The Twilight Sad Tickets

The Twilight Sad Makes Art Out of Misery

Scottish post-punk rockers The Twilight Sad are so well known for their morose lyrics they've given rise to a new word: "miserablism". Yet their decibel-drenched wall of sound brings a power to their music and lifts it to heights that have earned them a reputation as perhaps the best Scottish band on the scene today.

Schedule

The Twilight Sad tickets are always a hot commodity, as the band is constantly on tour bursting ear drums in support of their latest release. Crossing oceans from their native Scotland, they can be seen all over the US, at the Metro in Chicago, the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, and One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans. However, they'll never neglect their native Glasgow and can be counted on to appear often at popular venues such as O2 ABC.

Trivia

The band's name comes from a line in "The War Poems" by Wilfred Owen. Singer James Graham is a big Manic Street Preachers fan. In fact, one of their albums was his first record purchase as a kid, and when The Twilight Sad supported Manic Street Preachers on tour years later it was like a dream come true. Other favourites of the band are Mogwai and Arab Strap, and Graham credits the latter for inspiring him to start writing lyrics. Graham is a film buff and says his favourite Scottish films are "Gregory's Girl", "Trainspotting", and "Under the Skin".

Band

Singer James Graham, guitarist Andy McFarlane, and drummer Mark Devine met in high school and started making music. They eventually established their sound as "folk with layers of noise" and sent a demo of early songs to Alex Knight of Fat Cat Records, who jumped at the chance to sign them. Those demos became their first release, a self-titled EP, in 2006. They came out the following year with their debut LP, "Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters", marking them among critics as one of the most important contemporary Scottish bands. With that and following releases, The Twilight Sad have put the emphasis on albums rather than singles, allowing singer Graham to tell the stories he wants with his emotive lyrics and the band's sonic assault.

Breakthrough

The Twilight Sad had only a handful of gigs under their belt when they recorded their debut album. It became 2007's "Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters" and its dark vision made an immediate impact on record buyers and critics. Pitchfork gave it a standout review, and The Skinny named it album of the year and later made it their No. 2 Scottish album of the decade.

Hit Albums

Following their massive success with their debut, they released "Forget the Night Ahead". On this 2009 album, they expanded their sound and experimented with new instruments, even using fire extinguishers for percussion. More acclaim followed and the band put out their third album, 2011's "No One Can Ever Know", which saw them push their experimentation further with more synthesisers and singer Graham truncating his notoriously long song titles down to sparse, single words. "Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave" dropped in 2014 and marked an emphatic return to their original guitar-heavy sound.

Show Experience

Those with Twilight Sad tickets should be prepared for an evening of loudness. The band is notorious for their "wall of sound" and turning it up to 11. In addition to the core trio, they bring along a tour keyboardist and bass player to punch up the noise, and the cumulative effect has been compared to similar purveyors of loud, My Bloody Valentine. It takes a strong front man not to drown in it, and singer James Graham stands out with his emotive gesticulating and singing. If you're looking for transcendence and catharsis, The Twilight Sad is the package that delivers.