overpass prove an electric presence at sold out Glasgow gig
The Birmingham band’s ‘From the Night’ Tour is upstart indie at its finest.
Photo: Olivia Ross
With on-stage magnetism, effortless style and a knack for euphoric indie anthems, Birmingham indie rockers overpass have made their presence known across the UK with a string of binge-worthy singles. They are a band who are undeniably moving from strength to strength in the studio, yet it’s when the four-piece get on-stage that their musical vision really comes to life.
Thursday, at Glasgow’s King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, marked the only Scottish date on overpass’ From the Night Tour. But a night is all the band needed to confirm to Scotland’s city of music that they’re worth the hype.
Taking to the stage in a reserved, unassuming fashion, you almost wouldn’t believe the confidence that emanated from the four-piece as soon as the first notes of Alright were strummed. Energy trickled out from the band’s guitar strings, immediately sweeping the young audience into the moment beneath the dazzling lights, with hard core fans going hard at the front and a few main character moments happening at the back.
Tracks from the band’s debut EP proved early on just how far the band have come. The live sound mixing achieved an impressive balance of sound that allowed overpass’ new sense of sonic maturity to shine through on songs like From the Night and Stay Up, whilst also easily working the young crowd into a baby frenzy.
However, it’s on the band’s latest (unreleased) creation that you really saw the progress they’ve made. Following on from a rousing rendition of their debut single One Night Lover (which just about everyone knew all the words to), overpass stunned with new song Like No Other.
New tracks don’t always go down well at gigs – people want the classics; people want to sing – but there was not a single person in that sweaty room who didn’t want to hear that song. Like No Other is a proper indie treat with an anthemic chorus and some insanely smooth vocals, so it’s sure to be a staple in the band’s setlist going forward and should definitely be on everyone’s radar as we eagerly anticipate its release.
In keeping with this euphoric soundscape, Max Newy (vocals/guitar) and India Armstrong (bass) made sure to continue to bring the excitement to the stage on Wide Eyed and Beautiful, interacting with the audience, with each other, and with the biggest smiles on their faces. You can tell they’re still just having fun with what they’re doing, still humbled by the band’s recent success, and clearly not wanting to take any of these moments for granted.
But it was business as usual for guitarist Elliot Rawlings and drummer Jake Bishop, whose stoicism brought a calmness to the band’s sky-high indie anthems – though I think it’s safe to say they both felt the same way as the on-stage extroverts.
It’s this ability to play so comfortably with each other, with no hierarchy of spoken order that really makes overpass’ live presence what it is. It’s like a group of friends playing tunes for their mates. The crowd’s on exactly the same wavelength as the band and everyone’s just there for a good time. Max in particular took every opportunity to work the crowd, earning Scotland’s ‘here we go’ and ‘one more tune’ chants in return – a high honour for any band on the Glasgow scene and incredibly well-deserved in this case.
overpass are a technically brilliant band whose sound really flourishes in a live environment. Their brand of euphoric indie is made for these intimate live venues. Larger than life crowd pleasers like Right Time, Otherside of Midnight and 3AM got the bubbling crowd jumping, singing, and dancing and left the gig on an electric high that was pretty hard to come down from.
If I’ve worked one thing out from Thursday night, it’s that an overpass gig is something you need to witness in an intimate venue because, with their current track record, it won’t be long before they hit the big leagues.