BooHooHoo @ King Tut's, Glasgow, 12 Jan

Glasgow trio BooHooHoo impress on a packed King Tut's line-up as part of this year's New Year's Revolution series

Review by Iain Dallas | 17 Jan 2018

King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut continue their New Year’s Revolution showcase with a Friday night line-up featuring some of Scotland’s best up-and-coming acts, and the venue is packed out with Glasgow gig-goers showing no signs of the January blues.

Oh Jay open proceedings with their light country and blues-tinged offering. The band seem on the cusp of something good, which is a shame as the frontman announces mid-way through the set that this will sadly be their final performance. This doesn’t deter them from providing an adequate opening act for what is to come. 

Next up are Noah Noah, a four-piece equipped with a set of cleverly conceived emotive pop songs. With tight instrumentation and tasty guitar licks, buttressed by carnival-like trumpet, the band are able to transition from upbeat and positive to crushing melancholy at the drop of a hat. Thick as Thieves is a particular highlight of the set, which perfectly encapsulates this idea – an absolute triumph in songwriting with a genuinely stirring chorus. Their half-hour set flies by and it is no wonder that they are making headlines across the Scottish music scene.

The Little Kicks are next up – the four-piece are now on their fourth LP, and sit at the vanguard of some excellent bands that have come out of Aberdeen in recent years. Across their catalogue, they have developed a sophisticated sound that is underpinned by outstanding live performances, as displayed tonight. From the studied simplicity of Scott Kelman’s drumming to airtight harmonies from Adam Morrice and Andrew Corse that would put the Beach Boys to shame, this is a band packed with talent and experience on an upwards trajectory.

Frontman Steven Milne croons with a swarthy swagger that adds to the band’s deservedly self-assured performance. Their set comprises of songs from 2013’s Put Your Love in Front of Me and 2017’s Shake Off Your Troubles, with high-points coming in the form of Shake off... single You and Someone Like Me, and 70s disco-infused set-closers Heartbreak Parts I & II. The best band on the night, it's easy to imagine The Little Kicks performing on bigger stages to larger audiences in the future.

BooHooHoo takes to the stage as headliners and quickly crank the energy up with a set of electro-pop bangers. Noah Noah and The Little Kicks are tough acts to follow, but the headliners accept the challenge of finishing off proceedings with aplomb. BooHooHoo are clearly having fun as they perform exciting pop songs that would sound equally at home on Radio 1 as they do in Tut's tonight.

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Liz Kiyoko has a raw charisma on stage that elicits as much of a smile as their good-natured tunes. Single Mould Me, from 2016, and a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time are highlights of the set, as are the party vibes and robotic vocal of set-closer Hit the Ground Running. The audience leaves the venue with huge grins on their faces, which is BooHooHoo’s greatest strength; it’s refreshing to see such a fun and happy band.

Tonight is an outstanding evening of music bursting with talent – if it is anything to go by, 2018 is set to be a great year for the Scottish music scene.

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