I arrived at the venue for the highly anticipated Sun Day headline at Cafe Drummonds quite early, around 5:30 pm on a Saturday in early May. This gig was a big deal. The band, made up of Craig Spink on drums, Lucas Doylis on lead guitar and vocals, Aidan Forret on bass, and Connor Ritchie on lead vocals and guitar, had been promoting hard. It seemed difficult, in the weeks leading up to the show, to find a street in Aberdeen without the noticeable blue posters promoting the concert. Coming off the recent release of their EP ‘Spacial Awareness’, it was easy to understand how important this gig was for them.
I have a connected history with the band – I met the members through some friends when I first came to Aberdeen, and first saw them play at the same venue about a year ago, supporting Juno Dream. The Sun Day was fantastic. Their alternative sound – which they like to facetiously call “indie sleaze” – was reminiscent of fantastic alt-rock acts from the ‘90s like Weezer and Wheatus.
When I arrived, the band was still doing their sound checks. Once I got talking to them, I found the same fun, charming, professional group of musicians which I saw one year ago.
Once the show began, the opening band was Pitnamoon. Their sound struck me as reminiscent of The Smiths in some vague way, but on further listening they sound closer to The Strokes. Perhaps I felt this way because of the suave, witty way in which the band held themselves; all woollen jumpers and sullenness. Pitnamoon’s brand of dour pop rock was an excellent way to catch the attention of the already sizable crowd which had gathered. The band was overall a wonderful introduction to the night, easing us into what followed.
The next band, the Sankaras, were on next. However, five minutes after they were supposed to be on according to the timesheet, they were nowhere to be seen. The crowd seemed to be wondering where the Sankaras were. Our questions were echoed as a man dressed as a sex worker staggered on to stage, asking into the microphone “Does anyone know where the Sankaras are?”, who was then arrested by another man dressed as a police officer. So began the set of the Sankaras, the Glaswegian punk band which has been gaining a great deal of buzz recently. Their sound, evocative of garage rock revival bands such as The Vines, as well as pop punk bands such as Green Day, managed to seriously rile up the crowd, with mosh pits starting up during many of the band’s songs. The band was an image to behold – all dressed in black boiler suits and balaclavas, the singer frantically shuffling, as though Ian Curtis had taken up break dancing. The band was very good overall, although I found that I couldn’t hear the bass player very well, which gave them a somewhat weak sound.
Finally, The Sun Day came on. A pit had already opened as we heard the introductory bassline to their recent single, ‘218’. The energy was intense. The band leapt from song to song, with old favourites mingling with newer releases. The pacing was fantastic. Energetic songs gave the crowd a chance to go wild. Slower numbers gave the crowd a chance to breathe, before being catapulted back into more fast paced songs.
A standout moment was their second to last song,‘Streetlights’. This was a particularly sombre moment. Two days before the gig, the lead singer’s father died, and this was the moment when the band decided to reveal that fact to the crowd. The song is equally solemn – a mature piece of music which feels like something Kurt Cobain might have written in his later years. This is the best piece of music that The Sun Day have created, and something I believe bodes well for the future of this band.
During the song, a pit opened up during the pre-chorus, which left quite a while before the drop. This moment may have been awkward, if not for the fact that a few members of the crowd took it upon themselves to start slow dancing in the middle of the pit. This was a stunning moment, and really added to the emotional nature of the song. The set was finished with an intense cover of the Beastie Boys song ‘Sabotage’, which was a faithful capture of the original, and would have been a fine ending to the night. But after the crowd started shouting “one more tune!”, the band performed one final impromptu encore to finish off the night.. They played a cover of Weezer’s ‘Undone (The Sweater Song)’, an inside joke amongst fans of The Sun Day, before going into Wheatus’ ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. Overall, it was a fantastic performance. All three bands were excellent, and the energy in the crowd was powerful. I heard through a friend that one of the workers in the venue had described it as “the most intense crowd we’ve had at Drummonds”.
This gig blew me away, and that’s saying something considering the number of gigs I’ve been to. I would highly recommend going to see all three bands, especially The Sun Day. If you do, you will be in for a great time.
The Sun Day headlines again at Drummonds on November 24th.
Tickets on https://offaxisgigs.com/product/the-sun-day/
You can follow @_the_sun_day and listen to their music on streaming platforms.