Glasgow, Scotland – It would be easy to walk by Glasgow’s iconic King Tuts Wah Wah Hut on a cold, wet Sunday evening without realising what lies within. Tucked away downstairs on St Vincent Street, it’s a gem of the Scottish music scene and has seen the launch of bands such as Oasis, Blur, and Coldplay, before mainstream success swept them on to larger arenas. As you ascend the steps indoors, each stair has the name of a famous performer who has made their way to the stage before you. Tonight’s performance by Cork band Cliffords left everyone with the feeling that another name is about to be added to the King Tuts legend.
The venue was literally packed out to the doors for a group who are very quickly developing a massive, dedicated following, and only two days previously, it had been announced that they were to be the opening act on the TRNSMT festival Main Stage next June. Straight away from their first song “Marsh”, they showed that they have the presence and sound to fill any arena. Lead singer Iona Lynch has a voice which melts between the delicate and the driven, and effortlessly wielded her guitar whilst Gavin Dawkins alternated from bass guitar to trumpet (which brought a new dynamic to the music). Harry Menton was on lead guitar, Locon O’Toole on keyboard and Daniel Ryan on drums complete the line up, and for a band who were on their first major tour outside of Ireland they sounded as if they’ve been doing this for years.
They’ve just released their new EP Salt of The Lee, and although you can hear the influences of musicians such as Divorce and Wolf Alice in their alt-rock sound Cliffords are not here to copy and paste their music – you can feel how deeply personal the lyric writing is. Iona describes how the pain of the loss of one of her friends led her to write “Dungarven Bay”, and the gentle ache behind the lyrics felt even more bittersweet after the laughter of Iona reminiscing about a particular escapade with said friend and some illicit beer kegs. Songs such as “My Favourite Monster” and “Sleeping with Ghosts” are clearly fan favourites already, the crowd singing along word for word, and the finale of “Bittersweet” was just that, an anthemic anthem that left us wanting more but to no avail. There was no encore, but the energy that filled the room lingered long after they left. After speaking to a few other members of the audience, it appears that we all left with the same feeling – that we had just been privileged to witness a band on the brink of greatness who are surely destined for very, very special things.
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SETLIST:
Marsh
If the Shoe Fits
Second Skin
Shattered Glass
R&H Hall
Paper Dress
Dungarven Bay
My Favourite Monster
Blondie
Feels Like a Man
Sleeping With Ghosts
Bittersweet
Show Date:11.09.25
