Oxford-based pop-punk quartet South Arcade have exploded onto the scene this year. They have gained such an impressive fanbase since we last saw them in Glasgow up at the Garage Attic in March 2024 where one hundred or so of us packed the small room out and we just knew they would soon be playing far bigger venues … Fast forward eighteen months and here we are at SWG3 in the West End of Glasgow where they have completely sold out the TV Studio with a crowd of around nine hundred in the hall, the big question was: would the Glasgow crowd bring the energy even though it was a Sunday night? Damn right we did!
We were delighted when we found out that Liverpool punk outfit STONE would be supporting, they are a band we have followed for a few years now and tonight was our fifth time seeing them live from memory. Fin Power leads the band though a polished forty-five minute set helped out by the always energetic Sarah Surrage on bass and Elliott Gill on guitar. We get to hear MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO live for the first time tonight along with another new one, the short-but-good SWEET HEROINE and both these tracks will feature on the upcoming STONE album AUTONOMY that is due for release on 20th February. We really enjoyed Let’s Dance To The Real Thing and Moto, that was written about a phone Fin’s mother bought him as a child after he managed to lose three iPhones! The first song STONE ever released was Leave It Out back in 2020 and this ends a very high-energy set. We were singing along to every word for this one, looking around the band may not have been known by many in the crowd, but that takes nothing away from the performance. 8/10
The stage crew work quickly to set the stage up which can be described as a skatepark with graffiti signs dotted around the stage alongside massive spray cans, it’s hardly skating music though more like pop-punk or nu-metal or “Y2K-Core” as the band describe it. South Arcade released new EP PLAY! on 28th November, a few days after this show. There is a right buzz about SWG3 for a Sunday night with the energy levels at fever pitch, the set opens with two tracks from the aforementioned EP PLAY! With FEAR OF HEIGHTS and Supermodels being the songs. We then move into two well-known songs Nepo Baby and DANGER, the latter song is especially memorable as the fans chant back the chorus “D-A-N-G-E-R” to the stage. Singer Harmony Cavelle has such an amazing stage presence as she darts around whipping the crowd into a frenzy, she possesses the riot grrrl energy of thirty years ago and has the confidence of Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers with the don’t give a fuck attitude. There are three other band members helping to electrify those that turned up tonight with Harry Winks (guitar), Ollie Green (bass) and Cody Jones (drums) showing their class.
Harmony asks if they can play a couple of new songs tonight, the crowd respond with screams of “yes”, first up we get Bleed Out from the PLAY! EP. But we are not sure if we were ready for what happened during Blood Run Warm, Harmony says it’s a slow one so what happens next? A mosh pit opens and the fans start ballroom dancing right in the middle of the mosh pit! Guitarist Harry Winks is right in the middle of the pit too and it really is a highly charged moment from the night, the ballroom dancing was a new one for us but hey it is Glasgow so anything is possible, Strictly Come Dancing didn’t get a look in comparison to this! HOW 2 GET AWAY WITH MURDER and Sound Of An Empty Room were two standouts for us from the thirteen track set. There are a few older songs that make way for the new ones – they played all five from the new PLAY! EP – with the three early releases in 2022 Bigger Than Anything, New Fever and Change Your Mind missing out on the setlist. As we near the end of the show the crowd are shouted out by the band as being the most energetic and loudest on the whole tour! The set ends with three of the most streamed South Arcade tracks in Riptide, Stone Cold Summer and the final song of the night 2005 has the crowd letting go one last time expelling any energy that they had left, the fans did Glasgow proud tonight.
South Arcade have grown so much since we first came across them supporting Australian rock band Yours Truly in March 2023 at King Tut’s and for anyone that saw their set at the Reading Festival back in August they have the potential to come right through the heavy rock/nu-metal scene. They were also recently announced for Download 2026 so the only way is up for them. 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
