Live Review

The Duke Spirit – King Tut’s, Glasgow

• 27th May 2011

The Duke Spirit rocked King Tut’s with a show that was full of quality and featured a stellar performance from lead singer Liela Moss. This is a band on the cusp of great things.

ANR, a synth rock duo from Miami, played an interesting set to start the night. Michael Hancock plays drums and is the lead vocalist while Brian Robertson plays a variety of keyboards. Their sound ranged from hard rock to more psychedelic tracks and they used a lot of echo on the mics to create some interesting effects. Different but enjoyable.

Hardcore band The Computers from Exeter were next. With the band members dressed in all white they created an angelic image that didn’t quite match their music, which was fast and loud. These boys have amazing energy and put on a fine show. Lead singer Alex Kershaw played to the crowd and then spent much of the set playing in the crowd. Even those who were not keen on the music couldn’t fail to be impressed by their act.

The Duke Spirit took to the stage one by one, with the biggest reception reserved, of course, for Liela Moss. The stage lights went down and the set kicked off in the dark with Into The Fold. But the spotlight was soon on Moss, literally and figuratively, as she gyrated and danced while her vocals captivated the large crowd. Talk about stage presence!

The set started at a blistering pace, with old songs blended with those from the forthcoming album Bruiser. Northbound was delivered passionately and seductively, a slightly slower track that has a blues feel to it. And Don’t Wait, also from the new album, had a tender side to it.

It is perhaps easy to describe The Duke Spirit as Liela Moss and a backing band, but that would be unfair to a fine group of musicians. Luke Ford and Toby Butler on the guitars created an edgy indie groove that never faltered while Olly Betts on drums and bassist Mark Sallis set a thumping beat throughout the set.

Moss took to the electric piano for another new song, Villain. This slower ballad demonstrated that she is more than just a rock singer as the vocals were haunting and beguiling in equal measures.

But then it was back to the rockers, with favourites The Step And The Walk and Hello To The Floor, complete with harmonica ending, raising the temperature as the band played hard and fast while Moss commanded the attention with all of the self confidence and energy at her disposal.

The set ended much too quickly. The closing Cuts Across The Land was full of cutting guitar and pounding drums as Moss raised the mic stand above her head one last time while the music built to a frenetic finale.

Minutes later the band was back on stage for the encore that their performance demanded. The energy levels were as high as ever as fan favourite Red Weather was belted out in tremendous fashion. The demand for more was still there but time had run out and there was an audible sigh when the house lights came up.

The Duke Spirit have created a reputation as an entertaining live band and it was not hard to see why. Their combination of fine songs, top class music and Liela Moss is hard to beat. The eagerly awaited new album should see more UK dates later in the year. That will be a tour not to be missed.