Up three flights of brightly lit, industrial, spiral stairs, we’re nearly running because we’ve spent a bit too long at the Crystal Palace Spoons next door before the show. It’s a bit jarring to be in such a bright and liminal place before an indie rock show, a space often characterised by low lighting and an energetically rapt focus. And at the top of our climb, this energy is finally delivered. The room is dimly lit and loud, filled with foggy guitar. Reaching the main room of Glasgow’s Classic Grand right as the music starts, we can’t see the band anywhere – the stage, like the rest of the room, is occupied with shoulder-to-shoulder audience members. Moving further forward, however, we see the band are within the crowd, playing on the floor, in the round, bringing the whole of the room to beautiful cohesion. For my friend and me, both just barely over 5-feet tall, this situation makes it slightly difficult to see the band, but we crane our necks just enough and appreciate the closeness and community that this setup brings.
The set itself is rather short, around 45 minutes. But all 45 are absolutely electric. Maybe I’m a little biased, given that this Philadelphia-based shoegaze indie-rock band is one of my current favourite acts, but bias aside, They are Gutting a Body of Water (TAGABOW)’s set really delivers. Especially notable is percussionist Ben Opatut, who holds his own in a role that, regretfully and all too often, gets lost amid instrumental overtones. Almost melodically so, Opatut’s percussion performance places him in complete instrumental equality with every other part of the band. On the topic of vocals, lead singer (and band founder) Doug Dulgarian is similarly fabulous. His actual vocals don’t vary much from the recorded tracks, but his live performance gives the music legs and a full-bodied three-dimensionality only achievable in the fleeting moments of an in-person concert. And what’s more, Dulgarian is incredibly friendly (a characteristic unpredictable in band frontmen). After the show, lights on and crowd dispersed, my friend and I went to meet Dulgarian, he made easy chat and happily accepted our mum-ish requests for post-gig selfies. The rest of the band is bassist Emily Lofing (a tall, heel-wearing, leopard-jacket-sporting, pink-haired icon) and guitarist PJ Carroll (sporting a casual zip-up hoodie and baseball cap).
The band plays several instrumental tracks, and many personal favourites from their recent album, LOTTO, most notably the set-ending ‘American Food,’ featuring a spoken intro that fades atmospherically into steady guitar and Opatut’s notably musical percussion, followed by three or four minutes the ominously repeated “Tell me there’s a better one / And I’ll go get my gun.”
The only disappointing aspect of this quick riot of a show is the lack of audience engagement. Though clearly rapt and passionate about the music, only a few people in the audience are actually dancing. Most people bob their heads, but the head-banging is minimal, and moshing and grooving are near-nonexistent (besides a refreshingly passionate group directly to our left, who bring a dose of nearly enough energy to supplement the rest of the Grand’s strange stagnation).
We end the night with our second Spoons trip of the evening, the only appropriate way to prepare for the hour-long train home, Glasgow’s Hengler’s Circus marking a perfect end to a bite-sized evening of tunes.
Image Credits: Eliana Harrick