Concert: Young Fathers
Venue: Glasgow O2 Academy
Date: 3 March 2023

The gig was in the throes of being over, the band exiting the stage one at a time, the drummer having upending his kit to the delight of the crowd, only Graham “G” Hastings remained. With the sound of feedback set against flashing lights, he stares defiantly out at the Glasgow crowd. Defiant yet, knowingly, triumphant. Why? Well, the Young Fathers had just smashed it, playing the first of two sold out Glasgow shows which had left the crowd spent, gone, done in having witnessed what will surely be one of THE gigs of the year. 

The band – Hastings, Alloysious Massaquoi and Kayus Bankole, were accompanied by two fantastic backing singers, the drummer and a multi-instrumentalist. They put on a show that just got better and better. 

The gig encompassed soul, hip hop, gospel, dance, acid jazz and a whole lot more besides, in ninety minutes of frenetic, edgy, exhilarating music. There was so much going on it was difficult to focus on one member at any one point, the band completely owned the stage and drove forward the show with some top tunes.

Freefalling set the scene from the get-go, before a pulsing Queen Is Dead took the breath away. Drum from the new album, Heavy Heavy, was elevated in the live environment, while Bankole seemed determined to cover every inch of the stage. He moved from one side to the next, interacting with Hastings and Massaquoi as well as the two backing singers. 

So many highlights, so many moments, though a special mention for Rice, I Saw and Geronimo which were off the scale. Of course, the set-closing Toy was special as outlined in the opening paragraph. There was no room for an encore, quite frankly, how could they follow that?  

If you get a chance to see them, do it. You will be in for an absolute treat. Keep up to date with the Young Fathers via their website here. 

 John Welsh
@welshjb

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