Fatherson man up

Fatherson took to the ‘big boy stage’ -as described by Bass Player Marc Strain- at the Ironworks on Saturday 18th October with support from Model Aeroplanes.

Fatherson returned to Inverness last Saturday. Although they have played many great gigs there over the years, this is the first time they have actually made it onto the venue’s main stage and they were delighted to have made it up there and swore their is no going back now.

Model Aeroplanes kicked things off with a spirited and lively set – perfect for the weekend. This is not the first time that the Dundee indie pop band have supported Fatherson and the two bands have been friends for some time. Model Aeroplanes have a great catchy pop sound, not a million miles away from the likes of The 1975 who are big news at the moment and believe me, every chorus will be bouncing around your head for days.

It’s hard not to like their big, fun sound however it does begin to feel a bit samey after a while with the same tempos and pop structure coming up again and again. I’ve seen them three times this year and there has been very little variation in their sets but as they soar onwards and upwards hopefully we’ll see Model Aeroplanes mixing things up a bit.

Fatherson treated us to a marvellous 14 song set, mostly made up of songs from their debut album I Am an Island which was released earlier this year. The Alt Rock band opened with a solo performance by Ross Leighton of the first track from the album ‘An Island.’ The album heavily features imagery and themes of islands, water and isolation.

One of the many popular Scottish bands at the moment who chose to sing in the vernacular, Lead Vocalist Ross Leighton has an amazing voice which can reach incredibly varying pitches with ease (or so he makes it seem) which insures that every song engages the audiences. It’s also a defining factor when explaining their success in breaking into a genre which in Scotland, has some fierce competition.

Fatherson are often compared to more established bands such as Frightened Rabbit and I would say to an extent that this is accurate. Perhaps less gritty, but Frabbit fans are likely to appreciate Fatherson’s sound. Favourites such as First Born and their newest single Mine for Me went down a storm with the Inverness crowd.

Fatherson have been sure to draw a crowd here for many years and the band expressed their gratitude for the continued support of their Highland fans. I would say that towards the end of their set, the band made a slight mistake in playing a few of their more mellow songs one after the other.

The songs are beautiful and were well performed however there was a definite restlessness in the audience, the tempo having come down a few notches from songs such as I Like Not Knowing. The band played a three song encore, finishing perfectly with James. The boys all stuck around after to chat with their fans which always gives a band brownie points in my books.

If you didn’t manage to catch them this time around, Fatherson will be back in the Highlands on New Years Day playing at The Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore along with Prides which is sure to be a great start to 2015!

More photos of the evening with Fatherson and Model Aeroplanes.