Twelve months ago I’d not even heard of Paleface Swiss (I know, I know…) but on the advice of Angela, a Swiss person and one of our photographers, I caught their sell-out show at this very venue in February last year. Duly impressed, I looked forward to their slot at Bloodstock 2025, and now I’m back at SWG3 for their second sell-out Glasgow show in a row within a year.
At 7pm the crowd were duly shaken awake by Stick To Your Guns, all the way from California, a band I’m amazed we’ve barely featured in the past. Galvanizers was pretty full at this point and it was rapidly obvious that this was due to the pull of our openers. I know there was a lady with a very impressive walking stick who had waited eleven years to see them play live, and I’m glad she got to see them on such high form.
By the time I worked my way to the front of the hall, there was a massive pit (inhabited, admittedly, only by three elbow-throwing karate wankers that everyone else was avoiding at that point) and the crowd surfing had already begun. With eight songs, STYG didn’t hang around but made sure that the audience were more than a little warmed up for what was to follow. Pausing to praise both of the other bands on the bill (both of whom STYG themselves have been around longer than), they were otherwise belting out metalcore gems like “Diamond” and backbreakers like “Spineless”.
It’s not uncommon to see opening bands getting a solid reception, but this was on another scale. Stick To Your Guns haven’t been over our way for some time, but on the strength of tonight’s show – and the response – they could easily be headlining venues like Glasgow Garage.
Hailing from a little closer to home, Leeds’ Static Dress were up next with a slightly longer eleven-song set. As with STYG they were warmly received by the locals, but not to quite the same level of excitement. They are a newer band, and were very much appreciative of both their headline hosts and the influential openers.
I’ll be honest, and much as they put on a good show and certainly had the still-packed venue going fairly wild, they didn’t click for me. No reason, and not down to any lack of effort on their part, but they simply weren’t for me. I did watch the majority of their set (I took a quick break to hit the merch stand) and there were definitely a couple of hundred other people who’d disagree with me.
Going back through their songs to help with the review, I am enjoying the likes of “human props” and “sweet.” so maybe the sound wasn’t doing them any favours? Regardless, a decent performance which very much satisfied those who were there to see them.
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Paleface Swiss pulled a sneaky trick of dropping the house lights and coming on stage a whole five minutes early, ensuring that everyone got their money’s worth out of their headline slot. After keeping the crowd bouncing with house / dance music between bands, the Swiss act wasted little time in taking up their positions before launching into “I Am A Cursed One” and I launched myself over the front few rows and the security barrier. A chance to thank the excellent crowd-catching security for their hard work this evening.
Fans of the band will know their mixed-genre style well, and what to expect from their live show. Looking around when Zelli asked who’d seen them before and who hadn’t, the numbers seemed (down the front anyway) roughly 50/50.
Peely-wally Swiss (to use their localised name) know how to get a crowd going… and keep them going. They straddle a lot of the “-core” genres, and are increasingly willing to push these boundaries. Nothing exemplified this more than the three-in-a-row of the quark matter-heavy “The Rats”, rap-led “Enough?” and “The Gallow” which has so much NWOBHM influence in its solos you’d expect Janick Gers to be guesting on guitars.
The band recently released “River of Sorrows” with Ron Deris. Trying something new, they brought out the man himself as well as three stools and an acoustic guitar to give the song an alternative and soulful opening half before launching into the version we’ve all heard. Jesse and Josh from Stick To Your Guns also made a repeat performance, guesting on “instrument of war” shortly before the “let’s call it an encore break” during which I could spot one band member enjoying a banana off stage left!
So many other moments flit through my mind – such as the fan showing off his tattoo to Zelli (and looking absolutely blown away afterwards), dropped phones being handed forward to security instead of being pocketed, numerous backslaps and thumbs up as fans checked on each other… To the outsider this will have looked like absolute chaos and scary thuggery, but to those of us in the middle of it we know that it was (to quote Exodus) good, friendly, violent fun.
With two sellouts at Galvanizers behind them, I wonder if their next trip may see a jump up in venue size. Even if it’s not, then it’s a guaranteed good time so try not to miss out!
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Photos by Skull Lens Photography
