Brit award winning Sarah Faith Griffiths AKA Griff is one of the leading lights in the world of female singer song writers currently enjoying much-deserved time in the spotlight of modern pop music.
A sure sign of her huge talent and growing audience is the fact this was the first date of the European Leg of a World Tour on the back of another headline tour earlier this year and not forgetting supporting the likes of Taylor Swift on the Era’s Tour and Sabrina Carpenter in between.
This current tour is on the back of the release her Top 3 charting debut album “Vertigo” this summer, although as many fans will know this was preceded by some equally impressive EP’s. So, to tonight’s performance at the O2 Academy in Glasgow. I was at the smaller capacity, Barrowlands Ballroom, also Glasgow in March to see Griff on that first tour and that was a great night but she seems to have grown in both stature and confidence since then.
Here is an artist on top of her game, capturing the audience from the first with the very familiar “Vertigo” as we all obviously joined in with the chorus all the way through to the double encore of the gorgeous, emotionally charged ballad that is “Astronaut” and the exhilarating “Tears for Fun”. In between we had the full range of Griff’s genius from soaring vocals to amazing keyboard and guitar, is there nothing this young lady can’t do? She even designs and makes her own wardrobe too! Some personal highlights were the obvious crowd favourites “Miss Me Too” "LastNightsMascara"and “Black Hole” which had the whole place jumping.
Just over half way through we had the Griff in the crowd moment, three songs with just an acoustic guitar, sang standing shoulder to shoulder with the audience right in the middle of the floor, including a cover of Sabrina Carpenters “Taste”, a nod and a thank you for her recent support. So, after the full set of twenty songs, which seemed to fly by, always a good sign, the evening concluded and a very happy and satisfied audience filed out into the chilly Glasgow night, and given Griff’s trajectory I’m sure I was not alone in thinking her (hopefully) next visit to the city she will have to upgrade to a larger venue again!
MUSIC PREMIERES
Four years on from the ‘Actual Life’ series lifting him into the mainstream spotlight, Fred Again.. continues to feel unavoidable. The London producer and DJ born Fred Gibson has moved at a relentless pace, bouncing between sold out stadium dates in New York and surprise appearances at Sheffield’s 1,000 capacity Forge, while also making history as the first electronic artist to top the bill at Reading and Leeds in 2024.
Where the ‘Actual Life’ releases and his fourth album, 2024’s ‘Ten Days’, leaned into warmth and joy pulled from ordinary moments, Gibson has also sharpened his instinct for high impact club weapons rooted in garage, dubstep and jungle. That side of his output lives on ‘USB’, an “infinite album” first imagined in 2022 as a home for tracks that exist outside any fixed universe, including defining moments like ‘Rumble’ and ‘Jungle’.
‘USB002’, the second vinyl only chapter of the ‘USB’ project, brings together 16 recent tracks, many of which surfaced gradually on streaming services over a ten week stretch. The music was shaped live, in step with ten unannounced DJ appearances across the world from Dublin to Mexico City. Even with a Glastonbury style registration system in place, The Times reported that 100,000 people tried to secure tickets for the opening night in Glasgow.
Appropriately, ‘USB002’ feels alive and constantly in motion, helped along by contributions from close collaborators such as Floating Points and Sammy Virji. The rigid, techno driven pressure of ‘Ambery’ echoes elements of Floating Points’ 2019 album ‘Crush’, while Gibson’s take on ‘The Floor’ builds like the slow climb of a rollercoaster before dropping back to earth without warning.
The guest list stretches beyond the usual dance circles, with two Australian guitar bands popping up in unexpected ways. ‘You’re A Star’ reworks Amyl and The Sniffers’ ‘Big Dreams’ into a breakbeat driven rush, while ‘Hardstyle 2’ pulls the experimental post punk edge of Shady Nasty into an Underworld adjacent space alongside Kettama. Gibson’s real trick is his ability to connect with anyone. These tracks are not reinterpretations but full takeovers.
The visual world wrapped around the ‘USB002’ rollout reinforces the instinct behind the music. Phones were prohibited at shows staged in vast warehouse spaces under sweeping light rigs, while Gibson’s team shared striking black and white footage and created artwork for each single on site. Bottling that sense of urgency, the project is rooted in the thrill of the present moment, something Gibson seems able to summon simply by turning up.
If the ‘Actual Life’ series and ‘Ten Days’ captured passing snapshots of experience, ‘USB’ is defined by constant movement, a space where boundaries are removed entirely. Sitting somewhere between an album and a playlist, ‘USB002’ underlines why Fred Again.. feels so dominant right now, and suggests that his current run may only be the beginning of something much bigger.
