Japandroids @ King Tut’s 26.02.10
Written by admin on February 28th, 2010
Tonight’s show at King Tut’s is jam-packed; Japandroids second visit to Glasgow is eagerly anticipated, the first a support slot for A Place to Bury Strangers that we covered last year. The crowd squeeze in front of the stage for support from Cuddly Shark and Other People, both act as brilliant warm-up acts for the Canadian duo.
Originally Japandroids were looking for a lead singer to accompany Brian King on guitar and David Prowse on drums but the decided it would be easiest just to sing the vocal between them, a decision that was certainly for the best. King starts the show with an eagerness that could be hard to match and from the very beginning the duo put their all into performing. King Tut’s is far too small to contain the noise coming from Japandroids (there would definitely be no room for a third member) and their energy just seems to increase as the show goes on, feeding off the adoration coming from the SOLD OUT crowd.
They open with “No Allegiance to the Queen” from 2008’s Lullaby Death Jams EP, which is met with excessive dancing and some out-of-tune attempts to sing along, just so the fans can prove how much they love it. After that, most of tonight’s songs come from their latest LP, Post-Nothing (released middle of last year), which is just what the fans came to hear. Definite crowd-pleasers include “The Boys Are Leaving Town” and the brilliantly catchy “Young Hearts Spark Fire” but some newer tunes go down a treat as well along with a cover of “Racer X” that Big Black would have been proud of. The power from the stage never falters and even a guitar solo of “Happy Birthday” for the tour manager (Andy!) is played with as much fervour as the loudest of their songs, with the crowd singing along as well.
Japandroids finish this incredible set by singing “To Hell with Good Intentions”, another of their older songs that goes down just as well as the opener. It’s just as well this song is the last as many of the crowd put their last remaining energy into leaping around cheering and even the band look like they’ve finally exhausted themselves. A brilliant finish to an incredible show, for sheer energy and excitement there’s not really anyone who can top these guys.
Words: Katherine Haig
Pics: Colin Clark
