Arriving in Glasgow last Saturday, Scotland’s cultural capital had an atmosphere of excitement and electricity as BBC Radio 6 Music Festival took over five main venues in the city. Walking past the bright flashing neon lights of The Barrowlands, I approached St Luke’s, which was illuminated by a magnificent, colourful, rotating projection of lights. Outside the venue there were parked four white BBC vans, from which presenters could be seen rushing back and forth from, where the festival was being broadcast from.
Although I was slightly early for the headliners, I managed to catch a glimpse of The Lemon Twigs, an indie glam rock band from New York who I had not heard of before. The lead singer and bass player was dressed in a spandex leopard print bodysuit, supporting his incredibly high stage kicks throughout their set. Their penultimate song ‘As Long As We’re Together’ comes highly recommended for fans of The Strokes and Big Star, with a catchy chorus that had the whole crowd singing along.
After a short interval, BBC Radio 6 DJ Liz Kershaw introduced the Seattle four piece jokingly, “sometimes you just know a band’s going to be good from the name – ‘Car Seat Headrest’, I thought that sounds interesting!” The band opened their set with the first track off their 2016 album Teens of Denial, with an intense guitar riff building up to ‘Fill in The Blank’ which had the whole crowd jumping and singing along. The lead singer Will Toledo sheepishly addressed the audience behind a floppy black fringe that covered most of his face, thanking the BBC for playing their music on the radio and inviting them to come and perform at the festival. Throughout the gig, Car Seat Headrest alternated between their most recent album and some of their older material, at which points the show came to a slight lull. During one of their older songs which I was unfamiliar with, a pint was knocked from the balcony of St Luke’s and I was soaked in beer. Despite missing a couple of songs, I managed to dry off and rush back in for the highlight of their set – ‘Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales’, which had the whole crowd united in a bouncing sing-a-long. Car Seat Headrest end their set with a heartwarming rendition of Frank Ocean’s ‘Ivy’ quoting the beautifully poetic lyrics ‘I thought that I was dreaming when you said you loved me’. Although Car Seat Headrest appeals mostly to sensitive listeners and fans of indie rock, their show still managed to get everyone moving rather than staring at their shoes.
Image Credit: Amy Hawkins, BBC