CS1 - Twin Atlantic on Tour
“Great Divide” is the new album from Scottish band Twin Atlantic that was released on the 18th August 2014. This new production became the bands highest charted album to date whilst reaching #6 on the UK charts and #1 on the Scottish Album Charts. The bands UK tour for the new album was to start in homeland Scotland on the 23rd October and to end 6th November. During each gig the band would be expected to perform their whole album as well as hopefully including some of the favourites from previous albums. The particular gig that I attended was on the 27th October, 2014, located at Newcastle’s own O2 Academy in the city centre.
To get the ball rolling for the tour itself certain songs had been released from as early as March 2014 with hot single “Heart and Soul“, as well as performing songs at festivals throughout the summer such as T in the Park (July 2014) based at Balado Airfield in Kinross, Scotland. This helped the band to promote their new upcoming album that would be released the next month (August). Then as the date of the tour kicking off became closer Twin Atlantic released their official music video for “Hold On” on October 1st. This increased hype levels because of the previous teaser video snippets that the band posted on social networking sites. Months before the albums release date the artwork was released as promotion; made up of four coloured flags each with the bands well renowned logo placed upon it
Upon arrival at the O2 Academy we were greeted by queues of fans; ranging from male and female, teenagers to middle aged adults as well as a mixture of social stereotypes and clichés. Before Twin Atlantic’s performance there were the two supporting bands, Nothing But Thieves and The Xcerts, who both had their own positive attitude towards the crowd as well as interacting with us. Both provided enjoyable entertainment and helped to hype up the wait and excitement for Twin Atlantic themselves. It then got to just minutes before the main show when we could see the band’s crew engaging in final sound checks for the instruments, sound and lighting where the anticipation from the crowd was reaching the roof. There was also the excitement from the band posting a picture of themselves in the dressing room just 20 minutes on social networking site Instagram using the ‘hashtags’ #TwinAtlanticonTour and #GreatDivide
The main show was full of heart warming lyrics sung beautifully by frontman Sam McTrusty, where the ambience and atmosphere was added to by the lighting effects which were suited to each individual songs. Upbeat songs were accompanied by brighter coloured and faster light patterns whilst slower songs seemed to be matched with light blue, yellow or white lighting. Two songs in particular seemed to have the crowd singing along, word-for-word, with Sam which were “Crash Land” from the Great Divide album as well as “Free” from previous album “Free” (released 2011). Everyone seemed to be in their elements just enjoying what they were hearing and seeing. Sam’s interaction with the audience was appreciated by all as he spoke about the tour as well as teaching lyrics he wanted help singing along with, getting the crowd to sit on the floor before jumping about as the chorus kicked in and then asking everyone with a flash on their cameras or phones to hold it above their heads for the duration of another song.
Overall I feel that the money paid for tickets was not enough and that I was robbing the band because of the immensity and quality of the performance. Instruments were played in key and on note whilst lyrics were sung at the correct pitches. Who could ever get tired of listening to Sam McTrusty sing in his Scottish accent? Whether you had an emotional connection to any of their songs in particular or if you just enjoy the sounds and vibes, this was a gig that would seem to be loved by anyone.
