The first support was supposed to be Laymar, a local band, who sound like they would have been good to hear live. However, they had a technical failure which meant that they couldn’t perform at the gig.

The touring support were Kyte, who I would describe as a British Jeniferever. The vocalist admitted to losing his voice, but still managed to create the right atmosphere for the type of music they played, which I enjoyed. I think I prefer to see more atmospheric bands live, as I find watching where all the different parts to the songs come from fascinating. Also, I think all their songs featured a glockenspiel, which can go a long way to making any song instantly better.

So on to iLiKETRAiNS. They opened with 25 Sins, which has become pretty standard since they started touring the album tracks. I remember when I first heard the song live, as I’d not heard it on record at the time, and it was amazing. That hasn’t changed and I would have been disappointed if 25 Sins was not the opening track. The opening drumstick clacks are just brilliant and really set the song up well. Also the use of a guitar solo sets it apart from most of iLiKETRAiNS’ other songs. After that, the setlist was similar to that which was used when I saw them in Scotland. This is no bad thing, especially as they played Victress. One of the enthusiastic blokes from the side of the stage seemed surprised that they would be playing a B-side, but Dave, the lead singer asked if it was good anyway. I replied that it was fantastic! Which it clearly is. The refrain of ‘all men will be, sailors until the sea shall set them free’ is just brilliant and gives the song that little bit extra.

As this was the ‘We Go Hunting’ tour, they certainly seemed to get more into this particular song and gave it their all. It’s one of the more accessible songs on the album, as its upbeat, and the atmospheric nature of the band and Dave’s voice really make it something special.

we also got treated to a new song, which is still in the writing process. It’s working title is ‘Progress is a Snake’ and it was excellent. I think it may be one of my favourite iLiKETRAiNS songs despite only hearing it once. (Plus the youtube quality version of it) I really liked what Simon did with the drumming at the beginning, and there were 2 synths used which was something a bit different. Overall though it was certainly iLiKETRAiNS, and I thoroughly look forward to the finished product.

I think the gig itself went very well for the TRAiNS guys and they said themselves that they had enjoyed it lots. A minor technical hitch was suffered with the projector which was noticeable through the show. After it showed no signs of recovering, it was swiftly turned off by the expert multi-tasker, Ashley, and the show went on. This was only in the last song anyway, and the truly epic nature of Spencer Perceval meant that nothing was lost from the experience and the show ended on an extremely high note.

During the gig, I shouted to Dave that the band should come back to Scotland again, and he said that they would. Hopefully they will stick by this, as I love seeing them in my favourite gig venue Cabaret Voltaire, as well as King Tut’s as it has an excellent atmosphere.

Tonight is iLiKETRAiNS’ homecoming gig, where there will be films and chess. Unfortunately it is not possible for me to go, but I hope that the band members and fans that can make it have an excellent time. Another upcoming TRAiNS date is the 26th of May, when there will be a cinema screening of Elegies to Lessons Learnt, which will probably be amazing to attend.

Speaking of which, the local band that opened last night were terrible. I actually had to leave the room a couple of times because the music was so poorly conceived. Indeed as someone I was at the gig pointed out, one of their songs didn’t end. This was not in a good way either, for instance on The Mars Volta’s Amputechre many of the songs are literally amputated, this song however meandered on after it should have finished, then suddenly with no warning they stopped playing. There was no feeling that the song had finished. Then there was the awful pairing of Meg White style drumming to a song which didn’t suit it. I like The White Stripes a lot, but Meg’s drumming suits the style of music they play. When you insert that style of drumming into a song that is not in that style, it does not work.

Moving swiftly onwards and back to Johnny Foreigner. Another excellent set from the best thing to come out of Birmingham in along time. Again they played with an energy, and their songs were so dynamic that you couldn’t help but get really in to the set. The inter song banter continued in the same vein as that in Glasgow. This time it was more outrageous though, at one point they apologised for their lack of organisation and proceeded to talk at length about what to play next. When this got a heckle from the crowd the instant response was: “Could you be quiet, we’re trying to have a conversation here!” I think I’m in love with the song they finish on, excellent set finisher. Suffice to say, I will be getting their album when it’s released. Despite their candid admission that they steal music from the internet, so they can’t expect us to buy it. I certainly will be buying it though.

