“Graffiti on the wall says ‘Fuck The Tories’” – the opening words of Aaron West’s song about his last time in Glasgow playing a show after his band came down with Covid.
A song that made every Scottish fan burst with pride that they were now a part of the universe crafted by The Wonder Years’ frontman Dan Campbell for his alter ego. Tonight he returns to the abandoned church (as he calls it) to fulfill the promise of a full band show.
First up is Dryjacket (I’m sure there’s also a Dryjacket from Scotland… it’s not that one) who is playing acoustic versions of his full band’s normally louder tracks. The set is warm, mid western, and melodic. It makes me want to check out more of the electric versions while simultaneously making me want to avoid them because the acoustic versions are so lush. The last song comes with a preview of Aaron’s saxophonist lifting the atmosphere with an impromptu solo and that’s a lovely finish.
Future Teens are the main support and they bring some really fresh indie emo. I say emo… the instrumentals might actually be too happy to be emo. The subject matter is emo. But who cares? This is really listenable music.
Indie pop anthems with wry lyrics that make you smile even though the can come from a painful place (especially the one about the front person’s experience of being trans). The songs they’re singing are worth listening to, though, and I’m kinda embarrassed that they’ve not been on my playlists before now. Dan Campbell (or Aaron?) coming on to cameo on the second to last track is really the spark that ignites this crowd.
It’s no secret that I’ve been looking forward to this gig and when the nine strong ensemble walk onto the stage, it’s clear that the room was feeling the same. Aaron immediately starts with their first single, and the song which started the whole story arc ‘Our Apartment’. When the band -complete with brass section which includes Dryjacket aka Joe Junod on trumpet – kicks in, that’s when the room starts moving. We get some big numbers from the first album ‘We Don’t Have Each Other’ including the heart wrenching ‘Grapefruit’, before Aaron warns us that there’s going to be a lot of new material getting played and the crowd are very happy about this. The lead in to ‘Paying Bills at the End of the World’ is Aaron explaining that it might go over our heads because our healthcare system isn’t designed to bankrupt us, which gets a lot of bittersweet laughs.
There’s one song that everyone is here to hear, though and it comes with Aaron telling the backstory for those who weren’t there at the time. ‘Alone at St Lukes’ is played and almost drowned out by the crowd – especially the line about the abandoned church in Glasgow – in St Luke’s. It’s almost a religious experience as it’s the first time it’ll happen, and may never happen again. A moment for the history books where we can all say we were there and bask in being part of the universe that Dan Campbell created. They even turn on the huge disco ball for it.
We get a bonus cover of ‘Going To Georgia’ by The Mountain Goats thanks to drummer Nick (who also plays guitar and keys in The Wonder Years) destroying his snare skin and needing to retune the replacement. No Frightened Rabbit cover this time round (it’s been played every time Aaron has been in Glasgow) but we can forgive that. The set continues with the songs that lead us through the hardest moments of Aaron’s life… Diane leaving him, his divorce, the death of his father, the loss of a baby, drowning in grief and getting knocked back every time you find yourself on your feet again… but there’s joy in the room.
As Aaron explains, the whole point of the project is to bring joy and life to the darkest places. The tragedy that’s befallen Aaron is so expansive that there’s a bereavement that everyone has experienced somewhere in there and that means we can heal together. I’m not sure that there was anyone that didn’t cry at some point through the night and sometimes you just need to do that.
Photos by Catching Light Photography
Catching Light Photography
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