Hot off the tail of an intimate acoustic set for \u201cThree Nights of CALM\u201d in Stirling and the release of his debut solo record, Bradley Simpson brings The Panic Years to Glasgow\u2019s SWG3.<\/p>\n
A decade-long stint as the frontman of a boyband is certainly one way to build up work experience, and as a solo artist, Bradley Simpson of The Vamps knows how to work a stage. His recent Glaswegian solo debut went so well that the hype took on physical manifestations this time around; forming a chain of glow-sticks, painted neon signs, and friendship bracelets that twisted round the industrial estate surrounding SWG3\u2019s Warehouse long before doors opened. However, gazing through the pink-hued spotlights that brightly juxtaposed overcast skies above the mammoth queue outside, part of the hype felt placed upon tonight\u2019s opener \u2013 Nieve Ella. Entering the stage bandana-clad, channelling her inner Joni Mitchell with a two-man acoustic\/electric guitar set up, there was an intimate sense of country-inspired flare to her opening set that separated it from the norms of describing small-town relationships fostered in the backroads of Shopshire. Screams for unreleased single \u201cHoney\u201d testified to the pent-up anticipation being released and replaced by feather boas and more bodies with their heat rapidly beginning to fill the room. The crowd was young, peppered with older-folks from The Vamps days hoping for a cover or two, yet (in our case) were instead found questioning their humanity after being asked to dab.<\/p>\n
For those blissfully unaware \u2013 dabbing was a trend from the \u201910s (outdated even when it was new) finding an ironic resurgence in a certain teenage demographic. Faith restored from this brief hiccup by a genuinely satisfying interaction with the venue\u2019s resident security guard Gordon, and an earworm in the form of \u201cSweet Nothings\u201d, Ella\u2019s set concluded \u2013 successful in justifying the traction she\u2019s gained amongst the youngsters, teeing up the crowd for The Panic Years to come.<\/p>\n
In ways, the customary moments lying in wait between sets felt like a movement, a recession of sentiment from hazy memories of the past decade to anecdotes from the 80\u2019s as some of the inherently retro-coded synths that inspire Simpson\u2019s solo debut faded in to signal his arrival \u2013 this time leading a three-piece band of his own. \u201cGetting Clear\u201d opened the show with a succinct version of what Simpson tries to get at, the notion of angst is timeless and somewhat inevitable. His mic may not have worked until part-way through the song, but experience from the Vamps quickly kicked in as he rode the hype-train whilst engaging with the crowd, shaking hands seen through shaken mobile phones. Before long, the brown leather jacket he wore was shrugged off to reveal a white vest-top and jeans on full show \u2013 a far cry from his comparatively subdued acoustic charity set in Stirling a mere week beforehand.<\/p>\n
The similarly full-bodied \u201cPicasso\u201d followed this up, showcasing both Simpson\u2019s exuberant charisma and deft lyricism in a concise package that plays into the recurring theme of inevitability, aligning it with tropes from The Vamps days as he grapples with the messy business of getting into a relationship despite knowing you\u2019ll get hurt eventually. Much like the song\u2019s lyrical content, the layered backing vocals upon a synth-adjacent piano track towards its end are infectious by design, and it\u2019s easy to tell the perspective thus far comes from a man who has been through his version of The Panic Years. Starting with two of the album\u2019s more polished tracks before delving into tunes with stripped-back elements, such as \u201cCry at the Moon\u201d and \u201cNot Us Anymore\u201d, created the effect of peeling back the layers to Simpson\u2019s psyche, beginning to follow him through to the other side as the backing band gradually ramp up their support. Such a slick end-product runs parallel to the acoustic show in Stirling the week prior, with Nieve Ella\u2019s appearance during \u201cFavourite Band\u201d signifying a level up in production quality alongside obvious factors, such as the drums and guitars ever-looming whilst upon stools near the wings. There was a cool dichotomy as all eyes were on Simpson\u2019s frontman persona in the middle, band both staring him down and playing behind him \u2013 only to be disrupted as they enter the crowd (brave move!) for a quick acoustic rendition of \u201cThe Band\u2019s Not Breaking Up\u201d. Perhaps this intended to add another degree of comfortable separation from the Vamps shaped elephant in the room, an elephant that nobody seemed to notice very often.<\/p>\n
If anything, the sharp transitions and lack of reliance on old material during this journey through the debut record serve to obscure the fact that this would\u2019ve been Simpson\u2019s largest solo show at this point, to an almost sold-out cascade of Scottish chants reverberating back at him. Such noise was only to grow louder as the band began a surprise rendition of The Proclaimer\u2019s \u201cI Would Walk (500 Miles)\u201d mixed with Paolo Nutini\u2019s \u201cCandy\u201d, an unexpected medley that worked surprisingly well, creating somewhat of a sing-along carnival atmosphere. Rather quickly however, the rug was pulled from underneath everybody as Simpson segued directly into \u201cAlways Like This\u201d. Arguably the most rock infused song of the night, it was as if Simpson\u2019s inner Jack White was being embraced on stage, whilst spotlit by an array of dramatic side lights, bled deep red to emphasize some of The Panic Years\u2019 rockier elements amidst its polished nature.<\/p>\n
Approaching the set\u2019s end, it was fitting that the titular track made an appearance, completing the bulk of a first foray into a solo venture creatively using facets of the imagination unexplorable when working within a wider project. Seen live, it\u2019s clear to see both similarities and differences to The Vamps, how it feels like a sidestep as well as an evolution for their frontman, breaking free from the boyband label under the iron-clad roofing of SWG3. A brief encore ensued, ending on \u201cCarpet Burn\u201d. An ironic choice given the lack of friction during the set\u2019s transitions, however next time perhaps that should be added to the list of inevitabilities for an act beginning to draw both an invested and growing following as people begin to catch on \u2013 perhaps emerging through the other side of The Panic Years was worthwhile after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hot off the tail of an intimate acoustic set for \u201cThree Nights of CALM\u201d in Stirling and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,124503,918,4884,6080,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-352656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-gig-review","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-review","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115046374804381213","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}