Song, by Toad

I didn’t just come for the Twilight Sad tonight, because two other highly promising Scottish bands were on the bill as well – Eagleowl and Make Model. As usual, promo company I Fly Spitfires pay attention to the whole lineup, not just the headline act.

Eagleowl I know a little about, seeing as a regular reader of mine, Bart, is in the band. I have heard some their dark, shimmering folk on their MySpace page of course, but I’ve held off writing about them since I found out that they were playing this gig. Music like this plays particularly well live. The deep, morose double bass and mournful, agitated violin play off against each other at a tortuously slow pace, counterpointed wonderfully by the interplay of Bart and Clarissa’s vocals. It’s dark music for the most part, but the vocals lift it really nicely, although something in me almost feels they should have played after the Twilight Sad, as we all wound down with a whiskey.

Eagleowl – Know by Now

Make Model were, unfortunately disappointing. They had a couple of catchy enough tunes, but for the kind of money that’s been thrown at them I was expecting to hear something more obviously special. Still, I’m sure I’ll hear them again so I may yet change my mind.

I knew exactly what to expect from The Twilight Sad, however. Menacing guitars that shimmer and grind, cranking up to one monumental wall of noise after another, all accompanied by James Graham’s anguished howl. Their album, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters was one of my favourite releases of 2007, and the only time I saw them play last year was one of my favourite gigs.

There’s something euphoric about this kind of thunderous blitzkrieg of a racket charging at you from the stage. I am not much of a mosh-pit monkey myself, I just like to stand about two-thirds of the way back and gently bounce and sway as bands like this thunder away at us. It’s not a physical experience in the exhausted, sweaty sense, more a spiritual one, in a profound stillness of experience sense.

There’s something quite fantastic about standing there doing little more than bending in the gale, like reeds in a storm, as the music swirls all around you. I came out the gig giddy and excited, buzzing and eager. Great stuff. The new songs sounded good, the old ones sounded great and all in all, this was one of the best gig nights I’ve been to in quite a while.  And as for the acapella intro to Cold Days From the Birdhouse, well… sheer spine-tingling magic.

The Twilight Sad – And She Would Darken the Memory
The Twilight Sad – I’m Taking the Train Home