A Monday night gig in Glasgow? Could as well be a Friday night, as far as anyone could tell.
A Monday night gig anywhere other than Glasgow? Nah, don’t bother.
Katie, Naomi and Josette, aka MUNA, are an LA based electro-pop band who’ve taken the world – and internet – by storm, over the last three years, and show absolutely no sign of slowing down.
MUNA took to the stage on Monday night to be met by a very excitable, packed out Oran Mor, and kicked off their explosive set with the lead single from their most recent album release, “Number One Fan.”
They played through a set of tracks from both albums, particular favourites being – as the band described, their most country track – “Taken,” their most emo track – “Everything,” and “Navy Blue.” “Good News (Ya-Ya Song)” had the crowd completely captivated into singing along and waving their arms in time, and you could feel the genuine happiness in the room as the band encouraged everyone to enjoy themselves – explaining that they wanted to save all the individual worlds, a nod to the album title “Saves The World.”
I was amazed how they seamlessly drifted through the genres and kept the crowd on their toes for the entire set. From heavier, more rocky sounds that you’d not be surprised to hear on Jack Saunders’ BBC Radio 1 show, or daytime Kerrang, to the aforementioned country-esque track, which saw lead singer Katie clutching an acoustic guitar and could be a contender for Chris Country Radio. The band took it all in their stride, without breaking a sweat. I was absolutely infatuated watching the three of them completely own the stage for 90 minutes.
Their honesty in telling the audience that an encore wouldn’t be a thing, and the ‘next three songs were their last chance’ to give it everything just added more gasoline to an already raging flame as they tore into “Loudspeaker,” and the crowd were then fuelled further by their confirmation that this was in fact the space that they were writing about when they penned “I Know A Place;” the room went crazy for the entire four and a half minutes. Ending their set on my personal favourite track of theirs, “It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby” had the band explaining this was like a lullaby that they were leaving us with, and it really did leave everyone with a such a warm feeling – like it actually could be okay… baby…
If you like the idea Haim, Fickle Friends and Sheryl Crow crossed with Paramore and Avril Lavigne with a lot of added energy and honesty, you’re going to fall head over heels in love with MUNA; I’ve not been able to listen to anything else recently, so you can only imagine my excitement when I got to have a chat with the band before they took to the stage! Have a listen below…
gigs & glitter. 