Scottish Live Music Highlights: March 2022

OK, March is overwhelmingly busy with non-stop high calibre shows. In Glasgow, things get underway with what is sure to be a highly emotional, not to mention empowering, set from Self Esteem as Rebecca Lucy Taylor and co bring last year’s incredible Prioritise Pleasure to Glasgow’s QMU (1 Mar). The days that follow are set to be similarly life-giving with Shygirl (St Luke’s, 2 Mar), Yard Act (Mono, 3 Mar), Emma-Jean Thackray (Broadcast, 4 Mar), Laura Mvula (Oran Mor, 5 Mar) and Yves Tumor (The Garage, 6 Mar).

As the month rolls on, there’s no slowing down. Nilüfer Yanya brings her exciting new record Painless to St Luke’s on 10 March before Dream Wife swing by on 22 March with Lucia & The Best Boys in tow, followed by Walt Disco later in the month (30 Mar). SWG3 boasts a staggering array of world class shows too, with Glasgow synth-pop trio CHVRCHES kicking off the onslaught on 12 March ahead of shows from Tirzah (13 Mar), Cate Le Bon (17 Mar), the hopefully upright-by-then Lucy Dacus (20 Mar), Griff (28 Mar) and Warmduscher (31 Mar).

Elsewhere in Glasgow, catch MF DOOM collaborator Bishop Nehru at Broadcast (16 Mar), The Ninth Wave and Japanese Breakfast at QMU on 27 and 29 March respectively, Michael Timmons at King Tut’s (26 Mar), and back-to-back wonderment at the Barrowlands at the end of the month from Thundercat (29 Mar) and JPEGMAFIA (30 Mar).

Two festivals of note can also be found in the weej this month in the form of Sonica (10-22 Mar) and Counterflows (31 Mar-4 Apr). The biennial Sonica boasts music this year from Penelope Trappes, Solareye (Stanley Odd) and Ela Orleans, while you’ll find the likes of Still House Plants, Brìghde Chaimbeul and MC Yallah and Debmaster at Counterflows at the end of the month.

CHVRCHES can also be found in Dundee (Fat Sams, 10 Mar) and Edinburgh (O2 Academy, 14 Mar); Bishop Nehru also swings by Sneaky’s (17 Mar), while Yard Act and Shygirl can be found in The Caves (2 and 4 March). The Queen’s Hall play host to some beauts too with Villagers (7 Mar) and the incomparable Nitin Sawhney (20 Mar) found either side of the brand new AMPLIFI series which shines a spotlight on Scotland’s Black and POC artists. Brownbear, Paix and Bee Asha play the first night on 16 March. Rounding things out in Edinburgh, The Maccabees’ frontman Orlando Weeks brings his latest solo LP Hop Up to The Mash House on 11 March, while Seattle’s experimental hip-hop outfit Shabazz Palaces set phasers to stun at the Voodoo Rooms on the 24th.