By this point, seeing bdrmm had become something of a habit.
Emma and I first discovered them when they supported Ride and were immediately impressed. Not long afterwards I caught them again opening for Mogwai at the Barrowland, where they somehow managed to hold their own despite sharing a bill with one of Scotland’s loudest and most revered bands. Then came their headline show at Mono in Glasgow, which only reinforced my growing suspicion that they were one of the most exciting bands currently making music.
So when they announced a date in Dundee, there was never really much debate.
We were going.
One of the joys of following a band over several years is watching them evolve from an interesting discovery into an act you actively plan your schedule around. That’s where bdrmm had found themselves. Every time I saw them, they seemed to grow in confidence, expand their sound and strengthen their live performances.
By now I genuinely believed they were one of the best bands around.
Before the headline set, we were treated to support act Nightbus. Support bands often face the challenge of playing to audiences who are still arriving, ordering drinks or waiting impatiently for the main attraction, but Nightbus quickly won people over. Their atmospheric sound fitted perfectly with the evening and provided an ideal introduction to what was to come.
As for bdrmm, they once again delivered exactly what I had hoped for.
Their music occupies that wonderful space between melody and noise where shoegaze is at its most effective. Delicate passages can suddenly explode into walls of sound before drifting back into something almost hypnotic. It’s music that rewards complete immersion, and live performances allow those dynamics to hit with even greater force than they do on record.
What impresses me most about the band is that they never seem content to simply repeat themselves. Each time I’ve seen them, there has been a noticeable sense of progression. The songs feel more assured, the performances more confident and the overall experience more compelling.
Emma has become just as fond of them as I am, which probably explains why she never complains when another bdrmm date mysteriously appears on the calendar.
By this stage, we’d followed them from support slots to headline shows, from Glasgow to Dundee and from curiosity to genuine admiration.
That’s not something that happens very often.
Looking back, this concert felt like another chapter in an ongoing story rather than a standalone event. Every time we’ve seen bdrmm, they’ve given us another reason to keep paying attention, and Dundee was no exception.
The videos and photographs below capture some of the evening, including support act Nightbus, who more than held their own before one of the UK’s most exciting young bands took to the stage.
And judging by the direction bdrmm are heading, I doubt this will be the last time they appear in these pages.
The Photos
Cheers!
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