AMYL & THE SNIFFERS — GLASGOW, UK.

Twelve days after the release of their latest album, Amyl & The Sniffers brought the second date of their headline tour into Glasgow’s iconic O2 Academy. The Aussie punks brought their own brand of manic insanity to the stage with an energetic set full of hits from all eras but including a staggering eleven of the thirteen tunes from their latest offering ‘Cartoon Darkness’.

As I arrived at the venue to catch support from Upchuck, the venue was filling up quicker than usual. Could be because of the cold, November night. Could be because the queue for the bar at the nearest pub, The Laurieston, was half an hour but either way when I arrived the venue was filling out a lot more than it usually is by that point.

As Upchuck took the stage and began their first song the focus shifted to them as they made themselves undeniable. I’d spent some time the night before the show having a listen to Upchuck and was instantly impressed with what I heard. Hearing singer KT’s lyrics detailing her experiences as a black woman, I could hear the pain and the anger with every word. This energy was replicated almost perfectly from the recording to the stage. The band’s no frills, high energy music reminds me a lot of 90s hardcore and the way they translated that energy to the stage hooked me instantly.

The band managed to shoot up my rankings massively when I listened to them the night before but Upchuck’s exceptional live performance that night made them take yet another leap in my estimation. The band are one I am now all in on and an act I will be waiting patiently for them to come back to Glasgow. However, if that’s not soon then it’ll very quickly turn to waiting impatiently. A truly exceptional band.

After Upchuck’s fantastic set, I turned back to run to the bathroom and get another beer and was met with an absolute sea of people. If the venue was busy for Upchuck beginning, the place was absolutely packed as they left. The venue was buzzing with excitement for Amyl & The Sniffers and as they took the stage the place erupted.

The stage set up was incredibly intriguing and made for a very unique show. It had elements that made it small and subdued with little more than bright lights on the whole stage, an even brighter spotlight there just to follow singer Amy Taylor around the stage and a big fan in front of her mic stand, blowing her hair back making her look like even more of a star, however that was contrasted with a big projector screen behind them with live camera feeds playing making the show feel like a big, arena affair. All of this felt perfect for this band, it was big, showy and flashy but never too much. It was small and fairly contained as well but it never seemed like they didn’t want to make a big deal of themselves. This setup felt so perfect for this band and it felt so perfect for this venue too as the O2 Academy is Glasgow’s second largest music venue with the next step up being the city’s arena, the OVO Hydro. Stage setup, lighting etc is something I very rarely think about and I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve truly been taken aback by a stage and/or lighting setup but this gig was definitely one of them.

Beginning the set with one of the newest album’s best songs ‘Doing In Me Head’ the energy was set very high right from the start. The band are about as straightforward as punk bands get. High energy, fast paced, abrasive vocals and an in-your-face style lay the foundations for most of the band’s work and they bring all those components to the live show. Opening the set with a blistering run of songs, they followed the opener up with ‘Freaks To The Front’, ‘Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled)’, ‘Jerkin’ and ‘Do It Do It’. Now, admittedly most combinations of songs from their catalogue would start a show with this same level of energy but this five song start brought the whole crowd together to lose their minds for the rest of the night.

As the band ticked off some older hits like ‘Security’ and ‘Guided By Angels’ it was clear that a lot of this set was to be dedicated to their latest album. As mentioned earlier, 11 of the album’s 13 tracks featured on the setlist and even the song ‘Facts’ which served as the B-Side for the album’s lead single ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ which didn’t even make it to the album. Twelve out of the set’s 22 songs came from this current release cycle which shows just how much this band believes in ‘Cartoon Darkness’ and this newest era of their music.

Just past the halfway point of the set, we were treated to our only real chance to catch our breath. The song ‘Big Dreams’ is the band’s only real slow song. When I heard it on the album it took me by surprise as I’d come to expect nothing but insanity from the band but it was a welcomed change and hearing it live was just as good. This band sounds nearly exactly the same live as they do on the record but up until now it had all been fast paced chaos. Hearing ‘Big Dreams’ and finding out it was just as good as always was great. Knowing the band aren’t just all go and hearing their slowest offering not disappoint live was great.

One track that really stood out to me on the album was ‘Tiny Bikini’, a song where we hear Amy deal with her own image and stage presence. She’s known for wearing incredibly skimpy, revealing outfits whilst stomping around singing songs like ‘Blowjobs’ and ‘GFY’ and hearing this song after watching her perform in a typical Amy Taylor outfit for about an hour was really powerful. It’s an incredibly powerful song but seeing it live was a level above.

Finishing off the main set with ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’, ‘Facts’ and my personal favourite ‘Hertz’ was enough to have me in my bed. The whole venue became unglued for the end of the set, whole venue full of people losing their minds to these songs. These three songs, especially with the set ending on ‘Hertz’ was the perfect end to a near perfect set. Even though I knew there would be an encore, I was done in. As ‘Hertz’ wrapped I left the sweaty, hectic mass of bodies that was the pit to go and beat the cloak room queue and as I was down the back of the venue, walking towards the cloak room the band came back to break out an old favourite in ‘Balaclava Lover Boogie’. It made me stop in my tracks, letting everyone else trying to beat the queue walk past me, as I stood on the balcony looking down at the band play one of the songs that made me fall in love with them. It was made all the more crazy seeing the crowd from above lose their minds.

The set’s real last song was ‘GFY’ from their debut album and with that concluded one of the best gigs of the year. Seeing a band keep this level of energy throughout will never get old for me and even though I’ve seen many bands do it many times, as this band only have one real slow song it was just as impressive as ever. Amyl & The Sniffers are an absolutely incredible band and seeing them live is a must for all fans of this band and I’d go as far as to say it’s a must for fans of live music in general. An electric band with a magnetic presence and one of the best bands alive!