LIVE REVIEW: Press Club @ Stereo, Glasgow

As droves of people are making their way down the eerie back stairway into Stereo in Glasgow, it is almost time for a raucous night of loud music. Australian punk rockers PRESS CLUB have made the long journey over to Glasgow as part of their EU tour in support of excellent third studio album Endless Motion. This is PRESS CLUB’s first show in Glasgow since 2019 and the city holds a special place in the heart of bassist Rufio MacRae. MacRae has discussed how his parents met in Glasgow so this is somewhat of a homecoming. 

On this tour PRESS CLUB don’t have any touring support so the role of warming up the Glasgow faithful goes to a couple of local acts. First up is FRIGHT YEARS, an indie pop outfit from Edinburgh. Vocalist Juliette Kelly explained to those in attendance that they were delayed and had to rush to the stage. This was not reflected in their performance at all as they opened up with fantastic vocals and catchy hooks. This was a nice slow onboarding into the chaos that is a PRESS CLUB show and thoroughly enjoyable all round. 

Rating: 7/10

Next up are the fantastically named Glasgow indie rockers PIZZA CRUNCH. This was more up the street of the punk leaning audience with heavier riffs and an overall edge that we didn’t see from the previous band. By this point the venue had filled up pretty well and the drinks were flowing so there was a bit more energy in the room. With minimal crowd interaction throughout the set it was all business from PIZZA CRUNCH who brought the noise from start to finish. As is normally the case with local support, almost everyone in attendance was here purely for PRESS CLUB but PIZZA CRUNCH put on a great performance and definitely got the crowd primed for the madness that was to ensue. 

Rating: 7/10

For anyone that hasn’t had the pleasure of gracing the back-alley venue that is Stereo in Glasgow, it is an underground, dark and very warm room and absolutely perfect for a good old fashioned punk rock show. After a quick change over it’s time for PRESS CLUB to take the stage. The Aussie band get a very warm reception from their Scottish fans as they open with the fiery hit Eugene. Frontwoman Natalie Foster’s infectious energy is clear from the off as she barely stands still for a second. A huge part of Foster’s performance is crowd interaction as she gets those in the front rows very much involved. The power of the band’s studio recordings are only exaggerated further with their live performance. Foster exclaims that Glasgow is one of her favourite places in the world as they ask the crowd who brought the Buckfast. The band jump straight into another of the hits from their new record Coward Street which gets the crowd moving. Everyone in attendance was clearly there for a good time and this was clear early on in the band’s set. 

Foster guides the audience down memory lane with Separate Houses and Headwreck as she makes her way into the crowd which brings the energy in the room up even more. The rowdy fans are treated to some more songs from the new album, including Less These Days and Untitled Wildlife. PRESS CLUB clearly have a lot of fans in attendance tonight as almost every song is being sung back to Foster with as much energy as she is giving. Endless Motion gets a big reaction as there is no let up in the band’s fantastic stage presence. As we start to reach the business end of the set PRESS CLUB breaks out into the punchy, emotional hit Cancelled. The evening is brought to an end by the band’s breakthrough anthem Suburbia which was a fan favourite as there is a big singalong from the Glasgow fans. Foster makes her way up on top of the speakers where she can almost touch the roof to perform the last song. As the final note is played there is a huge ovation from the crowd and you can see the emotion on the face of the band. 

PRESS CLUB put on an incredible live show packed with so much energy and grit. The talent of each individual member is clear from how tight their sound is even in these small venues. As the venue emptied there was a very long queue at the merch stand where Foster had already made her way to meet the Glasgow fans. A nice touch to end a brilliant evening of punk rock. 

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Stereo from Kyle Watt here: 

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