Wheatus @ Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox 27/09/2023

Where: Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox – Glasgow, Scotland (UK)

Venue rating: 10/10

Who I went with: Myself

Where I stayed: easyHotel Glasgow City Centre (It did the job but I regretted booking a room without a window as it got stuffy in there)

How I travelled there: Train from Inverness

Beverage of choice: None

SETLIST:

I have been to over forty music events since the beginning of my concert journey in 2021 and this ticked every single one of the boxes inside my head – excellent songs, an electric atmosphere (as is usually the case with Glasgow), a beautiful venue, great acoustics, a respectful crowd and a genuine band who clearly care about their fans. I am so happy to see Wheatus coming to Scotland and doing multiple dates here. I’m used to bands including one gig in Glasgow or Edinburgh, if we are lucky. Glasgow has become like a second home to me over the past couple of years and I knew it would be fun to re-visit the venue after having such a blast seeing The Feeling there last October. I was going to head down on the Wednesday but heard murmurs a giant storm (“Agnes”) was going to hit that morning and cause a lot of devastation. Well, things usually get exaggerated in the news and this was thankfully no exception. I have already booked to see the band again in Bristol, since they are doing all-request shows and have practised over sixty songs to perform on demand, which is a staggering amount! There are still many gems I’d like to hear but can’t fault the setlist we got. It is also the longest show of the tour so far, so we were incredibly blessed.

I read about their VIP “meet and greet” and thought “Why not? It’s not like I have crippling social anxiety!” I could hardly pass it up when I read the perks – early entry into the venue, first dibs at the merch stall (with a hefty discount), an intimate live acoustic performance from the band and a chance to talk and take pictures etc. A signed poster which represents each member of the band in cartoon form is also included in the deal, so it is absolutely worth the upgrade if you can afford the extra £40 or so. I waited outside at 5:45pm and others quickly followed suit once they saw signs of life. The e-mail we got from Matthew Milligan (bassist of the band) and Jane Greenwood (fan club president) instructed us to arrive no later than 6pm. We were handed meet and greet stickers and led into the main area once we were all together. There must have been around ten or twelve of us – I didn’t count. Some people seemed to already know each other from the band’s Discord, which I found out about later. I bought a t-shirt with the “mutt from hell” on it as I didn’t want to carry too much home. The band came out after a short while and sat in a row, in front of the stage. Matthew appeared first and made us laugh by assuring us the other band members will be coming too and it won’t just be him, so we shouldn’t worry! Brendan B. Brown (frontman of the band) talked about the rainy weather and said they had better luck in Tarbert. He also told us he’s having to change his guitar strings daily because of how much use they are getting, which I suppose is not all that surprising.

Matthew remembered the requests which were sent in via e-mail and they started with ‘Pretty Girl’, which was for a guest’s birthday and a song I will need to listen to again because I don’t know it that well. They did one of my requests next – ‘Mope’. I chose it because it wasn’t an obvious choice and I thought it would sound amazing with this arrangement, which it did. They also did ‘I Am What I Is’, ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Fourteen’, which were more songs than I was expecting and all a treat to listen to. ‘Lemonade’ is the only song they performed again during the show, so we got twenty five songs in total. It was an incredible experience and they made the performance sound effortless, even though they shared with us how difficult an acoustic version of ‘Fourteen’ was to do. It was a fascinating way to hear the band live for the first time. When they were done, they all got up and wandered to different areas of the room. I think Matthew saw the panic in my eyes and came over to save me. We talked about Ironworks in Inverness closing down and not having a reliable music venue there anymore. He said they performed there a few years ago and it gave them an excuse to go to Inverness. We also chatted about Thekla in Bristol and how much of an unusual venue it is, being a cargo ship. He said they have played there five or six times and will have an additional opening act when I see them there, which should be interesting. I found Joey Slater (one of the main backing vocalists) next and she told me about their Discord and Patreon (both of which I have now joined). She thought ‘Mope’ was a good choice and was curious why I picked it, seeing as a lot of people aren’t familiar with their new songs. I crept over to Brendan last and asked him to sign my ‘Too Soon Monsoon’ CD, which is my favourite. Our conversation is a bit of a blur but he said they would have learned extra songs if they had more time but I don’t think they needed to, especially since they only have an hour and forty minutes to perform for us.

We were allowed to stay in the venue and secure our spots by the stage before MC Frontalot came on. I hadn’t heard of him before but he was hilarious and a great choice for an opening act since he got everyone in the party spirit. His music was described as “nerdcore hip-hop”, which was completely not what I was expecting (even for an act with “MC” in his name). I had his song ‘Critical Hit’ in my head all the way home and am looking forward to seeing him again. He had a video screen on the stage which displayed his music videos and lyrics, which were helpful during some of the raps for people who didn’t already know the words (but a lot of people did and were singing along loudly). He joked that if we are the type of people who enjoy reading more than going to concerts then this is for us, since there were subtitles. He told us he is originally from San Francisco but met Wheatus in New York, which makes sense. He had us all join in, instructing us what to repeat back to him at the right moments even though he admitted we might question why we should listen to “an American with a flashlight on his head”. Some of the band joined him onstage for the latter half of his set and it was a lot of fun. I will definitely look up his music videos again but I might regret doing so when the songs refuse to leave my head.

