It’s a bonus post about last night’s gig by English Teacher given that a couple of folk who commented on yesterday’s post said they would like to read about it.
You’ll recall that I had some fears that the Queen Margaret Union at Glasgow University would prove to be less suitable than the surroundings of St Luke’s, a former church which a few years ago was converted to a lovely and quite intimate concert venue. I’m pleased to say that my fears were not realised.
English Teacher took to the stage at 8.45pm. The first thing I noticed was that the four band members were accompanied by two additional musicians, one of whom played additional guitar while the other was a cellist. I’ve since learned, from reading things overnight, that this is all part of their live sound, and indeed has been for quite some considerable time.
They went straight into fast and frantic mode with R’nB followed by I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying. It was, given the nature/mood/tempo of the songs on the debut album, and indeed previous EPs and singles, a pace that would be impossible to retain and there inevitably be would be a shift away from your bog-standard indie-pop night out. We didn’t have long to wait.
Having been out front on guitar for these two songs, vocalist Lily Fontaine retreated slightly to the back of the stage to play keyboards on Broken Biscuits, one of the many gentler-paced tracks on the album, but which in the live-setting generated a degree of energy and passion which really set the tone for the rest of the evening.
She came back to the front of the stage and for the first time addressed the audience to introduce Albatross, the opening song on the album, as being about a happening in her life when she had been 18 years of age when she had left home to head to college, the impetus for all that has happened in the years since. The cellist doubled up on keyboards, helping to make, again, a sound which surpassed the production on the record. Four songs in, and I’m having a wonderful night, as is my compadre, Aldo.
Three songs in a row – A55, Mental Maths and Polyawkward, all from an EP released in 2023, offer a reminder that English Teacher do indie-pop/rock with subtle lyrical and musical twists, as well as highlighting that the majority of the 900-strong audience in the sold-out venue are more than familiar with the songs not on the award-winning album. By now, I’m growing increasingly ridiculously impressed by the playing of Lewis Whiting on guitar, Nick Eden on bass and particularly by Douglas Frost on drums, whose appearance and style was bringing flashbacks of a young Pete de Freitas.
Fan favourite Not Everyone Gets To Go To Space is well received, and it is followed a run of songs, all of which provided moments that will stay with me for a very long time. Three ballads in a row – Mastermind Specialism, You Blister My Paint and This Could Be Texas – in which the sound was stripped back with Douglas leaving his drumkit for the keyboards. It was here that we could really appreciate just how great, and I mean great, a singer Lily Fontaine is. The beauty of her voice came over in a way that I don’t feel was really captured on the album. It was captivating. And equally enjoyable was the fact that the audience was silent, attentive and rapt throughout – no inane chattering or folk wandering over to the bars to buy drinks – you could have heard the proverbial pin drop in the gaps between notes.
A new song, Billboards was then played – it was akin to the tunes from the Polyawkward EP – before Lily mentioned that the families of the band were all in the audience tonight, and they were determined to make the show that bit more special. It’ll come as no surprise that album highlight, The Best Tears of Your Life, almost brought the house down at its conclusion.
The band then found a whole new gear as the show headed towards its climax. Lily took off her jacket and told us she’s been practising her dance moves as three uptempo numbers – Song About Love, Nearly Daffodils and The World’s Biggest Paving Slab – were unleashed on an audience who by now were very much entirely in the palm of the singer’s hand. We danced and clapped along as instructed, and the venue was bouncing.
But for me, the true magic came with what happened next. Most bands would have been ready to take their leave at that point, no doubt coming back for an encore given the energy in the room. Instead, Lily said they had one more song to play, and it would be the one written about her home town.
It was like flicking a switch. To go immediately from the manic levels of the three previous songs to playing the majestic and moving Albert Road was a brave but ultimately rewarding move. It would have made for a perfect ending to a perfect evening, except that we did also get a cherry on top of the icing on the cake, with a very quick return to the stage to play Good Grief, another of the tracks from the earlier EP.
And with that, the show came to an end after 75 minutes. Aldo and myself took our leave into the bitterly cold November evening, marvelling at what we’d enjoyed. And judging by the big smiles of contentment on the faces of the many many many people who accompanied us back into Glasgow city centre on the Subway system, we weren’t alone in feeling that way.
Lily promised that English Teacher would make a return to Glasgow before too long. I’m hoping that they will take to the Barrowlands stage next year rather than be part of the line-up at one of our outdoor festivals.
mp3: English Teacher – Good Grief
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 