Enjoying excellent sound in Edinburgh's finest live venue the touring sextet of The War On Drugs brought Lost In The Dream to a near sell-out Scottish crowd for the second time in only four months.

Appearing before a crescent channel shape backdrop of ever changing colours there was at times a feeling that you were watching a performance from some Seventies TV showcase, something the transparent orange drumkit with Charlie Hill sat behind it like a diminutive John Bonham did little to dispel. Seldom has a drummer drawn my attention from the foreground players as much as his performance did last night, although having an elevated position from which to watch the show obviously made that easier.

Not that it was easy to take your eyes off of Adam Granduciel as he delivered a performance that really brought the guitar work from Lost In The Dream and Slave Ambient to its obvious limit. Not fully experiencing an album until you witness it's tracks delivered live was certainly the feeling you gained right from the start. Having apparently been a bit off form and irritated by photographers at the tour's Newcastle show he was totally relaxed and enjoyed an ongoing dialogue with the audience about ice cream, nut allergies and the correct pronunciation of the city's name.

As the Usher Hall isn't the sort of venue to seek two crowds per night with a club after gigs there was no sense of the band being rushed to wind things up and, including the encore, there was practically two hours of performance which is pretty good going by any reckoning. Criticism from fellow audience members on the way out of the show focused mainly on the front-loading of the set with the band's faster numbers, causing the final third of the main set and the encore to be mid-paced rather than building to a crescendo but the impression remains that the same size of gathering would turn out if they were to come back in another four months.

Support tonight came from Amen Dunes for half an hour. They also enjoyed very clear sound for their performance but were a bit dwarfed by the size of the hall and possibly a too laidback choice in terms of actually warming up the audience (or the 50% that bothered to be in the hall to see them), despite speeding things up as they went through their set. The slightly more intimate surroundings of the Liverpool Psychfest last year suited the likes of 'I Know Myself' (from current release Cowboy Worship) better but they didn't seem to mind.

Further images from the gig can be found here.

In a week where the hype is firmly placed around the 6 Music Festival in the city, Newcastle is still flexing its musical muscles. Tonight being no different as The Jesus and Mary Chain roll into town, playing their classic album Psycho Candy in full. However, we begin the evening cursing ourselves, arriving slightly late we walk into the venue to see The Membranes rocking out.

John Robb and his band are tearing the place limb from limb, to clarify the reason we missed part of the support was because they weren’t announced after Eagulls cancelled. Anyway we get to see the latter part of their fierce set with the enigmatic bass player Robb up on the barriers taunting the crowd in his individual style.

The Jesus and The Mary Chain take to the stage for their first set of the evening (normally in these types of sets the band play the album first then a smattering of hits after. Not The Jesus and Mary Chain). They open with the hits, ‘April Skies up first, the band, clouded in smoke, protecting the fact that they’re not overly comfortable with being on stage.

That anxiety makes the set though, 'Psycho Candy' is just awesome, these first few tracks are breathtaking and despite the crowd not needing warming up, this is definitely the perfect way to do it. As Jim Reid clings to his mic stand as if it were a safety blanket, seldom letting go, though when he does he appears more at ease.

The band leave the stage for a very short moment as the Psycho Candy album cover is projected on to the back of the stage, whilst more smoke is pumped on to the stage. They return and waste no time in getting stuck into 'Just Like Honey', which sets the crowd alight; many hands are firmly held high and the crowds collective voice almost overpowers Jim’s own.

Similarly ‘Cut Dead’ sounds phenomenal, the stripped back nature of the track provides a small amount of shade on what is otherwise a powerhouse of a performance. At the opposite end of the spectrum ‘Taste of Cindy’ sounds incredible for a completely different set of reasons, the guitars are otherworldly, so abrasive and in your face, so few bands achieve such intense sounds.

That sound is one which courses through the veins of the album, it's the sound which initially drew us into it all those years ago. Jim’s interaction with the crowd throughout the second part of the set is minimal, only stopping to introduce the last track ‘It’s So Hard’. An awesome way to finish and whilst we know it is the closing track on the album it seems like a fitting way to close out this barrage of guitar noise and otherworldly sounds.

We’re filled with a renewed sense admiration and adoration for Psycho Candy, it is a classic album and tonight The Jesus and Mary Chain have really done it justice.

