Against the Current | SWG3, Glasgow | 04.12.23 | Live Review

On their biggest UK headline run to date, New York rockers Against the Current return to Glasgow to take to the stage in SWG3, a venue they supported Pierce the Veil only a year ago, now topping the bill in a full circle moment. Glasgow was the final night of the UK leg before hopping on a plane over to Ireland to conclude this amazing run after covering all over Europe and Asia over the last few months.

To the supports first and on stage to kick things off were Call Me Amour. I had a lot of excitement to finally catch this band live, having been a huge fan of singer Harry Radford’s musical life since his days in local band Yashin back in the day and it was quite a special moment for me personally to see him back on stage in Glasgow after all this time. A few days after dropping their debut EP, it was clear to see they were ready to unleash the tracks to a live audience; all be it with a tame response at times from the crowd, however the band didn’t dwell on this & gave it everything they had throughout with their fusion of dark electronica with distorted guitars.

The set had it all, Harry ventured into the crowd with guitarist by his side to get up close and personal, during this time he asked fans to light the room up, film this section and send over the footage to the bands email to collect for an upcoming music video, a real cool idea that I can’t wait to see the completed product. The set even saw an appearance from Mikey Chapman, formerly of Mallory Knox, to provide some guest vocals.

A quick change over and up next we have an artist who is quickly staking her claim in the alt scene right now, it’s time for Canada’s finest – LØLØ. Returning to Glasgow for the first time since her tour with Leah Kate in 2022. This year has been a huge success both on and off stage for the Canadian from releasing highly successful singles to a busy schedule seeing her take to the stage at festivals such as Rock for People & Slam Dunk as well as hitting the road across America & Canada with Boys Like Girls prior to this tour.

Crossing upbeat pop sounds with spunky energy and pop punk-infused guitars, the Canadian brings the party to every stage. With no messing around she dances her way on stage and kicks off her set with crowd pleaser “Junkie”. The set was filled with the very best she has to offer giving a nice mix of old and new. Despite the crowd participation being a little tame for the majority, it didn’t stop a killer set being thrown out. The style of LØLØ’s music goes hand in hand with this tour and it’s clear to see why she was asked to join. Songs like “Lonely & Pathetic”, “The Floor is Lava” and “Debbie Downer” ticked off the old school side along with this years singles “OMG”, “Faceplant” and a single that’s been a huge favourite for both artist and fans, |Hot Girls in Hell”. The energy from the set demonstrates why she deserves to be on the big stage and with a big 2024 inbound, things are looking bright for this Canadian superstar.

One more change over and it’s now time for tonight’s headliners. Against the Current wasted no time and got straight to work debuting their new releases, kicking the set off with recent single “Good Guy”. Since the band’s last headline tour, they have parted ways from their former record label Fueled by Ramen and gone entirely independent, and from what’s showing on stage they are thriving from this choice. When listening to their recent material, it’s as if you are hearing a band who are rediscovering the things that made them fall in love with music for the very first and there is no song that this is truer about than “Blindfolded”, the first song that they released independently. The stage lighting was used to translate the lyric “all my pink skies have been painted red,” as it switched between the two shades throughout the duration of the song.

The second half of the set saw the band include an acoustic section, made up of ‘Past Lives’ lead single “Almost Forgot” and the track “Chasing Ghosts” from ‘In Our Bones’. The former lent itself perfectly to the acoustic setting, perhaps even better than its original form, while the latter powerfully transformed into a full band performance in the latter half when Will Ferri switched from the acoustic guitar back to the drums that he is more often seen sitting behind. A master of all instruments, he was the star of this section of the show.

Truly immersing herself in the UK’s culture, vocalist Chrissy Costanza opted to ask the crowd about a hot topic in Glasgow, football. However, she did not realise how much of a difficult question this would prove to be. With both clubs in Rangers & Celtic mentioned, the reaction from the crowd instantly showing why this topic isn’t taken lightly even in the music world – after clearing this up we quickly moved on. The main set came to a conclusion with “Wasteland”, where Costanza did her signature back bend move, before an encore of their biggest song to date in “Legends Never Die” and “Weapon” from 2021’s Fever EP as red lighting filled the stage, another nod to the hues mentioned in the chorus lyrics.

It really does feel like we are in the midst of a brand new era for this band and it’s beaming out from tonights show. The first project since their independent status clearly showing as a huge success and with festival bills already seeing their name for 2024, the next stage in the bands career is looking strong.