Sparkling Indie Rock
The Duke Spirit bring their glittering, fierce rock with gritty sensibility to Glasgow and provide an evening of frothy and captivating indie kicks.
The band are in the zone from the start, kicking off with ‘Neptune’s Call’ and with Leila brandishing her guitar stand above her head within minutes, as though it’s the most natural action in the world. ‘Send A Little Love Token’s brooding beats, slinky rhythm and sexy tambourine shimmying makes it instantly engaging as the crowd begin to move and join in with the band’s upbeat mood. Most of the songs played hail from the band’s second album, ‘Neptune’ released earlier this year, for example ‘The Step And The Walk’, with which the band aim to get Friday night started as a rocky guitar rhythm cuts through the sparkling chorus. ‘Wooden Heart’ provides a little respite from the rock anthems with its sweet tone and gentle tambourine heartbeat; the couples in the audience are instantly snuggling up and it draws a hearty round of applause! It’s a highly energetic set with the entire band strutting their stuff with confidence and style and the crowd lapping up their sly and sultry beats, like a fizzier and more guitar-based Kills. The closing track is predictably breakthrough track, ‘Cuts Across The Land’ and it’s a fine end to a top-notch performance, although it would have been nice to hear a few more older tracks from the band's debut.
The band are on top form and deliver the goods, but in some ways the performance feels a little too polished and in some ways perhaps slightly generic; yes it might feel “special” but it also feels like the same brand of special that they’re delivering every other night. Although Leila does assert that Glasgow was chosen as the opening date of the tour because the crowd are so great, which is always a good way to endear yourself to an audience!