The 21st of May, 2008 saw the Canadian Great Lake Swimmers take on The Twisted Wheel as part of their extensive European tour. This was their first time headlining in Glasgow but they still managed to pack the venue full.

The music kicked off with Anna Meldrum, a Glasgow songstress with a great voice and the colloquial charm of Kate Nash. She has a clear talent for writing pop tunes and her ‘Fuzzy Felt’ has been stuck in my head since the gig. A regular at open mic nights around the city, she’s worth seeing although you should be warned, her songs are extremely catchy!

The next act Sharon Van Etten was the highlight of the gig for me. The smoky voiced singer from Brooklyn held the audience in her palm as she sang through ballads of love, hate, life, death and having to move back in with your parents. With a sound reminiscent of Cat Power and Low but with the idiosyncratic lyrics of The Moldy Peaches S.V.E. will strike a chord with anyone who likes their music bleak and beautiful. My favorite song of the night was definitely the achingly beautiful ‘For You’ which she performed with Julie Fader of The Great Lake Swimmers. The nonchalance of Sharon’s voice combined with the melancholy of the lyrics and all topped off by Julie’s delicate harmonies make it an absolute winner. It’s on her myspace page www.myspace.com/sharonvanetten, have a listen. Having toured in the past with Beirut and soon to be playing with Alela Diane it will not be long until we see Sharon Van Etten headlining her own European tour and personally I can’t wait.

Jo Mango, the final support act of the night is another local singer songwriter. There is an air of untainted beauty to her music and the venue fell silent. Her deeply personal and delicate songs went down a treat with the crowd and her good humoured stories between songs gave insight into her lyrics. Playing three instruments over the course of her set; a guitar, a finger piano and some kind of strange electronic gizmo Jo Mango is a uniquely talented as a performer. Just back from touring with the cult folk legend Vashti Bunyan Jo has played all over the world. It’s a shame that she doesn’t pull a bigger audience in her home town but with the best song in the set being one of her newest the future looks bright for Jo Mango.

And finally, the headliners, The Great Lake Swimmers. The five piece were touring in support of their new album ‘Lost Channels’ and with the sound of the full band supporting singer/songwriter Tony Dekker’s latest folk rock songs they were ready to give the audience what they had waited all night for. The sound was fantastic with the double bass, three guitars and twin vocals shaking the audience back to life after the comparatively quiet support. The bands music has echoes of Red House Painters and Will Oldham but I worry that some of Dekker’s songs may lack the subtlety of these two greats. He instead creates some nice pop songs but without too much else to back them up. Perhaps this simplicity is all part of the beauty of his songs. The audience absolutely loved the whole set but went especially wild for ‘Her Rocky Spine’ which had the whole venue stomping their feet. Overall, a great way to finish off a great night of music.

Review by Robert Jack