Tonight sees four incredibly noisy bands take to the stage in the Cluny’s main venue; we arrive slightly late but in time for main tour support God Damn.

From the off their brooding ferocity is made quite clear and we’re certain we are going to be deaf come the curfew.

Ploughing through a breathtaking set, we’re left aghast at the sheer power and strain that the PA is being put through, and it comes as little surprise that all of the bands can be heard as clear as day outside the venue. ‘Silver Spoon’ is a highlight of God Damn's set; brilliant lyrics coupled with relentless riffs and huge drums.

With ears sufficiently ringing, we prepare for the Hawk Eyes onslaught we're about to be subjected to. We know we’re in for a treat tonight, and as the four-piece take to the stage, the crowd draws in ever closer, the opening riffs ringing out through the venue, the volume even louder than before.

Yet we quickly settle into this barrage of heavy riffs and shouted vocals, the sharp bursts of power are mind blowing. Not only that, but they seem like genuinely approachable people. What’s often lacking now is decent stage banter, yet Hawk Eyes seem to have honed theirs perfectly, their patter full of daft stories and prime numbers.

Tracks off the new album go down incredibly well, and though there's little deviation from tried and tested format of earlier material, it proves that their own trademarked brand of intricate metal is alive and well. Tonight is testament to both that, and to writing phenomenal songs; musically they’re unbelievable. so few bands are this tight.

‘Die Trying’ is a huge highlight this evening, it's ferocious, it's hard, it's riff-laden and it's just breathtaking. And, like so many other tracks n their set, it tears the roof off the venue. It's been a long while since The Cluny experienced a pummelling like this.

As Hawk Eyes close out their set we exit the venue, our faces suitably melted and our hearing hanging on by a whisker. We cannot commend Hawk Eyes enough. Metal and hardcore at its best.  

Arriving just in time to catch the support act ahead of  headliners at the Barrowlands Ballroom, Port Isla set the bar high for Kodaline as their world tour kicks off here in Glasgow. With their well crafted harmonies and folk melodies as well as their catchy riffs and walking basslines, the lads from Norwich don’t miss a trick to get the early arriving, sold-out gathering on side.

Having already smashed BBC Introducing and made fans at Glastonbury last year, it's great to see them perform their knock out tracks like ‘Steamroller’ and ‘In The Long Run’ before delivering their performance of the night with ‘Better Love’.

One big applause only becomes another bigger one until the reason everyone turned out finally took to the stage. With Port Isla having lifted everyone’s spirits early, Kodaline were only left with the task of shouting “Glasgow” before breaking out with synth-driven ‘Ready’ from their new album Coming Up For Air.

With Garrigan instrument free for the opener, it’s not long before the mandolin and harmonica are the first instruments to be pulled from his arsenal as they followed on with yester-years hit single ‘Love Like This’. New album highlight ‘Unclear’ does enough to confirm that the new tracks are translating very well to the live setting. The song is underpinned by Vinny May’s recreation of the bodhran sound on drums and with the crowd stepping up in the absence of the choir, the darkened ballroom was soon alight with Garrigan’s minions and their phone torch lights.

Both new and debut album tracks got their lion’s share of the set list with crowd pleaser ‘High Hopes’ raising the roof in the middle of the set once more.  Halfway through and already fast becoming a treat to see Kodaline in this comparatively intimate space, there were still a few new songs to come. Carefully slotting them between more debut album favourites, it became quite instructive how the band have developed since then with four of the final five tracks before the encore being taken from Coming Up For Air.

Piano track ‘Love Will Set You Free’ closed the first act of the performance before they re-emerged for their encore to play the notable exclusion ‘Honest’ before turning the lights off after sing-a-long ‘All I Want’. By the end of the night, the crowd had been whipped up into frenzy whether wallowing in melancholia or outdancing and outsinging the Irish quartet.

Despite the ballads, the show could never take a kicking for their absence of big tunes, with Steve Garrigan seemingly being able to play the crowd as well as any of his instruments, Kodaline managed to make everything fit tonight. At moments it was sparse & atmospheric, then chanting and bouncing. Maybe Kodaline had found what they were looking for when starting the tour in Glasgow as drummer Vinny May said “Barrowland in March last year, was such a mental night and a great venue”.