time before the lights went down.
Tom Smith arrived to a solid backbeat of the opener ‘No harm’ and the rest was history.... entering from stage right, he exudes presence and demands attention, Mr photogenic looking like a character from Penny Dreadful with his gleaming white shirt and sideboards. From that very first few seconds, the audience were in his hands, just where they wanted to be. This was a set of over twenty songs, showing quality, strength in depth and a staggering versatility as wide as Smiths vocal range itself. Heavy and multi-layered, acoustic and cut to the bones, a great song is a great song regardless of its construction and delivery.
What every band needs is a front-man who exudes this kind of confidence, class and a debonair attitude to his craft. Smith has it in spades and also has the luxury of fronting a band who are with him on a journey that can only ever have a happy ending. What they want to achieve is only limited by their own self-belief.
Of course, their followers have seen this already, their involvement in every song makes that clear. What is clear to me as I head for home is that this could be a new genre in music which is yet to be defined, yes, they are that good!
To see one great band in a night is always exciting, to see two is as good as it ever gets.
