Stag & Dagger 2019
May 06
When: 6 May 2019
Where: Broadcast, CCA, The Garage, The Garage G2, The Garage Attic, Banditti Secret Club Stage [St Stephen’s Church], Nice N Sleazy, The Priory, Firewater
Band Seen: Hollow Hand, Jack Brotherhood, Just Mustard, Audiobooks, Press Club, Voodoos, Honeyblood, Heavy Rapids, Dream Wife, The Ninth Wave, Rascalton, Goat Girl, TVAM, Pregoblin. And at previous day’s warm up: Scarlett Randle, Conor Heafey, Ellis, Night Flight
My first time at the Stag & Dagger festival which aims to highlight up and coming bands. It is great value for money – my early bird ticket was just £20 – showcasing more than 60 bands, including the two warm up nights at Broadcast. Moe than half are Scottish based (with a heavy bias towards Glasgow) but bands from Australia, Canada, Ireland, USA, Norway and Holland also give it an international flavour. And the musical platae is also wide: punk, electro, noise rock, psych folk, indie rock, alt country, and dream pop are just some of the styles served up.
The venues are all within a very short distance of each other on Sauchiehall Street – the longest walk (5 minutes at most!) was to the one venue not on Sauchiuehall – the Banditti Secret Stage at the hall attached to St. Stephen’s Church on Bath Street (and in all honesty not the best music venue). Almost half the gigs take place at Broadcast and the three venues within The Garage (which is just on the other side of the road from Broadcast).
I also went to the Saturday warm up gig in Broadcast (there was also one on Friday) partly to pick up my wristband early, which also gave free entry to the warm up gig. And it was worth it, especially for Canadian band Ellis (sort of fuzzy dream pop/rock) and headliners Night Flight (they have late60s/70s vibe with a modern twist – and great harmonies guys!).
The main day is long – I was there at the start at 2pm Broadcast for a good set from Hollow Hand but didn’t quite make it to the end at 3am – I bailed after Pregoblin’s set at just after 1am, leaving a hardy (and younger!) bunch of about 30. The first three sets were all at Broadcast (capacity 100) and even at 2pm it was fairly full and by 4.30pm (by when Nice N Sleazy was also hoisting bands) there were queues to get into the venue. An hour later they were gone as other venues came on stream. And finally, as the evening wore on the three largest venues, the CCA, The Garage (700 capacity) , and the (not-so) Secret Club Stage, all opened their doors.
The organisation of the festival was fairly impressive as the organisers had tried to ensure that the venues each hosted bands of a particular or similar styles and so punters who were really into that style of music could spend a lengthy time in one venue.
And what of the bands? Nearly all I saw went down really well with their audience and, especially given ticket prices, I’m sure most if not all punters really felt they got value for money. The festival also highlighted just what a vibrant, and diverse, music scene Glasgow itself has.
My favourite sets were those by Jack Brotherhood (emotive songs, great band, committed frontman), the stylised and unusual (in both band composition and songs) Audiobooks, a full on Heavy Rapids, Dream Wife (brilliant!), and the electro pulses (and video show) of TVAM.
Stag and Dagger was a great experience and lived up to its remit of show casing new and up coming bands. Its a sign of a good festival that logistically I could not see al those I wanted to (for example, Chuchoter, HYYTS, Gently Tender, Pip Blom). Bring on next year!
0 comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks