I’ll start this review with a rare sentence- on a warm sunny Easter Monday (Yes- it was hot and sunny in Scotland in April!) Boy Child, Mr A and I walked across the Millennium Bridge and along the banks of the River Clyde in search of the venue for the evening.

Armed with Google maps, we had no difficulty in locating SWG3, a new venue to all three of us.

Who were we there to see?

Canada’s finest – Monster Truck!

Before we get onto the music here, a little info about the venue itself. SWG3 (Studio Warehouse Glasgow) is a multi-disciplinary arts complex in the west end of Glasgow. We were destined for the TV Studio which is a former Customs and Excise bonded tobacco warehouse with a standing capacity of circa 1000. Could this venue be the one to fill the gap left by the loss of the O2 ABC in the city centre? Time will tell on that one.

For a Monday night the complex was busy with three separate events taking place. We found the right queue, waited patiently, got our tickets scanned (anyone else get that little surge of excitement as you hear the “ping” of those scanners as the doors open?) and our hands stamped with a large blue logo for the venue.

There was only one support act on the bill – Royal Tusk from Edmonton, AB. These four Canadians were making their Scottish debut and what a debut it was! Their nine song set may have only lasted forty minutes but in that short space of time Royal Tusk captured the hearts of the Scottish rock fans.

Anyone familiar with Glasgow rock show etiquette knows when the chant of “Here we, here we, here we f**king go” starts that the crowd love the band on stage. Never have I heard it sung so passionately for a support act.

Never have I heard the fans booing in disappointment when the support act say they only have one song left.

Royal Tusk, take that as a huge compliment. You earned it. Awesome Scottish debut. Hurry back, guys, please.

The crowd had only just got their breaths back when Monster Truck’s intro tape of “Long Live Rock n Roll” began to play. Monster Truck roared into life with The Lion. These four Canadians certainly know how to rock!

There’s no frills with these guys. There’s very little chit chat or banter. There were certainly plenty of smiles as front man Jon Harvey grinned his entire way through the set from under that curly mane of his. What shone out was that they were enjoying playing their ninety minute set as much as the Scottish fans were enjoying hearing it.

The set opener was followed by Don’t Tell Me How to Live -loved it! Here, have a listen……

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_pIcpKfBWs

(credits to the owner Red Rocks via You Tube)

Then came the first offering from their current album True Rockers, Devil Don’t Care.

Their seventeen song set was a balanced mix of songs from all three of their albums. Five tracks from the current album, True Rockers, made the list and the fans lapped them up along with the more familiar favourites.

Picking highlights from this set is tough. There truly wasn’t a weak song on there. For crowd participation Things Get Better might just edge into the lead as the highlight of the main set. Glasgow certainly showed these boys from Hamilton, ON that we know how to party and we like to sing.

The main body of the set was rounded off with Sweet Mountain River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQFhsu0tqw

(credits to the owner Red Rocks via You Tube)

Glasgow wasn’t for letting these guys go and they swiftly returned to the stage for a two song encore of Why Are You Not Rocking and New Soul.

Monster Truck most definitely rocked! As a venue SWG3 TV Studio rocked and as a crowd, well, we rocked too!

Great climax to a sunny Easter weekend.

Now to figure out how to get that blue stamp ink off the back of Boy Child’s hand!

thanks to Red Rocks for sharing their videos on You Tube