Night 5 of the 2017 New Year’s Revolution festival featured upcoming artist Ali Robertson in the headline spot, ahead of the release of his EP.

But beforehand, we got down really early and caught the tail-end of the Sunday Song Club, where a long haired chap done cracking covers of The Eagles’ Take It Easy and George Michael’s Careless Whisper. Unfortunately, we never caught his name, but if you happen to be reading this, nice job.

Out of all on the bill, we were most familiar with EMILIE, who was up first. She initially caught our attention a few months back with her debut EP – I See You In The Darkness – which earned her a nomination for our Most Promising Newcomer award, but now it was time to see what she was really made of on stage.

Nagging technical issues killed the vibe early on, but it proved to be a quick recovery process and overall an enjoyable set. All the tracks from the aforementioned EP sounded as good as we imagined them to be, especially Eyes For You and Lost.

The keyboard and synth combo created a chilling ambience, which was boosted by graceful harmonies from Emily herself.

If there was any nitpick we had, it was that the lighting may have been a bit too bright and should have been more dimmed to fit more with the sound, instead it hindered the atmosphere a little.

But despite that problem, Emily had the attention of everyone in the room throughout, so she got the job done in easing us into the night, and we were satisfied by what we saw.

*

NOAH NOAH were next, and there was a lot of build up behind this lot, with most people we knew going specifically for these guys, and we could see why because they were top notch.

The energy was palpable and consistent throughout, with every song defined by pulsating melodies, catchy choruses and a tight performance from every member of the quartet.

They worked really hard to give everyone a good show and undoubtedly succeeded, having the entire place hooked and there was even one girl right dab in the centre bouncing and dancing wildly along.

We were more than convinced about this band and their talents, who provided plenty of fun and left us wanting more.

*

False Friends were our blind act of the night, as we had no prior listening experience of them. As far as first impressions go, they made a striking one.

They continued the momentum established by NOAH NOAH and turned it up to 11 with a handful of numbers driven by high-octane rhythms, where the bass and drum work excelled, the guitars were great and the ensemble vocals meshed impeccably.

We found ourselves bobbing our head and tapping our foot along over the entire course of the set, it was just electric. We were glad to have been introduced to them this way, and for certain in our minds, they were the act of the night.

*

It was now time for Ali Robertson to wrap things up, and he had some tough acts to follow, but from the little material we had heard from him, he seemed very promising and we had faith in him. Safe to say, he delivered beyond what was expected from him.

Ali was not only slick in his harmonies and general playing, but was charismatic and a real aura emanated from him. He had the focus of the audience all the way through, who were swaying and waving along to the beats; we even caught the bearded bouncer briefly jigging.

The production of the tracks were of a high standard, and the backing band had a solid chemistry with Ali.

He made a real connection on this night – he even earned himself an encore, where he performed a cover of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel – and proved to have a star quality about him.

It was made abundantly that he was going to be a major focal point within the Glasgow scene in 2017.