Wheatus took to the stage not long after. I think there was less than a half hour gap between acts, which is an unusual and welcome change for me. Brendan came up to us and asked what we wanted to hear first, claiming he doesn’t believe bands should make their own setlists but their fans should do it for them. I don’t know if they have always structured their gigs this way but it is an amazing idea and I wish more bands would do this. He didn’t seem to agree some of the suggestions were suitable for opening the show, so settled on ‘Hump’em n’ Dump’em’ and recalled he was hit in the chest with a shoe when they performed it at The Barrowlands Ballroom (aka. The Barras) in Glasgow, just next door. I’ve heard some horror stories about that venue, so I am a little anxious about seeing McFly there in November. I loved hearing the stories behind each of the songs and I learned a lot of facts about the band I didn’t already know. He told us he really did break his collarbone (‘BMX Bandits’), ‘F.B.S.M.’ was recovered from a fan’s muffled old phone recording and ‘The Story Of William McGovern’ and ‘The Deck’ were written about his father and mother, respectively. He explained to us his father passed away two weeks before they started this tour and, although they never always saw eye to eye, his song was very touching to experience live. He described him as soft-spoken and said his mother was always the complete opposite and couldn’t be messed with, which was funny.

He referred to his age a lot, since he has a big birthday in a week’s time. They talked about how Brandon Ticer aka. Brandi (on keyboards) has a birthday before him and how they have a birthday song they put together which turns heads and confuses people when they sing it in public but we didn’t get to hear it (due to time constraints and/or fans constantly shouting out a stream of requests). Maybe there is a version of it online – I might need to look it up now, I’m intrigued. They did too many songs to discuss in detail and I have no idea how they managed to fit so many in, as they are all reasonably long. The most notable mentions for me were ‘A Little Respect’ (which made me fall in love with the band when I heard it on the radio and dropped everything I was doing to find out who it was), ‘The London Sun’ (my favourite because of the lyrics and melody), ‘The Story Of The Eggs’ (which Brendan told us is the absolute limit of his ability – a stunning song and a real rarity, which he wrote with Chris Carrabba from Dashboard Confessional) and the more obscure ‘Temporary Song’ (which was Brendan’s choice, even though they didn’t really have time for it)! They ended with ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, their biggest hit and obvious choice for the last song. Brendan referenced the music video (saying the disco ball will fall on one of us at the end of the song) and wore the same type of hat he did in the music video. Whether it is the actual one, I don’t know. The song is iconic and almost everyone knows it. It has stuck with me throughout the years, since I came across it on MTV as a kid! I can’t believe it is over twenty years old. It took the world by storm and is still as beloved as ever, which was clear by the inevitable singalong in the room.

It was a very energetic set and I didn’t want it to end. I think the band would have gone on a lot longer if they were able, since they were full of smiles and totally on a roll. I also enjoyed watching how the band members interacted with each other and there were a lot of laugh out loud moments, such as when Matthew stormed off the stage and “left the band” during ‘Truffles’ because he claimed to be unimpressed with Brendan’s guitar playing. I wasn’t expecting to hear ‘Truffles’ and they tried to persuade us not to ask for it, calling it a “terrible song” and telling us it was far too early in the evening for it, only four songs in! But they gave in and performed it for us anyway because it is what we wanted. KC Marotta is the newest member of the band and he did a magnificent job on drums, being responsible for starting off many of the songs. He joined in 2022 according to my research and has clearly integrated well into the band since you could sense their chemistry a mile away. Joey Slater and Gabrielle Sterbenz are gorgeous backing vocalists and add a lot of depth to the already complex-sounding songs. My favourite part was when they sang the backing vocals for ‘The Story Of The Eggs’ (yes, I’m mentioning it again) as they made the dramatic song sound even more intense and majestic. Matthew never stopped moving while showing off his impressive bass skills and Brandi was amazing on the keyboard and also had control of the backing tracks. I wasn’t sure about the pre-recorded audio at first as I thought it might distract from the band but it didn’t and it was fun to hear sound effects from the original recordings, such as the car in ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. BBB is incredible too, which goes without saying. His enthusiasm is contagious and his voice is very distinctive – I could listen to him sing all day.

I hope they don’t wait too long to return to the UK. There are plenty of video clips on YouTube and I have been going through them one by one to re-live the night. Everything from start to finish was perfect and there was no overly rowdy or stupid behaviour. Everyone was just there to see one of their favourite bands and have a good time. I recommend seeing them live if you get the chance (there are still plenty of UK dates lined up) and it was an experience I will never forget. Thank you Wheatus for an incredible night and I will catch you again at Thekla!

---

GALLERY

The Winged Ox part 

Taking pictures of the walls because I didn’t want to stand in the rain

Venue

It was prettier than I remembered

MC Frontalot doing his thing

Full band shot, mostly. I was very close

Gabrielle Sterbenz and Joey Slater

BBB rocking out

Guitar-off

Pose

Stare-off

Good band interaction

My favourite picture from the night

MC Frontalot featuring in ‘Teenage Dirtbag’

Fully in character

You could tell the band were really enjoying themselves

‘Teenage Dirtbag’ – continued

Sticker

My signed CD! Sadly, I missed Gabrielle (Gabi)

And the signed poster! Brandi’s autograph is smudged but it still looks great