The final stop on the Curve of the Earth tour saw dreamy four piece Mystery Jets play a packed set at the Art School, Glasgow.
Album artwork: Curve of the Earth
The band returned at the beginning of the year with their fifth studio album, which despite still being relatively new to listeners was accepted with open arms from an avid Glaswegian crowd. The set in its entirely took onlookers on a journey of the bands lifetime with new tracks being the climactic, greyscale accompaniment to the technicolour that is their old material. Having taken a break from the circuit a fortified version of the band you probably remember through rose tinted nostalgia could be seen before you, the mix of old and new in their setlist proved a literal rollercoaster of life itself, the ups, downs and every emotion in between.
Band members take to a blackened stage, accompanied by what can only be described as a public service announcement and a quick to intensify drone sound, before their album artwork is presented behind them and Telomere begins to play. Their sound is punk-psychedelia driven with the band instrumentally tighter than ever. There is a stark difference between tracks from the new album compared to their old stuff, with Midnight’s Mirror and Blood Red Balloon sounding almost dystopian and strikingly brooding. The majority of crowd appreciation going to the greatest hits Two Doors Down (which was featured in the four track encore at the end) and Young Love. This 90 minute set drew to a close with Flakes to present a live dream sequence -esque light display drowned out by an onslaught of applause.
Photo courtesy of Kerry Crawford
Support for this tour came in the form of fresh faced “music boy child” Declan McKenna, an artist I’ve featured multiple times before and with good reason. The introduction of band members in his live set takes things from being one dimensional to surround sound, despite only having four tracks available publicly at this point he symbolises the hope of a blossoming career to come. Though bookmarked as ‘pop’ the subject matter in his lyricism is far more substantial.
Overall, this was a gig of pure indulgence with pre-teen nostalgia being a key redeeming feature, hearing the riff's that encapsulate my adolescence make any view of this night a biased one. The band are concrete in their music making and it's pleasant to see them return post hiatus with an album of worth. Both acts are worth seeing on the string of Summer slots they respectively already have announced round the UK with more to be added in no time I'm sure.
Declan McKenna: @DeclanMcKenna
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