Glasgow based rockers Twin Atlantic head south over the border for a sold-out show at the Riverside Newcastle.
Tonight’s concert on Tyneside marks the group’s second appearance in the region in the last twelve months. This date following a recent support slot at the nearby Utilita Arena alongside indie heavyweights Catfish and the Bottlemen.
By their admittance, it’s been a while since their last headline run, and tonight the group are certainly up for the occasion. As the band takes to the stage, it’s no messing from the off as they wheel out an instant run of crowd-pleasers at the top of the set including anthems such as ‘Novocaine’ and ‘Volcano’. The first two tracks of the show taken from the band’s new album Power, which was released at the start of the year.
Bedecked in a black suit, Frontman Sam McTrusty leads the charge. He frequently prowls the edge of the stage whilst simultaneously firing up the crowd. McTrusty even takes the opportunity to give the occasional nod or fist bump to familiar faces in the audience, which is a nice touch indeed.
Following a run of back to back high octane alt-rock favourites, Twin Atlantic slows things down momentarily with ‘Make a Beast of Myself’, which in turn allows the crowd to catch their breath for a moment.
Tonight’s show certainly ebbs and flows, but at the core of Twin Atlantic’s 19 song setlist, the band has an arsenal of arena-filling anthems. Highlights from which include a somewhat uplifting airing of ‘Brothers and Sisters’ along with fan favourite ‘Free’. The latter garners a mass singalong from the Geordie faithful, largely due to the song’s huge chorus.
At a Twin Atlantic show crowd participation is certainly the name of the game, and tonight the locals have brought their singing voices.
The group takes things back to 2007 with ‘What Is Light? Where Is Laughter? which in turn pleases the old school fans in attendance. Whilst ‘Ultraviolet Truth’ from the band’s latest record showcases just how far Twin Atlantic’s sound has evolved since those early days, bringing a much more contemporary flavour to their repertoire.
The room erupts into a pogo infused frenzy during a fuzz fuelled airing of ‘The Chaser’, whilst a thunderous rendition of ‘Edit Me’ quickly follows.
As the show heads into its final strides Twin Atlantic switch gears and brings things down briefly during acoustically tinged performances of both ‘Oceans’ and ‘Crash Land’, which are certainly welcome additions in the setlist.
However, to coin the title of tonight’s final number, Twin Atlantic certainly give it their ‘Heart and Soul’. On the strength of this performance, the band won’t be playing venues of this size for much longer.
