‘Let’s fucking cause it,’ lead singer Johnny Madden called as Baby Strange triumphantly took to the stage for the second show of their sold out three-night run at SWG3’s intimate Poetry Club. Now hailed as pioneers of Glasgow’s punk scene, this run of gigs felt like something of a celebration of the newer bands who Baby Strange helped set the tone for – with support on each night coming from Fiendz YT and Vandal Palace, Snash and The Roly Mo, and Voodoos and Spyres respectively.
Thursday’s gig featured sublime support slots from Glasgow favourites SNASH and upcoming punk sweethearts The Roly Mo, who are emerging as somewhat leaders of the next wave of young Glasgow bands.
They were first to take the stage, pulling a pretty decent crowd for being onstage at the earlier hour of 7:15pm. The crowd only grew during their set, and after some initial shyness, willingly took to the barrier when lead singer Joe Morton confidently requested everyone get to the front. From then on, ‘The Mo’ had the crowd in their hands and the party truly started. The band opened with energetic first single Fooled By You, going on to play through fan favourites such as Neon Bitch and the biting If You Play Nice (previously - and still affectionately - known as ‘Yer Shite’). The highlight was a rock n roll-driven cover of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance – and if The Roly Mo are capable of getting a mosh pit going to a Lady Gaga number, they’re capable of anything.
Exploding on to the stage next were the ever-popular Snash, who delivered their set with confidence and swagger from the word go. Opening with a fierce performance of Welcome To Hell, frontman Connan Fullerton was already up on the barrier, up close and personal with his adoring crowd as he delivered the lyrics with impressive bite. From their intros and instrumentals to their undeniable stage presence (which remained even when various members found their way into the crowd), Snash didn’t just play - they gave us a performance. By the time they reached politically-driven single Conspiracy Theories and raucous anthem White Out, the crowd were in the mood and the tone had been well and truly set for the headliners.
Watching from the back as the pioneering trio Baby Strange took to the stage and launched into titular album track Want It Need It, I was given a quality viewpoint from which to witness the carnage unfold. As recently stated in BBC Scotland’s Tune,which featured a segment dedicated to Glasgow’s punk scene, at gigs on this scene there are ‘no rules’ – and this was a prime example. Despite multiple signs stating that crowd surfers would be ejected, there were bodies everywhere as the band played through favourites such as Motormind, new single Viewpoint, and the electrifying VVV. No crowd surfers were ejected, but simply given a gentle push back from the barrier when they got too close. I think the stewards were secretly having a great time.
When the band first announced this run of gigs back in May, they promised they were ‘taking it back to where it started. Up close and personal. Intimate venues, high energy’. This was a promise which was undoubtedly kept, as shown by the classic Scottish ‘here we fucking go’ chants, and the ‘working for nothing’ buildup preceding the descent into madness in Job In The City.
Finishing with crowd pleaser Pleasure City, hearing the chorus instilled in me a memory of listening to the song whilst standing at the top of Buchanan Street not long after I moved to Glasgow in February, and just generally thinking of how great things were. Having watched the gig from the back, this memory was all it took for me to nudge my way through the crowd to my friends and join the triumphant madness for the final few moments.
If this run of gigs has shown us anything, it’s that Baby Strange may have set the standard for Scotland’s new bands to aspire to – but they themselves won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Credit to Sinead Ferguson for the photos. https://www.facebook.com/sineadfergusonphotography/
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