Live Review

I Am Arrows – King Tut’s, Glasgow

• 20th Sep 2010

I Am Arrows is the solo project of former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows. He brought his band to Glasgow as part of a UK tour to promote debut album The Sun Comes Up Again, after recently supporting Muse at both Stade De France and Wembley Stadium.

There were two support bands. Firstly, Glasgow’s Fiction Faction provided a decent set full of tremolo heavy guitar solos and edgy vocals that gave a punk edge to their sound.

And then David J Roch entertained with his atmospheric brand of semi acoustic rock. His voice is clearly the dominant instrument, and he showed his power and range ably, often with minimal instrumental backing.

I Am Arrows came on stage around 10:45, meaning a rather shorter set than most of the lively Sunday night crowd would have liked. The opening tack of the album, the California tinged Nun was the first song and from the start a relaxed groove was established.

Andy Burrows clearly isn’t just a drummer turned singer. He plays guitar and keyboards with a real feel for subtlety but with occasional flair. And he is comfortable in the spotlight, joking with the crowd and even leaving the stage to dance with his fans.

Burrows wrote and recorded all the tracks on the album by himself, playing every instrument. For the tour he is ably backed by a band comprising his younger brother Ben on bass along with Adam Chetwood (guitar), Nick Hill (guitar) and Ben Chetwood (drums). They backed him well, staying in the shadows most of the time.

The set was understandably heavy on the album he is promoting, with Hurricane and Nice Try demonstrating Burrows’ soulful voice on tracks that have a pop feel but with a seventies Soul undercurrent. The one cover version of the night saw the Tears For Fears hit Everybody Wants to Rule The World played in a manner true to the original.

The final track was Green Grass, the album’s first single, telling of an errant lover leaving London for LA. Burrows and his band left the stage to a fine ovation, with the crowd wanting more. But the house lights went on and it was not to be.

Andy Burrows has talent; there is no doubt about that. He has made the transition from the drum stool to centre stage look easy and his strong, soulful voice gives him a modern sound that will suit the charts as well as the stage.

This was his first ever visit to King Tut’s, he told us, and hopefully it won’t be the last.