KODALINE // O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW
KODALINE PLAY SOLD-OUT PERFORMANCE AT GLASGOW'S O2 ACADEMY AHEAD OF THEIR APPEARANCE AT TRNSMT 2018
★★★★★ (5/5)
KODALINE PERFORMING AT GLASGOW'S O2 ACADEMY - 09/12/2017
PICTURE BY: PRODUCT OF GEORGE PHOTOGRAPHY
After being announced as one of the headline acts at next years TRNSMT festival Kodaline took to the 02 Academy in Glasgow with a strong and exciting performance. The Irish four piece had the venue packed right from the start of the evening with many people coming to watch the extremely talented support act, Aine Cahill. Apart from some technical difficulties throughout her set, she delivered a strong vocal performance which had hints of a Nina Nesbitt inspiration in some of her songs. Cahill's most famous and in my opinion her strongest song Blood Diamonds received a fantastic reaction from the crowd as she opened a wonderful evening of music.
As the night progressed and Kodaline entered the stage the crowd gave them a warm welcoming with a barrage of cheers, whistles and chants. The opening song 'Love like this' made sure the crowds anticipation was addressed from the start as the songs folk-rock vibe had the crowd singing and dancing in uncontrollable happiness. Garrigan then led the band straight into 'Brand New Day' a personal favourite of mine which kept the happy vibes flowing around the 02 Academy, people dancing with their partners and friends singing to along with one another.
The quality of the songs only got better as the evening progressed with Kodaline really finding their rhythm, the performance of 'Brother' was definitely a highlight of the night after being released earlier in the year as a single it has received a great response with already over twenty million streams on Spotify. The crowd sang back every word as if the song had been out for years, this was then followed up by 'Honest' which with its catchy chorus had the crowd harmonising with Garrigan.
After a pitch perfect performance of 'One Day' the Irish rockers played 'Raging' a song that they collaborated with Kygo on in 2016, this brought a fresh wave of energy to the crowd with shoulders swaying and heads bopping to the upbeat and fast paced song. The mood within the venue then swung with an emotional performance of 'High Hopes' which seemed to bring out all the couples within the crowd. Everyone used the lights on their phone to create a sea of torches which really created an atmosphere, emotions were high as Garrigan performed the song with what seemed absolute ease. As the set came to its end before the encore Kodaline invited Aine Cahill back on stage for 'a festive number' and teased the crowd with the first few chords of The Pogues 'Fairytale Of New York' before jumping in to the Christmas classic. With their Irish accents complimenting each other Garrigan and Cahill sang with smiles on their faces enjoying every second, Aine Cahill with a performance that Kirsty McColl herself would've been proud of. The crowd sang the last verse as Kodaline left the stage but they did not stay quiet, chanting 'All I want' Kodaline's most famous song and stamping their feet as if to entice the band back onto stage quicker.
Kodaline entered the stage for the last time that night with one of my performances of the year, Garrigan sang a perfect rendition of 'I wouldn’t be' which is the title of their latest EP. This performance left the crowd in shock and left us all with goosebumps as the harmonising vocals from the rest of the band complimented Garrigan's performance. The crowd fell into a comfortable silence as the song progressed with the passion oozing out of the Irish folk kings. After an outstanding performance there was only one song that Kodaline could end the night with, the crowds favourite 'All I want'. The crowd somehow managed to out sing Garrigan with every member of the audience belting out every word with every bit of emotion and passion inside them. Garrigan turned his mic around and let the audience take over as he stood with a smile as wide as the venue. They ended with some exciting and loud guitar riffs before thanking the crowd for everything and leaving the stage to a strong ovation.
One of the performances of the year and are a band I would recommend going to see at Glasgow Green next summer, an exciting band with a mixture of upbeat and emotional songs. A great evening of music in Glasgow.