The Twilight Sad @ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 29 Nov
The Twilight Sad's first Edinburgh show in almost four years is incredibly special and one that won't be forgotten for a long time
The connection between band and crowd is immediately obvious after the first song, There's a Girl in the Corner, when the applause gets gradually louder for about a minute, cutting off whatever James Graham wants to say and forcing the band to simply start the next song – another barn burner – That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy.
Graham is incensed from the word go, gyrating and hopping around the stage with a deranged energy, while the band create a fearsome wall of noise upon which he can splatter proclamations about the various miserabilia that make up The Twilight Sad's lyrical interests. The show proceeds smoothly through songs from each album, with a healthy smattering from forthcoming album, It Won/t Be Like This All the Time, including a particularly impressive VTr.
But then comes fan-favourite The Wrong Car, beginning a half-hour stretch that pushes the show from great to outstanding. Following an excitable rendition of the prior song comes a cover of Frightened Rabbit's Keep Yourself Warm, during which Graham is, uncharacteristically, almost completely still, becoming gradually more and more overcome with emotion. Looking around the room, it's clearly a feeling shared with those assembled as words are shouted back between the wiping of eyes. It's an expansive moment, one that beautifully pays tribute without the need for explanation, a communal celebration tinged with inevitable sadness. "We did him proud," Graham manages quickly, through visible tears.
After that the mood is unalterably changed, bringing heightened emotion to the final Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters favourites Cold Days from the Birdhouse and And She Would Darken the Memory. The latter is played with a manic fervour, light and sound pouring from the stage as the band give everything they've got left. Physically and mentally drained they make their exits after an extended outro, Graham pausing to give yet more thanks, a final moment of mutual appreciation before this special night is over.