Music
AWOLNATION, Garage, Glasgow
Jonathan Geddes
Four Stars
Aaron Bruno has found success harder to come by overseas than at home. The man behind AWOLNATION hit the charts with Sail (which inevitably closed this set) but while a star in America, here in Scotland he found himself playing a Garage well short of capacity.
Yet this was a performance still structured as if playing to thousands. That’s not just because of a relentlessly heavy sound, but also various trappings like an impressive lights display, a drum solo segment and plenty of grand gestures from Bruno, who eventually proved an energetic figure.
That took time to emerge, but the Los Angeles native is a tricky performer to figure out. His two records, in particular sophomore effort Run, are sprawling in tone, and that carried over to the live setting. If the moody synths of the title track delivered a grinding opening, then soon Jump On My Shoulders was using them to springboard into exuberant pop.
Bruno could be yelling away, or head bowed, or leaping like a lunatic as matters progressed. The sheer scope was dizzying, but dazzlingly impressive when it all came together - Windows veered from lullaby to Nine Inch Nails devastation, Like People Like Plastic buzzed with a stop-start swagger and set centrepiece Knights Of Shame proved truly outstanding. It veered from a memorable synth line to falsetto soul, sheer noise and a rap interlude, aided by formidable drumming from Isaac Carpenter.
It wasn’t all so smooth, and the sheer variety meant the set wasn’t cohesive, with swaying ballad All I Need and shout-a-long Not Your Fault particular low-points. Yet there is something commendable about such ambition, and pop music is all the better when it possesses the freewheeling spirit displayed here.
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