Oceansize: King Tuts wah wah hut, Glasgow 07/10/07

Having not seen Oceansize since April last year; I was looking forward to this gig immensely. It was the same venue as last time, with 2 different support acts.  Hopes fall were meant to be playing a joint headline show but for some reason couldn’t play.

Twin Atlantic

The first band on were Glasgow based Twin Atlantic.  I have seen these guys once before at the Glasgow Barfly playing with Red Snowman. Think it might have been Succioperro. From what I remember they were a 3 piece.  Now however they are a four piece, with a new guitarist.  They have some good songs which feel Biffy-esque towards their more experimental direction.   I did feel on the whole though, that the different parts to each of the songs felt like they were glued together.  What I mean by this is that they take the good ideas they have, e.g. a guitar part, vocal part or drum part and try to force it in to the song, instead of just letting the song develop, so those bits make sense in the context of the song. In saying that, I do think if I gave them a few more listens, I would get into it more. A heavy start to the night which led nicely to the next band…

Slave to Gravity

I wasn’t even sure of the name of this band when they were on and had to look them up on Oceansize’s ‘my space’ when I got home. When they first came on stage to set up their gear, my brother and I were trying to work out who was in the band and who wasn’t. When they came on, we could not believe it and if I was perfectly honest I thought they were going to be total garbage. 

Picture this if you can.   The lead singer/guitarist is dressed in skin tight red jeans, with a red jacket to match.  He also had straight long hair and a trimmed moustache like someone out of a 70’s rock band.  The lead guitarist was wearing a black suit jacket, dark jeans and had a mop top hair style like someone out of the strokes.  The bassist outfit resembled something a die hard Guns and Roses fan would wear, a t-shirt with tartan trousers. Last but by no means least a drummer who had a skin head and was wearing a plain black t-shirt and black jeans.   

So now we knew who was actually in the band, I was racking my brain trying to conjure up what they are actually going to sound like.  As you can imagine, my brain went into overload! Then I realised its probably better to just wait and see!

What I got was pure rock and roll with Chris Cornell style vocals but with lots more whaling. Overall a very enjoyable and energetic set.  So the lesson learned: Don’t judge a band before they’ve played a note. Usually I don’t do this, but there was just such a contrast in the styles of clothing, it was hard not too!

Oceansize

Tonight saw Oceansize on the stage for a memorable hour and forty minute set.  Most of the set was geared towards their new album ‘Frames’.  The album had only been out a week before the gig and due to postal strikes I still hadn’t received it by the time the gig came around.  So I was interested in how it sounded compared to its predecessors; Effloresce and Everything into Position.  One notable difference is that there is a lot more keyboard usage.  But bearing in mind one the guitarists does the keyboard, it still leaves the 2 other guitarists to ensure the wonderful wall of sound Oceansize create is not lost and is instead enhanced.  On first impressions it sounds very promising, a little bit heavier than ‘Everything into Position’, and I will definitely be investigating it further over the coming months when I eventually get the CD!

They also fitted in the classics from Effloresce, with ‘Catalyst’, ‘Remember where you are’ and ‘Women who love men who love drugs’.  From ‘Everything into Position’ they played ‘Homage to a shame’ and my personal favourite ‘Music for a nurse’.  If you haven’t heard ‘MFAN’ before I would definitely recommend it! Played live it’s just a mesmerising experience.  Normally I head nod, dance about or sing to songs, but for this one I just stood and took it all in.  It was just so moving and sounds epic live.  Although it is nine minutes long, the way its constructed makes it feel like it’s only about four minutes.  Absolute gold.  The ‘Size finished the night with ‘Ornament/Last Wrongs’ which has to be in contention for best set closer ever.  Again absolute genius.

Once again Oceansize deliver a set straight out the top drawer and with ‘Frames’ it certainly looks like there onto yet another winner.

Set List:

Commemorative 9/11 T-Shirt
Unfamiliar
Remember Where You Are
Trail of Fire
Savant
Catalyst
Sleeping Dogs and Dead Lions
Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs
Homage to a Shame
Music for a Nurse

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Paper Champion
Ornament/Last Wrongs