BEYOND EUROVISION: BAMBIE THUG WELCOMES NEW FANS TO A WORLD OF OCCULT OUIJI POP ON SOLD OUT TOUR

LIVE REVIEW | BAMBIE THUG – SWG3 WAREHOUSE, GLASGOW 02/09/24 by Anne Kelly

A night of coven inspired magic brought alive by music but ironically hexed by new moon…

Nothing quite beats kicking off the working week with a gig. This Monday it was a quick dash to Glasgow’s SWG3 Warehouse after work for Ireland‘s most successful Eurovision finalist in 25 years, Bambie Thug. Having kicked off in Brighton on Friday, Glasgow’s sell out was the second stop on the Crown The Witch Tour which will continue to sweep across Europe throughout September and October.

Self proclaimed ‘Ouiji Pop‘, Bambie Thug is an embodiment of occult energy, theatrical aesthetics and genre blending anthems. Opting for a backing track as opposed to a live band set up, their live shows are promised to be an experience; a shared celebration of love and togetherness between the fans. Kicking off a little after 8.30pm, the room is filled with a sense of both excitement and curiosity. The build up is intense: an extended instrumental intro section slowly reveals a tease of Bambie’s impending arrival. “Close your eyes” a voice instructs, “breathe in, breathe out” immersing the crowd in a an ambient occult experience. Two male presenting dancers appear on stage – topless -wearing rhinestone spiked BDSM inspired masks before the arrival of the Coven Queen themself: Bambie Thug. Met with a resounding applause, Bambie announces “This is a story about revenge, and how two enemies used to be friends” – the opening line of brand new single ‘Hex So Heavy‘. Despite the track only being 3 days old, fans have already memorised the lyrics and are moving rhythmically to it’s heavy beat. At least momentarily that is.

Unfortunately, all that build up and effort to immerse us in the moment is cut prematurely short. Silence.

The music stops and Bambie’s own mic cuts out. A brief moment of bewilderment as to whether the interruption was intentional or not is swiftly confirmed by the sight of sound technicians running through the crowd in a panic. Bambie and the two dutiful dancers are stood just as perplexed as the crowd are, but awkwardness soon switches to laughter with the crowd making light of the irony of the tracks ‘cursed’ theme. “It’s the New Moon!” Bambie jokes with the audience. A few minutes of scrambling about – which must felt like an eternity to the performers on stage – the show kicked off again. Well, for all of about 30 seconds before cutting out yet again. These things happen, and nobody feels it more than the performers on stage, but admittedly it does break the atmosphere which had been so carefully curated thus far. The dancers do their best to fill the pauses with impromptu dance routines before initiating the chant “5, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8” to which the crowd instinctively knows how to respond before the entire room breaks into a united rendition of Chappell Roan‘s ‘Hot To Go‘, bringing the atmosphere back together again. Third time lucky and ‘Hex So Heavy‘ defies it’s own preemptive destiny and is finally played in full.

Watch the music video for Bambie Thug’s new single ‘Hex So Heavy’

The rest of the show thankfully goes down without much drama with fans not allowing the earlier ‘hiccup’ to taint their night. The first ‘act’ of the set pays homage to some of Bambie Thug’s earliest releases with tracks ‘NECROMANCY‘ and ‘HIEROPHANT‘ from 2021 EP HIGH ROMANCY then ‘Kawasaki (I Love It)‘ from the same era before bringing things back up to date with songs from 2023’s breakthrough EP Cathexis which get the biggest response of the night so far. A break in the set see’s Bambie reappear draped in a Palestine flag before performing an unreleased track poignantly named ‘Children Should Be Laughing‘. Performed to a red, green, black and white light backdrop, the song hits a heartbreaking nerve. Ongoing conflicts in Palestine is not a topic that Bambie is afraid to speak out upon. The artist was one of the leading voices at this years Eurovision Song Contest to contest Israel’s involvement in the competition and their advocacy for such movements only increases the respect fans have for this singer.

Act 2 kicks off after a dance interval from our favourite rhinestone masked dancers, and the energy is just as dynamic. As touched upon earlier, one thing that disappointed a little was the lack of any actual instruments on stage. The entire set was all played to a backing track which I don’t necessarily object to, but feel a live band would have magnified Bambie’s performance. I suppose it’s a fitting reflection on the touring scene though where many artists just don’t have the budget to accommodate a full band on tour. The artist might boast over half a million Spotify listeners, but is also playing 500 cap venues which don’t always fund a full band set up.

Bambie Thug @ SWG3 WAREHOUSE (Anne Kelly/Northern Exposure)

It doesn’t appear to bother the actual fans though, there is so much love and adoration for Bambie in the room tonight as songs from across their discography fill the next 6 tracks of the night. Penultimately closing with scenes of pure ecstacy across the SWG3 Warehouse, as fan favourite track ‘Tsunami (11:11)‘ is played out with the fun addition of on stage water pistols. “I better hear you shout for more if you want to hear your favourite song” – Bambie shouts out from behind the stage. The crowd play right into the cusp, bringing Bambie back out in no time to perform their Eurovision entry ‘Doomsday Blues‘ – all set to a backdrop of appropriately fitting blue lighting before everybody says their goodbyes for the night.

Despite performing the finale with such vigor and passion, it felt like a bit of an anti-climax. Not even an hour later (and that factors in the lost time due to technical faults) the show was over and we were being sent back out into the new moon already. There are advantages to an early finish – especially on a school night – but it felt as though the crowd were suitably warmed up by this point with most definitely had another few tracks in them.

Over all, it was a nice introduction to the world of Bambie Thug away from Eurovision perspective. In their own space, Bambie’s personality really comes to life. They definitely have the theatrics for their stage persona but I feel they still lack a little confidence in their stage presence at times. The act feels forced at points but then that could just be a confidence knock from the earlier issues in the show which Bambie dealt with incredibly well given the circumstances.

Given a bigger stage, a live band and maybe some more dancers, Bambie Thug would absolutely thrive. The set is too ‘big’ for small cap venues which just don’t really do the rising star enough justice. I can absolutely see what their fans see in them though, Bambie is a captivating performer in every sense and commands attention everywhere they go. Without a doubt, many new followers are indoctrinated to the occult world of Bambie Thug tonight.