On a cold Wednesday night in Glasgow, SWG3 quickly turned into a pressure cooker of distortion, sweat, and relentless anticipation as three very different acts pulled the crowd deeper into chaos with each passing set.
Opening the night, Fox Lake wasted no time in setting the tone. Their intro mimicked the unmistakable startup sound of the PlayStation 2, a playful easter egg that drew knowing cheers before the band launched headfirst into their set. From the very first song, “Go 4 the Throat”, the floor erupted into two-steppers and pits, the crowd fully buying into the band’s high-energy blend of hardcore aggression and party-starting bravado. Circle pits formed almost instantly at vocalist Nathan Johnson’s request, and the first crowd surfers of the night sailed overhead within minutes. Second to last on the setlist, “Gaslight” proved to be a standout moment; the band warned it was a fast one, and they weren’t kidding. The track ripped through the room at breakneck speed, sending the pit into overdrive. At just 30 minutes in length, their set was over far too soon, and I already can’t wait for their hopefully imminent return to Scotland.
The second band of the night, Ocean Grove, shifted the mood without losing the momentum. Their live sound felt huge, with thunderous drums that made the entire room feel like it was vibrating from the inside out. There was a groove running through their set that kept bodies moving even during heavier sections, giving the whole performance a slightly more hypnotic feel compared to the raw chaos of the previous act. About midway through the set, “Last Dance” slowed the pace slightly, but rather than killing the energy, it created one of the more striking moments of the night. The whole room lit up with phone flashlights and lighters, giving the set an incredibly cinematic feel before things ramped back up again. The energy was relentless until the very last song, “Fly Away”, by which point it didn’t even feel like I was watching a support act; people were singing along and dancing, just having the best time.
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By the time Poppy took to the stage, the room was well and truly warmed up. Her music blends an unusually wide range of styles, jumping between heavy, industrial-leaning tracks and brighter, “bubblegum pop” moments, so there’s always a bit of curiosity about how it will translate live and how the crowd will receive it. Glasgow, unsurprisingly, did not disappoint. The heavier sections of the setlist hit with serious force, with the crowd giving it their all on multiple occasions. The poppier, more radiant moments were equally met with a willingness to sing along and party, while the quieter moments felt surprisingly personal, almost like the room had shrunk down to the size of a much smaller venue.
Throughout the performance, the crowd frequently broke into chants of Poppy’s name, which occasionally drew a brilliant smile from an otherwise cool, mysterious stage persona. She moved constantly, running and bouncing across the stage with huge amounts of energy while still knowing when to rein things in for the more vocally demanding moments. It gave the whole performance a sense of control rather than chaos. The visual production added a lot to the show as well. The lighting was sharp and dramatic throughout, and the CO2 cannons were a particularly fun touch, firing blasts across the stage that the crowd reacted to instantly. It all reinforced the sense that this was very much a visual and aural performance, rather than just a straightforward live set.
Some of the loudest reactions came for older tracks like “BLOODMONEY” and “Concrete”, which lean further into the stranger, more unsettling side of her catalogue. The crowd went slightly feral when those kicked in. A personal highlight came during “Anything Like Me”, where Poppy’s vocals sounded particularly strong and the live band behind her absolutely shredded through the instrumental sections. The band themselves added yet another layer to the atmosphere by performing in unsettling masks, while their playing had a thick, industrial edge that made the live versions of these songs feel heavier and more aggressive. Much to the delight of the crowd, we also got to hear “V.A.N”, the collab track between Poppy and Bad Omens, as well as the live debut of “Empty Hands”, off her latest album release of the same name.
Each time Poppy returns to the stage, the performance seems to evolve a little further. Having last seen her live at Download Festival 2025, I can confidently say this was a truly hypnotic show: a set that balanced brutality and vulnerability without ever losing the audience’s attention for a second.
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Photos by Alan Swan Photography (note that we didn’t get permission to take pics of the headliner)
