Twin Atlantic – Leeds The Wardrobe –
‘POWER’ Launch Show – 28/01/20
The last week has been an incredibly special one for Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic, as on 24th January they released their 5th studio album ‘Power’ and have celebrated with a number of intimate shows and signings across the UK.
Fans que through the bar at The Wardrobe in Leeds grasping their copy of the album, waiting with anticipation to enter the room below to see some of their favourite new songs live for the first time. It’s the type of show that you wouldn’t expect to see Twin Atlantic play as they could sell out venues with thousands opposed to hundreds, however in March the band have a full UK tour booked in so for now it’s a great opportunity to test drive some new material and get direct feedback from the fans after the show.
With the show only being an album launch party there is no support nor does the setlist delve into double figures of Twin Atlantic hits, but the set does mix in some of our favourites alongside some huge tracks from the new album ‘Power’.
They take the stage to the synth pop sound of new album opener ‘Oh! Euphoria!’ as the band are greeted with almighty cheers before complete silence as everyone takes in the new song live for the first time. It’s very distant from what you would expect from Twin Atlantic, however it holds a little more excitement with a slightly new direction with the guitars dialled back a little.
A newer one we’re more familiar with follows in the form of ‘Novocaine’, the bands first single from ‘Power’ which is right up our street. With driven drums and riffs it’s infectious and has us bounce along in no time, whilst the frontman Sam McTrusty frees his mic from the stand and ventures down to the barrier beneath him in arms distance to get up close with the crowd.
Keeping with the pace, fan favourites from previous albums ‘No Sleep’ and ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’ keep us all thoroughly engaged in the show, yet somehow also begging for more new material at the same time because lets face it, we’re all here to see what the new Twin Atlantic has to offer.
With that said new track ‘Volcanos’ follows with its funky bass line and explosive chorus helping us lift our feet off the ground once again. Those of us who caught the band announce their return last summer at Leeds Festival we were treated to Volcanos as a teaser of what to expect from the new album. It didn’t disappoint then, and it certainly doesn’t now.
Wedged between ‘Brothers & Sisters’ and set closer ‘Heart and Soul’, their latest single ‘Barcelona’ is the last of the new material for the night and it goes down a treat with the Leeds crowd. Chatting to some of the crowd before the show there’s many new fans who have heard the new single and fallen in love with the Scottish rockers, so they are certainly still turning heads with their new direction of music.
It’s a great little show to bed us into the new chapter of Twin Atlantic and have a chat with the band at the signing after the show. It does still leave us ready for the big shows quickly approaching. Will they throw in many more from the new album, or will they play it safe as they did tonight by not delving too far into their new direction?
Only time will tell, but either way we won’t be missing it for the world.
