Live Review

The Mars Patrol – King Tut’s, Glasgow

• 20th Aug 2011

The Mars Patrol treated a large crowd to a tremendous set filled with passion and inspiration, featuring a fabulous lighting display, in Glasgow last night.

The first of three local support acts was The Colourful Band. The night got off to a bad start for the indie/ folksters as sound problems meant the acoustic guitar had to be ditched. For most of the set the lead singer coped well on electric, without his lead guitarist. Some songs did sound like they were written for the acoustic though; the excellent Stars falls into this category. It was a decent performance in the circumstances.

Rockers Endeavour came down from Dundee and brought a large, and vocal, travelling support with them. Opening with the anthemic All For Nothing they gave an energetic performance and showed with the slower You Say When that they have some subtlety in their armoury too. A powerful set was much enjoyed by their fans.

DirtyFace from Paisley have an uptempo indie sound, based around powerful drumming and a lead singer with good, emotional delivery. Their two guitarists added some nice fills as well as serving up plenty of melodic hooks. The opening Wishing Well and Remember The Times were the highlights of an entertaining set.

The Mars Patrol took to a darkened stage and the opening chords of Started With A Kiss were heard before the lights came on. From the beginning there was a wonderful dynamism to the performance, the band immediately kicking into high gear. What If followed immediately, lead singer Davina Divine standing front and centre as she belted out the lyrics in fine style.

The band’s rock sound has a solid foundation, with drummer Lewis Searle and Stephen Parker on bass both playing forcefully, while the keyboards of Matt Baker were prominent throughout. The twin guitars of Ross Nelson and James Williamson added the flair with both showing they know how to play fast solos.

Hit The Lights was excellent, starting slowly as the audience clapped along, before the guitars and then the vocals came in. Divine’s delivery here was clipped, the short phrases spat out with a passion. Coming Home brought the tempo down, a song that clearly means a lot to a band known for their frequent touring. This was an atmospheric and emotional track, and the crowd loved it.

The pace was immediately raised once more by the current single Shake It Up with its big chorus and the closing Yeah Yeah, delivered at a frenetic pace. The lights changed in a bewildering storm of colour as the music built to one final crescendo and the band left the stage. Despite pleading from the crowd there was no encore.

The Mars Patrol showed in this 45 minute set exactly why they have built a reputation as a fine live act. Good musicianship and an excellent lead vocalist combined with a hard working attitude made this a typically high quality performance from an excellent band.