Japanese Breakfast @ Barrowlands, Glasgow, 30 Jun
Fresh from their sparkling Glastonbury debut, Japanese Breakfast bring an infectious, dazzling energy to their Glasgow gig that has an entranced crowd hanging on their every note
When Japanese Breakfast take the stage, all eyes are on frontwoman Michelle Zauner, illuminated by a hazy orange glow. We're braced for an anthemic opening track, but met with a gentle, fairytale introduction to their March studio album For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), with Here is Someone transitioning into the hypnotic Orlando in Love.
Zauner is a charismatic host, bantering with the audience to guide us through a 20-track setlist. From mournful ballads to cinematic indie-rock, tonight showcases the entire album all while honouring long-established fan favourites. Zauner’s first chat with the crowd is not a generic greeting but rather a perplexing and amusing anecdote about discovering a ghost in Glasgow. A puzzled audience is plunged into darkness before red lights give way to the insistent chords of Honey Water.
Bar the occasional glint of a phone, the crowd lives firmly in the present, remaining as transfixed and attentive as they were during Minhwi Lee’s ethereal folk opening set. Zauner’s stage presence is palpable as she wills fans at the barrier to meet her gaze, communicating through the secret language of her lyrics. The audience is quick to match her irresistible enthusiasm and let loose during crowd pleasers Be Sweet and Slide Tackle.
This intimate, cosy gig is simultaneously a spectacle, with blazing red and green lights conveying the bitterness in Road Head and misty pink and blue for the hauntingly beautiful Boyish. For the latter, spinning lights illuminate the stars and disco balls dotting the ceiling, and the Barrowland Ballroom becomes a prom-style dancefloor with a swaying audience captivated by wistful harmonies. What's more, the entire band shines; saxophone solos in Slide Tackle and The Body Is a Blade add to the cinematic sound, building on their studio counterparts.
During Paprika, a song about the irreplaceable magic of live music, theatrics reach new heights through Zauner’s trusty gong, while quieter, stripped-back songs feel like a direct conversation between Zauner and the audience. We're spellbound by her voice in Magic Mountain, which she declares as her favourite and the best track on the album – even if we are yet to realise it.
Before the band have even left the stage, the crowd is impatient for their return, which they oblige with a glorious four-song encore, complete with surprise track Everybody Wants to Love You! The mesmerising, almost seven-minute-long closer Diving Woman builds and builds upon the crowd’s undying energy with whirring distorted guitars. After the lights go up and Zauner sashays her way off the stage in true party fashion, we exit to Donald Where's Your Troosers?, a comical nod to tonight's audience and a whimsical close to the band's stunning one-night stop in Scotland.