Music
Slowdive
Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow
*****
“It’s f*****g quiet in here”, Neil Halstead mentions a few songs in to Slowdive’s long overdue Barrowlands debut to a sold out, half-comatose public, mute in the face of their trance-inducing shoegaze majesty.
Others appeared to levitate above the famous sprung dance floor as - a smiling - Rachel Goswell and co meandered through a set composed of material from latest release ‘Everything is Alive’ and their 2017 self-titled comeback album, alongside classics from their 1993 opus Souvlaki.
With an appreciable absence of phones held aloft, ears, bodies and minds absorbed Slowdive’s now well-oiled machinery in full flow as Halstead and Goswell’s sublime vocals floated above their gloriously loud, distorted wall of sound.
Enchanting opener Shanty, the climatic scorched guitars of Star Roving and the sonic bombardment of Catch The Breeze - with blinding strobes to boot - was followed by the woozy Skin In The Game, meditative Chained to A Cloud and celestial Kisses, intertwined with the instant nostalgia-inducing Souvlaki Space Station, Avalyn and a blissful one-two-three punch of Alison, When The Sun Hits and 40 days.
Having reached cruise speed, an encore of the sublime Sugar For The Pill and emotive Dagger set us on a collision course with the stars above as they finished with a mesmerizing Golden Hair, complete with visuals of Syd Barrett transitioning into Sid James (!).
Prior to leaving the stage, Goswell reminded us that Slowdive would be returning to Glasgow soon-ish for Mogwai’s self-curated Big City Festival in June, if we can piece ourselves together again to be shattered then soothed once more by a band who just keep getting better.
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