Ahead of their 4th studio album Hold On To Your Heart, due out in January 2018, The Xcerts took to the stage last Thursday at Think Tank. Despite the venue being well below capacity, lead singer Murray McLeod was keen to engage with who did show up from the moment the band came on stage, starting extremely energetically.
The band powered through the first half a dozen songs at high tempo, despite Murray stating prior that he was not feeling well that night
Opening song ‘Daydream’, the band’s latest single, kicked the audience straight off their feet. The first few songs had the essence of Biffy Clyro tracks, involving anthemic choruses mixed of course with Scottish accents. The Aberdeen trio started strong; the band powered through the first half a dozen songs at high tempo, despite Murray stating prior that he was not feeling well that night.
The band then proceeded to play songs ‘First Kiss Feeling’ and ‘Show Me Beautiful’ off their upcoming record. These showed a different sort of vibe from the band – essentially pop rock, comparable to acts such as ‘Boys Like Girls’. Either way, the maintenance of catchy choruses and high energy, despite a change in sound, seemed to keep the audience more than satisfied and very enthused at the prospect of new music.
McLeod then took to the stage solo to play an acoustic track ‘Pop Song’, giving a change in pace to the set. This, however, did not last long as it was followed up with a full-band performance of ‘Shaking in the Water’, which got the whole crowd singing and dancing to the undeniably catchy chorus. McLeod is no doubt keen on audience participation, inviting members to dance on stage for ‘Slackerpop’.
He truly kept his audience engaged till the last second
The band finished their set with song ‘There is only One’; the piano based ballad provided a slow end to a very fast set but the passion brought through in McLeod’s vocals left everyone calling out for more. Which, of course, they got, as the band closed out their encore with new song ‘Feels Like Falling in Love’. At the end Mcleod took to the microphone, singing the words ‘and it feels like falling in love’ acapella, encouraging one last sing-along which filled the room. He truly kept his audience engaged till the last second, before walking off stage.
With their energetic songs, catchy choruses and witty banter, you can’t help but enjoy a performance by The Xcerts.