Glaswegian six piece Yashin are first on the bill out of 4 bands. Not always an easy experience but the Academy 2 is rammed in anticipation. And the band don’t disappoint. Touted as a band to watch out for, Yashin play like headliners tonight, whipping up the crowd into notable frenzy.
So you have to feel a bit sorry for Flood Of Red who have to follow that outstanding set. There seems to be a theme here..six band members, again hailing from Glasgow, but completely different in stage presence and song quality. It’s hard to see why they are further up the bill than Yashin and the crowd starts to understandably thin out as most people head barwards.
The Audition are up next, who are actually replacing Kill Hannah who had to pull out of the tour due to 'recording obligations’. The guys clearly have a lot of fans in tonight but well and truly drown under the weight of poor sound quality. Singer Danny Stevens is barely audible and you can tell the band are bitterly disappointed. In another setting, with better acoustics The Audition would have kicked ass but tonight is just not their night.
And so to headliners Madina Lake. I’m not sure at what point they became Take That, but the hoards of screaming 16 year old girls indicates the bands arrival on stage is imminent. Unfortunately the miserable sound quality that plagued The Audition continues, but through it all Madina Lake play their asses off. With only two albums of tracks to draw a setlist from, the 45 minute set seems a tad on the short side but they make the most of it. Running through songs like 'Pandora’, 'House Of Cards’ and tracks 'Never Take Us Alive’ and 'Never Walk Alone’ taken from their new album the crowd sing along with every word adoringly. Nathan Leone is an intuiging frontman and you can barely take your eyes off him as he commands attention from the keyed up audience. After tonight, Madina Lake leave us in no doubt that they'll never lose that ability to hold their admiring spectators in the palm of their hands.
