Çarşamba 7 Mar 2012, 8:47

Often I go through phases of "Heck, I don't have a clue what my favourite music artists are doing at the moment, I should check their latest tour/album info". Usually this leads to me realising that my favourite bands are doing a mega tour of North America, or maybe I've missed a European date just a short while ago. Damnit. However, I usually end up finding out about a gig happening nearby that I'm interested in checking out - so I'm content.

Not this time. I go onto The Sounds website. A tour. Yus. Playing Ireland? No - but there's a date in Glasgow next month. Are there still tickets? Yes!! Buy, buy, buy. Book flights, will sort accommodation later. Woop. Wow, I've been waiting for a suitable chance to check out this band live for years and I can't wait. Luckily, I don't have to for long - just a short month OD'ing on their new album Something to die for and before I know it we're back in Scotland.

I'd never been to The Classic Grand before but I really enjoyed it as a venue. Not too large, nice atmosphere. Actually, since I'd waited to long for this event, I just assumed the place would be heaving. As it was the crowd was pretty small which I'd imagine was difficult for the band to get to grips with in the beginning. They didn't show it though. So we probably arrived 30 min after doors opened, which I usually find to be appropriate, but we never heard The Limousines play and I'm not sure if they played in this time, or not at all. I didn't know them before, but have checked them out since and I'm disappointed I missed them. We were entertained by the pumpin beats of Kids at the bar as a warm up. This was really enjoyable actually, and as they just had decks it meant the changover between themselves and The Sounds was really swift. Much appreciated.

With such a deep library of tunes to choose from at this stage, listening to The Sounds was like going on a journey. They mixed between old and new records, with Maja Ivarsson really keeping the crowd involved and in high spirits. She is certainly a crowd favourite, which shouldn't take away from the band as a whole. I think it's those amazing legs…and vocals, of course. I'm not sure what my highlight songs were as I enjoyed the electro beats of Something to die for, old favourite Living in America and the singalong to Night after Night. It did seem fitting to close the show off with (an awesome version) of Tony the Beat as it resurrected memories of first discovering this band while living in Scotland.

So thanks for visiting - don't be a stranger!