J-J-J-Jiving!
Two words. Jiving violinist. Surely that's the last thing you'd expect to see on a brightly-lit stage in one of the best venues in Glasgow, if not Scotland. Thankfully, Yellowcard are here to market the very cob-webbed section of music that is the jiving violinist industry. Now, I will try to write the rest of this review without the phrase 'jiving violinist'.
So, there I am, standing at the bar, when Yellowcard come onto the stage. The crowd goes crazy, which may seem unusual for a support band, but Yellowcard do currently have a video on Kerrang and Scuzz called 'Way Away', and it is with this song that they open their setlist. You'd expect the violin to sound completely out of place within an American-punk song, but to be honest it just sounds like some high-up lead guitar part that seems to be featuring so heavily these days in "extremo" bands like Coheed and Cambria or Funeral for a Friend. Of course, the violinist (he's called Sean Mackin, by the way) seems to have realised that he must look a bit, well, "un-rock" to be standing up on stage holding a violin, so he rocks out extra hard to compensate. He even goes so far as to do a backflip during 'Way Away', invoking much cheering from the crowd. He was all over the place though, dancing around the stage, singing along to the words, whether he was at a microphone or not, and even diving head-first into the crowd at one point. But, their infamous jiving violinist (...damn!) aside, Yellowcard were full of punk, and certainly full of spunk on the night, throwing out decent, infectious songs, filled with what American-punk does best, three chord patterns combined with catchy vocal melodies. However, what the set really lacked, was a violin solo. Hey, if you're going to bring a new instrument into the field, you've got to flaunt it, baby!