After the band once more walked on to the sounds of That’s Amore, Tom announced that he was having problems with his throat. It’s to his credit that he soldiered on through the performance, especially as the band had to cancel today’s Newcastle date after a reccomendation from a doctor. The band were on fine form again, once more opening with the excellent Spring Is A Condition. The setlist was largely similar to the Glasgow gig, only this time we did actually get A Prospector Can Dream. Unfortunately the technical problems meant that once more Nineteen wasn’t played. This did however mean that Whiskas dedicated Gravity And Heat to me, which was a really excellent thing for him to do.  Again the set took in the epic Don’t Be A Doctor and finished on Spanish Triangles. Spanish Triangles is easily the best finisher I’ve seen, the opportunity for group vocals at the end during the epic guitar, where Bentley the guitar tech comes on stage to play extra guitar, is immense. I was left once more wanting much more and tempted to go to Newcastle, thankfully for me that was cancelled; preventing me from doing something irresponsible.

As always seems to be the case when I visit Glasgow, there was a local band of dubious quality up first. I honestly don’t know how Glasgow generates all these bad local bands, but it does. To be fair top This July, it’s not really that they were bad; mediocre is probably a better description. Beyond the vocals, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong. To me it just seemed that they played a number of poorly conceived songs, lacking in any real hooks or personality. Again they had the local Glasgow audience lapping up the Glaswegian band, something I find happening only in Glasgow really. At one point between songs I said to my friends: “Please say this is going to be your last song.” Fortunately, this is exactly what the frontman said not 5 seconds later.

On to the main support act and I had plenty of confidence that we were going to be in for more of a treat. Even before Johnny Foreigner came on stage, I was pleased by their cute riff on the ghosts from Pacman accross most of their equipment. To say that I was impressed is an understatement. Their songs were infectious, with excellent interplay between drums, bass, guitar and ocassionally synth. For a band with only three members their sound was full and pleasing, no doubt helped by the boy girl tennis volley vocals. I was sad when their set finished, despite the fact that meant ¡Forward, Russia! would be on soon. Clearly they were good then.

So to ¡Forward, Russia! who had just released their excellent second album Life Processes (review to come later) the day before. This meant they had to tread the careful line between playing the newer songs, and the older ones. Personally I could’ve done with more of the new songs. Particularly when their technical gizmos went on the fritz taking both A Prospector Can Dream and Nineteen out of the setlist. These were replaced by Seven and Nine, two songs I love, but having seen the live so many times I couldn’t feel a little bit upset that the other two couldn’t be played. Opening with Spring Is A Condition was a masterstroke, for so long I can only remember ¡Forward, Russia! starting with Thirteen, even though the eventually migrated away from it, it was still nice to see it placed in the middle with a new perfect opener in place. For me the highlights were very definitely the new songs, in addition to Spring Is A Condition, Don’t Reinvent What You Don’t Understand, Gravity and Heat, and A Shadow Is A Shadow Is A Shadow were awesome to experience live. Gracity and Heat in particular was anthemic and truly felt like as much of an instant classic as Don’t Be A Doctor was.

¡Forward, Russia! are a band who have very much improved in almost every imaginable way since their debut album. Give Me A Wall was an extremely important album to me, but the band as a whole just seem so much more confident now, particularly playing the newer songs. Older songs are re-invigorated as well, which can only be a good thing. While they may be confident playing, Katie did take time to say that she wasn’t sure anybody would turn up. I guess it’s always a worry, but a band of such quality should never have to worry about that. The set finished with the epic Spanish Triangles, which is an even better set finisher than Eleven was back in the Give Me A Wall days. The way the song builds to the oh so singable refrain of “Turn your ships around, we are all armadas now,” truly astounds live. The band have to get credit for being willing to involve guitar tech Bentley in playing on Spanish Triangles, it helps keep it as brilliantly layered as it is on the album. We were even treated to an encore which is a relative rarity for ¡Forward, Russia!, though they may end up playing them more often now them seem to be more popular. Fifteen Part II was the song chosen, which is an excellent song for an encore, though again personally I’d have loved to see something newer. I understand that’s not how encores work though.

So an excellent gig, which left me angry at myself for not having sorted out a way for going to the Aberdeen gig. I would rate ¡Forward, Russia! as being at their absoloute best since I started going to see them live back in 2005, and Johnny Foreigner were an excellent bonus. Still, I have Dundee to look forward to. Though I can’t imagine the acoustics are very good in Fat Sams…