Fatherson, straight out of Kilmarnock, have been making a few waves lately. One of those bands that you always hear about but have never listened to, we went along to the QMU on Saturday night to see what all the fuss was about.
The night started out with Sunshine Social, a six-piece from Glasgow who warmed up the night with their relatively accomplished sound and, even though their set was marred by technical difficulties, brushed them off and produced a great performance. A nice combination of acoustic and electric, solid vocals and some genuinely interesting music including a full minute (at least) of drumming to round off the set, every member of the band with their own snare - these guys were a pleasant surprise.
Next up was the real disappointment of the night, a band called Pronto Mama. Completely unlikeable in their stage presence, the whole thing was just so cloyingly amateur that it didn’t sit well with the quality and relative professionalism of the other 2 bands. It was “battle of the bands” type of stuff, and didn’t have much place on this stage. Another six piece, musically they have potential, with some electronic influences, a brass section and a pinch of shouting. On the rare occasion that they let either the brass or the keyboard lead the track, it actually approached pleasant, but these moments were few and far between, and what filled the gaps was extremely generic.
Headliners Fatherson bounced onto stage about 30 minutes later with their anthemic rock. They were very accomplished, but to someone who had never listened to them before this gig, it was all a bit samey. It’s always difficult going to the gig of a completely unknown band to you, as the sounds which are so easily distinguishable to a fan can sound like a muddy mess to an untrained ear. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt though, given the incredible crowd that was out in force to see them, singing along to every single word with the kind of fanaticism not often seen at smaller gigs. The band themselves were pretty taken aback by the strength of the audience, commenting on a number of occasions how thankful they were for the support. So that was nice. Their stage presence was great, the bassist visibly enjoying himself throughout which is something I always love to see and, all in all, it was a solid, polished, entertaining performance.
Fatheron’s debut record “I Am An Island” comes out early next year. You can follow them on Facebook to keep up to date.
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