DYLAN JOHN THOMAS // BARROWLAND BALLROOM, GLASGOW
Glasgow’s very own ‘ Dylan John Thomas ‘ returns to legendary Barrowland Ballroom for two-sold out shows following his appearance back in April earlier this year.
★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
On Wednesday 7th December, Glaswegian superstar Dylan John Thomas performed an exciting showing to a sold out Barrowland Ballroom crowd. This show, which was the first of a double header, was his third time playing at the iconic Glasgow venue: supporting Ocean Colour Scene on one occasion, and headlining the other. The 25-year-old singer was joined by fellow Glaswegian, Murdo Mitchell, on the bill, following on from his support of Luke La Volpe the night prior.
“It’s gonna be absolutely bouncing” were the words Dylan said the night prior to the gig. He certainly wasn’t wrong. Almost every song was belted out practically word-for-word by the hugely excitable and youthful crowd, many who purchased ‘DJT’ wigs from the merchandise stand, with mosh pits forming all over the venue throughout the entirety of the show.
Murdo Mitchell opened the evening with another superb set backed by his full band. He performed a plethora of his own impressive material, as well as a cover of ‘Take Me Out’ by Franz Ferdinand to get the crowd going before the headline act. He also showed his appreciation for ‘DJT’, mentioning that they’d been close since the busking days.
After a short delay, the singer finally took to the stage. The noise of adoring fans screaming, and chanting ‘Oh Dylan John Thomas’ and ‘No Dylan, No Party’ was matched by their word-perfect singing of ‘Jenna’ - one of his biggest songs, that he opened with.
Accompanied by copies of The Kooks’ ‘Sometimes’, Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ were a series of John Thomas’ original hits. Songs that particularly stood out in terms of fan reaction were ‘Fever’, ‘Feel the Fire’ and ‘Wake Up Ma’. The last of which is an emotional story about his days growing up in foster care, which he has been open about in several interviews.
From birth, music has been a major part of his life, as he is named after Bob Dylan, who is often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Now, as a well-selling artist, he receives comparison to fellow Scot, Gerry Cinnamon. However, the music that Dylan plays is entirely different, and he is building his own path to become one of the biggest and best artists from Scotland.
Although arguably still underrated, he is certainly on people’s radar within music - previously supporting the likes of Sam Fender, Stereophonics, and Liam Gallagher at various shows.
Following on from his last performances at this year’s TRNSMT Festival, the artist toured the country over the past few weeks, and concluded with a second showing at the Barrowlands on the 8th December.
Future dates are yet to be confirmed, however, they’ll be sure to be just as exciting as the last when they are.