Live Review

Miniature Dinosaurs – Stereo, Glasgow

• 2nd Nov 2012

Stirling based indie-pop band Miniature Dinosaurs launched their new Turn It On EP in fine style last night with a very entertaining set in Glasgow. A large crowd, fuelled by free lemonade shots on arrival, enjoyed a typically lively and fast paced set, along with good support from two other Scottish bands, who were invited to play by the headliners.

The Alter-Natives opened up the evening. The very young band from Port Glasgow (three of the four members are still at school!) play strong indie music and have some good melodic songs. The slower Glimmers Of Hope and upbeat single Mistakes Don’t Underestimate, which featured some fine lead guitar work, were the highlights of a decent set. There are rough edges as you would expect, but plenty of promise too. I’ll be interested to see how they progress from here.

Brown Bear and the Bandits from Troon in Ayrshire are a very talented young trio who always play highly energetic live sets. For a band that has only been together for a year or so they have great confidence on stage and play off each other superbly. After several summer festival appearances they have been in the studio and had several new songs to show off, which they did to great effect. One bluesy rocker, so new that it doesn’t even have a name yet, went down very well, as did the opening Sail Away. It was another fine performance and with new material coming through this is a band with a big future.

Miniature Dinosaurs started their set with Lemonade, a past single which is also on the new EP. A synth sets the scene before the guitars kick in along with Barry Maclean’s strong, deep vocals. I’m sure he is tired of the Edwin Collins comparisons by now, but there is a real similarity there, and that’s a compliment.

As well as new songs the band mixed in some older tracks to the set, all with the strong melodies and lovely hooks that make them such an engaging live act. Home Is Home is a great pop song while Pretty Good View is slower and passionate.

New recruit Andrew McAllister, who only joined the band over the summer on guitar and synth, adds a lot to the sound with his strong lead work, while the energetic Alban Dickson on bass and backing vocals and powerful drummer Sam Waller round out the four piece line up. Miniature Dinosaurs have a good stage presence and work well together as a band.

The EP’s title track Turn It On was a real highlight. The song about malfunctioning mobile phones has a stop-start tempo and the strong vocals added to some nice lead guitar work make it an excellent live track. Then it was straight into Cold Shoulder, a past single and clear fan favourite, which features a strong bass line.

The set closed with a hard rocking Right Back At You and past single Fight Or Flight, a fast paced track with a big chorus that had many singing along. It was a good way to end a fine set. Unfortunately there was no encore, as I’m sure the large crowd would have liked another song or two.

Miniature Dinosaurs have a great reputation as a fine live band with a growing catalogue of inspiring and lively indie-pop songs. Their entertaining sets are now bringing them to the attention of a wider audience and the new EP launched here should result in more media attention. They deserve it.

Venue: Stereo, Glasgow
Support Band: The Alter-Natives, Brown Bear And The Bandits