Glasgow's Sauchiehall St. played host once more to one of Scotland's most anticipated music events of the year, Stag and Dagger. On any other sunny Sunday, the beer gardens and parks of Glasgow would be packed, but here it was the basements and back rooms grabbing the limelight.
Showcasing a mixture of hotly-tipped Scottish and UK acts with established names, there was an eagerness to catch some bands for the first time and enjoy a heavy dose of nostalgia with others. To save you scrolling through a thousand words, Mockit Music's Stewart Ryan, David Campbell and special contributor Graeme Allan have decided to collate their thoughts into a few quickfire categories, so here goes:
Ones to Watch:
SR: Sway, The Dunts, The Shambolics, Sheafs, Calva Louise
DC: Pleasure Heads, Vida, Yassassin
GA: The Dunts, BlackWaters, Shambolics, Calva Louise
Catch Live ASAP
SR: The Dunts
DC: BlackWaters
GA: Calva Louise
Best Band
SR: BlackWaters
DC: Pulled Apart by Horses
GA: The Dunts
Best Track
SR: Calva Louise - Getting Closer
DC: Shambolics – When She Goes Home
GA: Pleasure Heads - Middle man
Best Moment
SR: Drinking Buckie with SHEAFS and helping them crowd surf. Can’t get the boot print off my t-shirt
DC: Opening 3 tracks of Glasvegas' set - Truly epic. The Dunts doing the double.
GA: The BlackWaters performance, fantastic. Full of energy, promise and angst.
Gutted We Missed
Emily Burns
Dancing with Tables
Bang Bang Romeo
Heavy Rapids
What Worked
SR: The whole festival in close proximity! The atmosphere in all the venues was top drawer
DC: The good vibes between all the bands is clear to see, it's infectious and rubs off through the crowds
What Didn't
SR/DC: Some major clashes in the schedule, lack of social media presence hinders the festival and potential venues getting full meant some fans missed out seeing band
As you can see we were fans of a number of bands across the day, most notably The Dunts, Shambolics and Blackwaters. It’s great to see such showcase events still going strong, ensuring the vibrant music scene across Scotland doesn’t go unnoticed.
