Immanu El / Over The Wall / The Lava Experiments

Do you ever have those days where you just can't be bothered? I had one today. I had one of the worst and most stressful days in work for a while and it was like a typical Monday feeling the blues.

Part of me was looking forward to going to King Tut's to see some bands but the other part was dreading it altogether. A mixture of stress, tiredness and laziness if I am being completely honest here! However I ventured to the venue as I really wanted to watch the band Immanu El. I had heard some of the Swedish band's music on their MySpace page and I liked what I heard. Nice soft, instrumental, relaxing mostly, just what I needed after a manic Monday.

The venue looked relatively sparse of punters when I first arrived but to be fair I was here early, in time to get a nice cold beer and check out the support acts. First one being a two man band called The Lava Experiments. Now whether it was my tired state I read their name so quickly at first that I immediately thought they had called themselves Lavy Experiments. Now, with them also being Scottish I thought perhaps it was a clever play on words and homage to our Scottish word for toilet – lavvy! This was not the case and thankfully their music was not something in honour of a toilet either, it was in fact enjoyable.

Over The Wall were the next support act to the stage and quite clearly had brought a few eager fans with them. Either that or it was their mates, but either way they sang along with the two piece (strange to have two 2 piece bands in the one night!) and filled the room with an edge of excitement.



The banter between the band and the audience, or as the case may be, some of their friends, was amusing and definitely helped me ease into a slightly better frame of mind. As did the £2 Heineken I was drinking! Long gone are the days of £1 bottles of Tennants in Tut's but there is always something to make you feel better. Whether that be the bands or a good deal on a beer! Tonight I had both. Fortunately!

Finally it was time for Immanu El to perform. I had been eager to see them and as the stage went dark, their figures simply shadows, the first prongs of song filled the room. This was not a sold out show. The room not filled to capacity, but the bodies were still packed in and it was a good size crowd for a first visit to Glasgow.

I had myself standing, camera in hand, anticipating the lights returning and throwing glowing spotlights on the band. They did at first look like a boy band picked to showcase their good looks and I stood, still anticipating, for about 5 minutes, before I realised this was going to be a show where the ambience is set to accentuate the music. The lights would remain low for the full show. The shadows only occasionally being tinged with light, illuminating a single face, a guitar or the drum placed at the back of the stage.



I could slowly feel the tension easing out of me as the band, Claes Strangberg on vocals and guitar, Per Strangberg on guitar, Emil Karlsson on bass guitar, Michael Persson on drums and the multi talented Jonatan Hammar on Keyboards as well as guitar, cello and samples among other things, began playing echoing, tingling songs from debut album 'They'll Come, They Come'.

The boys didn't waste time in showing us what the Swedes must already know, that they are talented musicians who mean business. Although with their haunting melodies, against rocky backdrops and beats, business would be the last thing on anyone’s mind at a gig like this.

You could have sat me on one of those old Lemsip chairs from the ads, a glass of wine in hand, and I would have melted into oblivion listening to these boys. It was magic. My work woes being gently washed away with the sound of songs like 'Under Your Wings I'll Hide' and 'Astral Days' to name only two.



They have been likened to Sigur Ros and if they emulate their success and effort then the boys will do very well. They have the same mystical, eerie yet comforting sound to them and are very hard to dislike. Some notes are there to soothe whilst other notes pump you up and get you feeling positive and ready for anything.

They are quite captivating to listen to. I would say watch, but with the lights so dim I really was just watching shadows and so all my concentration was on the music.

The show ended far sooner than I would have liked. It is always the same with a band you are truly enjoying listening to. They are finished before you can really appreciate they have started. You are taken into a whirlwind of sound and held in its gaze until the last note filters out of ear shot.

For me, Immanu El are the anti-work, anti-stress, sweep me up in giant arms and give me a hug to make me feel better kind of band. And boy did I need that! From hearing those around me and seeing the positive reaction they received I would say they will definitely be returning here in the future, as will many of those who witnessed their Glasgow debut, including me.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.