With the sun setting on one of the hottest days of the year, Scottish rock ‘n’ roll icons Twin Atlantic blessed us with their presence at Brighton’s Concorde 2. With their newest release, GLA, being received brilliantly, Twin Atlantic seem to be thriving more than ever. After seeing their set tonight, through an immense amount of enthusiasm and energy, the band have truly outdone themselves.

Opening things up tonight are Newcastle bunch The Pale White, a lively three-piece who bring the evening’s first serving of heavy rock ’n’ roll. Their set is just as energetic as expected and could not be a more fitting introduction to the evening, their sound packs a great amount of punch for a trio and holds slight tendencies towards bands such as Kings Of Leon. Their great level of enthusiasm made for an initial burst of energy throughout the room that the evening needed to get flowing. Darlia follow, I was able to catch their set last week during the Great Escape and the same words still apply: Darlia’s sound is sublime and one of the quirkiest around today. It’s heavy, fuzzy and the crowd are incredibly responsive to each track, being more than eager to bounce and sing along. I only wish the same could be said for the band themselves, it is only towards the end of the set that the band truly seem to find their feet and begin really getting into their music and begin moving around the stage. Nonetheless, a fantastic build up to the almighty sound that is yet to come.

A dimmed spotlight and a deafening eruption of cheers filled the sweltering room. Twin Atlantic enter the stage. This band are not shy about getting across what they have to say and from the first note of opening track, ‘Valhalla’, the equally heavenly sound is thrust upon the room. The band are each giving it their all and vocalist Sam McTrusty’s Scottish roots more than shine through with each of his notes. In all honesty, the record does not do the band’s live sound justice. It is bigger, heavier and more energetic than I could have ever expected! Such a sublime start would typically be hard to follow, however, Twin easily continue to up their energy with monster track, ‘Free’, making an early appearance met with a sea of screams during the incredibly powerful chorus.

Tonight’s set is rammed from start to finish, featuring over 19 of the band’s best tracks, each showcasing a different aspect to their sound. The majority do hold an upbeat emphasis on heavy riffs and Sam’s powerful vocals, however, slower numbers such as ‘Crash Land’ are particularly special. The track is an anthem to this audience and they proceed to hijack the entire song to a point whereby Sam’s vocals become drowned out by the awesome chanting of the crowd. A truly spectacular sight to behold. In these tightly packed gigs, it is too frequently seen that many bands seem to rush their set, eager to reach their final song. This is no such problem for these boys as every song is not only played incredibly precisely at timely moments but Sam’s showmanship and constant audience interaction throughout still keeps the set feeling very personal from start to finish.

Track of the evening has got to be older number, ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’, which is simply legendary and tore the roof off the Concorde room. Immediately the riffs hit incredibly hard and Sam’s raw intensity throughout keeps the song feeling incredibly heartfelt, before bursting into an insanely powerful guitar solo. Not a single member of the audience is standing still during the rendition and all are bouncing into one another throughout its entirety. It’s not very often that you see such audience retention throughout an entire set and in that respect, Twin Atlantic clearly know their audience remarkably well. Both the newer material and the older are met with equal levels of cheer and eagerness from the audience in such a spectacular way.

Tonight’s ending numbers are a hat-trick of the bands biggest and best. ‘Hold On’, ‘No Sleep’ and the colossal ‘Heart and Soul’. This trio of tunes could not be a more fitting way to end an already fantastic night and despite already being on top form throughout the entire set, the band’s energy only grows even further during these numbers. Sam finds himself walking on top of the audience and flopping into them all whilst not dropping a note while the remainder of the band stand atop their amplifiers blasting the final riffs. An incredible end an incredible night.

Overall, Twin Atlantic are a band who any aspiring artists should be looking up to. They embody everything that makes rock ‘n’ roll such an incredible genre: talent, personality and, most of all, a sublime performance. These Scotts are easily one of the best bands I have seen this year and one of the hottest names in the country. I would recommend anyone to try out their material and am eagerly awaiting their next return to Brighton where I’ll be front and centre amongst the carnage.
Ben Walker

Website: twinatlantic.com
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