The mood lighting in the basement of Stereo is well set up prior to Magic Eye taking the stage.
The low, ethereal lights are a good indication of what is to come from the support and as is the Bjork track leading into the set.
Consisting of two guitarists and a vocalist along with computer based backing tracks this combo perform an ethereal music with a soaring guitar accompaniment reminiscent of Grangemouth’s finest, The Cocteau Twins but with a little less bass, overdubbing and fuzz.
The Magic Eye set is low key but very workman like, from this performance it seems that the band are in the early stages of crafting their stage show as there is a minimal amount of authority about this performance.
The set is efficient but there is no outstanding song to excite the crowd that had started to gather for the main act.
During the break the multi-national crowd gather with eager anticipation of the main act, even the final sound check draws a buzz of excitement from the growing throng.
When Wild Nothing appear the crowd are immediately rewarded, it had been two years since they played Glasgow and it doesn’t take them long to get used to the atmosphere again.
Wild Nothing showed a practiced stagecraft and an excellent level of musicianship that keeps the crowd enthralled all the way through the gig.
While there is no stand out tracks in their set, the band seems to be on the edge of something a bit bigger and certainly have a strong fan base that will follow them to all sorts of places.
There doesn’t seem to be any immediate parallels that can be drawn to any other bands but the live performance is significantly more upbeat than studio offerings.
Certainly a crowd-pleasing performance but some killer tracks are needed to lift this band to the next stage.
Words/photo: Neil Donaldson
