Reviews

No wonder then that they failed to live up to the hype. They were always going to but what came as a surprise, given the sheer volume of anticipation around their arrival, was just how far short they fell of something special.

It’s easy to see why you could get over-excitable about the Glaswegian drone rockers. Having pumped enough dry ice onto the stage to fill the Arena, let alone little old Night and Day, they struck the requisite back-lit, aloof poses as they ploughed through their brain-bustingly loud set.

Glasvegas (c) Karen McBride

Add to that their rockabilly hair, back in black stage attire, glorious guitars and detached attitudes, and the recipe for success should have been there.

After half an hour of their set though, their problem is obvious – the band lack a second dimension, though the one they have is pretty mighty. The vocals are constantly set to epic, the backing is constantly set to wall of sound, and the effect is one that begins in bombast but ends in overkill.

There’s no denying that 'Daddy's Gone', that breakthrough single, is a belter that swells with the power of a tsunami live, and it came with the powerful backing of 'Go Square Go' and a face-punchingly wonderful cover of The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby', but elsewhere, things got, well, a little dull – particularly during the clumsy and over-wordy 'It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry'.

So who’d be Glasvegas? Well, if the question is about the hyped up gang of Glaswegians who have been lauded everywhere as one of the bands of 2008, maybe not even the band themselves. Better to see them for what they are – a strong start who, on this showing, have more potential than tunes.