A Sunny Day In Glasgow | Photo Credit: Drew Reynolds
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It was a night filled with offset guitars, otherworldly vocal harmonies and vigorous dancing. If you missed A Sunny Day In Glasgow at Schubas on Wednesday night, then you missed quite the extravaganza.

Two hailed from the east including Brooklyn’s Acrylics and Philadelphia’s A Sunny Day In Glasgow, while Chicago’s Light Pollution opened. And the best part of the whole show? Every single band danced to their own music. Not just bobbed a little, these kids cut loose and really danced.

It all kicked off with Light Pollution. It’s almost as if they took the open-hearted, lofty vocals of Sufjan Stevens and mashed them together with Animal Collective’s off-kilter synth beats. All the while, the lead singer ceaselessly bounces in place like a vertical metronome. Light Pollution is a very tight band for the amount of chaos that is going on in their music. Just when you think they are going to lose it, they bring it back into something upbeat and funky. It just made you happy.

Rising stars, Acrylics came on next and took us down a few notches with their calm, cool folkish rock. Using both acoustic and electric instruments and focusing on the quiet side of things, they reminded me of a cross somewhere between The Sundays and The Cranberries. Their clear male/female vocal harmonies and minimalistic music was a nice cleansing of the auditory palate. If this is a revival of that sound we knew so well in the 90’s, then Acrylics have captured the essence entirely. Instead of a drummer, they used a drum machine, but I’m not sure if that was even necessary. Early in the show, the drum machine did start acting up, causing them to turn it off and their music pulled through just fine without it. A good portion of their set was highlighted by a vintage-looking Steele guitar that really rounded out their whole sound.

We moved on from the quiet of the Acrylics to the beautiful dreamy sounds of guitarist Ben Daniel’s masterpiece, A Sunny Day in Glasgow. The small, candlelit venue with a Bavarian beer hall feel, suddenly gave way to a room full of flailing and shimmying fans shaking what their mamas gave them to the music. ASDIG is a force to be reckoned with on stage. Their passion and emotion for the sound they make is seen in every member of the band. Everyone appears to get lost in the music, completely enjoying every minute of it. The effect this has on an audience is sensational. It’s near impossible to resist moving along with them. But, then, with that music, how could you not dance?

I have to say that I didn’t expect them to be able to pull off their music live. I thought there would be a number of replacements or fill-ins for parts that I expected to be there. But no, ASDIG packed the stage with all sorts of instruments, computers, and electronic devices that I didn’t even recognize, just to make sure their fans got the full amount of sound they needed and expected. Lead singers Annie Fredrickson and Jen Goma stretch every vocal chord they have to create the choir-like atmosphere found on their albums. Back-up vocalist and guitarist (or I should say Jaguarist) Josh Meakim blended in perfectly with the ladies, hitting ranges that you had to see to believe. Bassist Ryan Newmyer had the difficult job of maintaining control and losing control all at the same time. His impressive bass tones had to fit in with both the wild sounds of the band, but also be stable for Adam Herndon’s fantastic drumming. Herdon appears to have found the final piece to this intricate puzzle and stands with his feet on the ground no matter where his dreamy companions try to fly to.

They played all my favorites from Ashes Grammar including “Failure” and “Shy”. They were even sweet enough to come back for an encore and play a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere” which sent everyone reeling and cheering. After the show, they manned their own merchandise table where fans were able to speak with them, take pictures and of course buy merchandise. It was a delightfully personal show with a delightfully personable band. I would do it again and again. I think you should too.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow – “Shy” – Schubas – 3/3/10