Celebrating their 10th anniversary Live @ Troon managed to nail a pretty spectacular line up! For those who haven’t been the venue is Troon town hall, which in comparison to other town halls is something else! The lay out of the gig is very well thought out, with no sound being met between the two halls.
Zoee (and the band) were one of the furthest travelled from the event, all the way from Australia! They took to the stage as energetic as ever and kicked the whole thing off with a bang. Although they are quite possibly the smallest country band I have ever seen it doesn’t take away from how vibrant and upbeat they are. Surprisingly I enjoyed what I caught of their set a lot, normally when it comes to country music I find it to be repetitive and tedious but this was not the case. They absolutely nailed their cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘9-5’ and had everybody up dancing and singing along, just what we needed to kick off the event and our Friday the 13th.
Anna Sweeny was next on the bill after delaying her set slightly but she kicked off the Glennon Brothers Future Stage with her angelic vocals and her sweet melodies in her original pieces. She puts me in mind of Garbrielle Aplin and Birdie from back in the day. What I caught of her set was true beauty and she definitely knows how to pull on your heart strings with her heartfelt lyrics.
Next up was a band I was more than buzzing for – The Ranza’s! Anytime I see these lads live the blow my mind a little more, I wouldn’t be lying if I said they never disappoint. From the moment they walked onto the stage they had the mot amazing energy and weren’t afraid to show us exactly how it was done. Having caught Anna I missed what they started with but we walked in perfectly for their cover of Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Bruises’ which is phenomenal. I have never seen anyone manage to do this song justice before but its honestly spectacular, a more upbeat than the original but definitely hard work went in to nailing that! ‘Favourite song’ was on the list too, which ironically is my favourite song of theirs, and it’s even better live. They all show their musicianship particularly in this tune and the boys were definitely in the zone when they played this live.
With the Ranzas set overlapping with Seaside sons I missed majority of their set but from what I did see I was impressed with the lads. It was clear that their influence came from a wide variety of different genres, and having never seen or heard of them before I was unsure of what to expect. I was not disappointed.
Crystal were next on the bill, and boy everybody was in for a real treat! They opened their set with ‘Speak of the Devil’, which is now one of my favourite tunes. Again I had no idea what to expect but it was straight down to business from the first opening note with them. Anna’s energy is something to be admired by many and lead everyone throughout the set. With Crystal everything fits together and they are by far one of the tightest bands I have seen live, everyone knows exactly what needs done and when, from harmonies down to the last dynamic. We even got to see Anna up close and personal as she jumped from the stage down to sing within the crowd and really deliver a performance!
Having caught Crystal meant that we missed the opening of Colonal Mustard and the Dijon 5 but I know that their party would long continue throughout the entirety of their set. They have one of the biggest followings I have ever seen and having caught them for the first time at the SAMA’s a few years ago I’ve been a keen listener ever since then. From the moment I walked in I was greeted with every single person in the venue on their feet dancing away and singing to each other because that’s just how the Dijon 5 rock! I don’t think words can quite describe this happiness that they bring with them every single set that they play but if you haven’t checked them out, it’s one for the bucket list because you have no idea what you’re missing. Playing tune after tune they were eating out the palm of everybodies hands. Finishing their lively set with their theme tune of it was rounding the set off nicely, again getting everyone involved in hand actions and dancing away. If you ever want to be really involved in a show then these are the guys for you.
Neon Waltz were next on the list, and I was like a kid at Christmas! I adore these boys and having missed a previous gig for work commitments I was over the moon to see them on the line up. The boys from John O’Groats again always are phenomenal live, and there are no words to express the trans that they warp you in when they’re performing live, which began from the opening note of their set with ‘The Stranger Things’. My personal favourite part of seeing them is when everyone on stage is always caught singing every lyric, showing just how much hard work they put into each performance. ‘Friends Who Lost Control’, their new single, sounded phenomenal live, just like I had my earphones in and every note was complete. Usual favourites such as ‘Heavy Heartless and ‘Dreamer’s made an appearance along the way too with everyone singing along. With majority of the acts the boys battled through technical issues but never once let this sway their emotion from playing and finished their off beautifully with ‘Perfect Frame’.
Finally, it was time for the headliner to take to the stage, none other than Kyle Falconer! The former front man of The View has been on the go with his solo material for a while and for them to snatch him up was something pretty special. His set was full of hit after hit and his energy is something I have never seen previously from him, but it was just as energetic as expected. The vibe was slightly different from your usual Kyle Falconer gig where as there wasn’t any pushing around but it felt more intimate. I adore that with Kyle he manages to find spectacular ways to include strings and always gives keys more of place in a song than most other folk would. He’s something short of a musical genius I would say, his lyrics are clever, witty, ironic and everything that you can’t and won’t think of... he’s already covered it for you. He was his usual cheeky chappy self which I feel he has adapted as his stage persona, keeping anything else off stage and behind the scenes. It’s his time. The set split in half as he started to do more off The View stuff and had the stage to himself, and ran a jam sesh with everyone which was pretty special to witness. Live @ Troon was coming to an end with the entrance of ‘Typical Time’, both of them, which was the perfect close to the belter that unfolded throughout the evening.
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