The Twilight Sad

A cold and dreary October evening proved to be the perfect setting for Scottish 5-piece, The Twilight Sad, as they came to Newcastle to deliver their own brand of alternative, drone, indie-rock.

Drawing comparisons from fellow Scots, Mogwai and The Jesus & Mary Chain, the band have been highly regarded by many, including Planet Sound, who gave the band their first review, and this drew a sizeable crowd to the wonderful settings of The Cluny.

The Twilight Sad's music can be described as 'anthemic', with their layers of guitars over many other instruments, and in the live arena, it sounds even more incredible than it does on record.

Forming in 2003, the band have since released two albums; their debut 'Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters', released in 2007, and 'Forget the Night Ahead', released only last month.

Touring in support of their most recent album, the band are playing dates across the country, and with their 'bigger and better sound', numbers at the shows have been impressive, including tonight's show.

Playing only for short 50 minutes, the band treated the Newcastle crowd to hits from both of their albums, including latest singles 'I Became a Prostitute' and 'Seven Years of Letters', which fit in well with the older material, including 'And She Would Darken The Memory', and the highlight of tonight's performance, the simply epic sounding, 'That Summer, at Home, I Had Become the Invisible Boy'.

'That Summer...', although featuring early in the set, for me, really shows what the band are all about. Big, layered guitars, over howling, dark vocals, sung in a broad Scottish accent, with a growing back drop of bass and drums.

Despite only playing for a short time, the band managed to connect with the audience very quickly, with much of the audience barely breaking eye contact with lead singer James Graham.

Having seen the band previously in their hometown of Glasgow over the summer, I was expecting big things from the band, and they certainly delivered.

There aren't many new bands today, especially from the UK, that are making music like this, and on a personal level, I'm glad that the Twilight Sad are one of the few. Not because I dislike the music, on the contrary, I love music like this, and when it comes to seeing bands like The Twilight Sad live, it makes it that bit more special.

The band have never had ambitions to 'make it big', declaring that they'd never like to play arena shows, which is all the more better, as when they play in small venues like The Cluny, they nearly tear the roof off.

FUTURE GIGS