Scottish Live Music Highlights: April 2025

While Glasgow festivals happening this month like Counterflows (3-6 Apr) and HOUSEGUEST (12 Apr) get some love in the full festivals guide in our April issue, fans of LOUD music should seek out Dundee Metal Fest at Beat Generator Live! (19 Apr). Back in Glasgow, check out the To Glasgow With Love x all-dayer at Mono (6 Apr), a Refuweegee fundraiser, or the Commotion Promotions All-Dayer with Sweaty Palms at The Rum Shack (16 Apr).

In between those, you'll find Record Store Day (12 Apr). Head to your favourite record shop, buy records, enjoy live music, have a lovely time. At the time of writing, not everyone has announced their plans yet, but in Edinburgh, so far VoxBox have announced they're going to return to St Vincent's Chapel with performances from Withered Hand, Bell Lungs, Haiver, Sarah/Shaun, Jill Lorean, Chrysanths and more, while in Leith Good Vibes are hosting an afternoon of live music at The False Widow with Lost Map Records featuring Curtis Miles, Town Centre, Dominic Hooper, R.AGGS and Isabella Strange. They're also co-hosting an after party with Supper Club at the Leith Cricket Club with live music from Health & Beauty, and all-vinyl DJ sets from DJ Ham, Arusa Qureshi and the Supper Club residents, of which I am one. Hi! Hello!

Keeping things local, Glasgow darkwave and electronic outfit Mercy Girl will be showcasing new tunes at The Hug & Pint (4 Apr) ahead of releasing an EP later in the year, pop provocateur Possibly Jamie will be doing similar at Nice N Sleazy a few days later (8 Apr), while VUKOVI's rescheduled My God Has Got a Gun show will take place at SWG3 (11 Apr). In Edinburgh, soulful R'n'B artist Nikhita celebrates her debut EP Solace at Whitespace (10 Apr), while Sacred Paws are set to bring their latest, Jump Into Life, to The Mash House on the 18th.

Back in Glasgow, Brooke Combe ends her Dancing At the Edge of the World tour at Barrowlands (19 Apr), her biggest Scottish headline show to date. The following night, Fiona Soe Paing brings her multimedia show Sand, Silt, Flint from Aberdeenshire to The Glad Cafe. A few days later, Glasgow political punks SOAPBOX bring their LOCK IN EP to The Glasgow School of Art (25 Apr), and Cloth launch Pink Silence at Mono (27 Apr), while in-between those, in Edinburgh Sarah/Shaun celebrate their latest EP, Someone's Ghost, at The Bongo Club (26 Apr), part of Hobbes Music’s 12th Birthday celebrations.

Consider also checking out The Red Numbers Project at Stereo (17 Apr), a collective of experimental musicians and composers set to perform Riley Mackenzie’s new longform, electronic dance composition Dreamsummer. In Edinburgh, our last local pick is Grrrl Crush (24 Apr), returning to the capital for one night only with a punk double bill from The Menstrual Cramps and The Twistettes.

When it comes to tours passing through, in Glasgow consider Olly Alexander and Jacob Alon (Barrowlands, 3 Apr), HotWax (Nice N Sleazy, 4 Apr), Sugababes (Hydro, 17 Apr), Chat Pile (QMU, 23 Apr) or Benefits (The Rum Shack, 29 Apr), while in Edinburgh catch Pigs x7 (La Belle Angele, 15 Apr), Maria Somerville (Sneaky Pete’s, 20 Apr) or Penelope Trappes with support from SHHE (The Queen’s Hall, 26 Apr).