Scottish indie kings The Snuts have been back on their first headline tour in over a year across March and they have been dearly missed. With the odd support slots for esteemed acts The Wombats and Kings Of Leon and a pattering of festival slots, 2025 was pretty quiet for the Whitburn quartet. The Snuts have always been big champions of the independent scene with their own breakaway from a major label to establish Happy Artist Records and with their latest tour they’ve been shining a light on smaller grassroots venues in towns that often get overlooked by touring bands.
They’ve made their debut in towns like Lincoln and Frome as well as returning to places like Stoke and Oxford after a few years away. The last night of the tour brought them to Warrington Parr Hall for a sold-out affair. Joining them for the ride was fellow Scottish Falkirk outfit Brógeal who have been cropping up on the airwaves a lot recently and it was easy to see why.
Brógeal were brilliant. So quintessentially Scottish and the first band I have ever seen live to use an accordion in their music. Very rogue but a very fun element to their sound. Their set opened with co frontman & banjo player Aiden Callaghan singing the beginning of ‘Roving Falkirk Bairn’ and the crowd were already clapping along before any of the other instruments came in. This became a staple feature of their set as the crowd clapped along to all their upbeat melodies and rhythms. Brógeal have taken traditional funk music and put a punk spin on it to create a really fun opening set.
Callaghan and co frontman & guitarist Daniel Harkins switched vocal roles throughout with both their strong Scottish voices shining through to bring a beautiful authenticity to their performance. During ‘Tuesday Paper Club’ bassist Euan Mundie played his guitar on his head with immaculate balance as the other band members danced around the stage. To close out what had been a very entertaining set they finished with their instrumental track ‘Lonesome Boatman’ which featured Callaghan taking and putting his hat back on in rapid fashion repeatedly whilst playing a tin whistle as the band powered through a rapid track that easily could be used in an exciting film action scene.
The Snuts knew how to make an entrance with the funky party beats of ‘We Like To Party’ by The Venga Boys ringing out before some catapulted out onto the stage and some swaggered out. This felt very apt given the whole set felt like one big celebratory party. Opening with the wonderful track ‘Gloria’ all the Tesco tops were out in full force, mine included!
The happiness this track brought in its sound and lyrical content was infectious as the band excitedly launched into every chorus about ordinary love in everyday life. Next up with a return to the much earlier days with the addictive ‘Seasons’ in which they played an acapella alternate first version before kicking into asking “what are you filling your dreams with?” and “have you been stuck in the seasons?” This featured a brilliant bridge with catchy guitar solos from Joe McGillveray and Jack Cochrane’s vocals soaring in pitch as if like the bird on the single artwork.
The Snuts were not messing about with the momentum of this set as they played the electrifying “All Your Friends” which has a special place in my heart as the first song I ever heard from them. With the repetition of “remember” a bassline with an attitude from Callum Wilson that the crowd sang as well as the lyrics and one of the best guitar solos ever to close the track, this was a real showcase of how dynamic The Snuts are and sometimes why it’s hard to put them just to one specific style of music.
What a tune. Now it was onto something new, “Summer Rain”. This song showed The Snuts at their most vulnerable as Cochrane sang about the balance of fatherhood and the band’s growing success. This was a beautiful ballad track that welcomed the wonderful new era the band are stepping into.
The Snuts have made a very rogue change to their setlist this tour and this comes in the form of their most popular track ‘Glasgow’ no longer being at the end of the set. There were a lot of teary eyes for this one as for many it can be a relatable track whether you’re actually from Glasgow itself or not. That simple soft guitar that introduces the track just felt like a warm hug as Cochrane tenderly sang the chorus before the band blew up the stage with more riffs the crowd repeated and dominating drum patterns. ‘Juan Belmonte’ was welcomed back to the set with this tour with a new look as they played an amazing extended outro.
This blended beautifully to transition straight into ‘Elephants’ which brings a sassy energy but also an exciting tension in the build up to each chorus featuring clever word play, sampled elephant noises and another extended outro. What was great to see was how some of their most well known tracks were being reimagined in a live setting to show the band’s evolution.
Cochrane gave a heartfelt speech about shining a light on smaller venues he feels are forgotten and never welcome very many shows. He spoke of the importance of still playing these venues and supporting independence as they are independent themselves. He gave his compliments to Warrington before they played the groovy ‘Fatboy Slim’ with a tribute to 90s culture and the dreams that bands have of sold-out crowds as big as Brighton Beach, flawless looks and net worths.
The Snuts may not speak loads on stage, but they have their interactions in other ways to allow the crowds to sing back their repeated choruses in a back-and-forth exchange. ‘The Rodeo’ brought a colossal energy to the room, that build up between “I left my details somewhere on the internet” and the first chorus is absolutely huge. Thank me later once you’ve listened. The crowd were bouncing in unison, shouting each “olé” with full power, it was a full symphony.
Returning to that dynamism The Snuts have with the softer ‘Circles’ track in which Cochrane joked about the band thinking they’d written the greatest track ever but then when they had a poor reception, they thought it was shit. I can speak on behalf of everyone in that room when we say we love ‘Circles’. It’s a gorgeous track with anthemic guitar sounds and cheerful drumbeats from Jordan Mackay. The Snuts have such a joyous atmosphere to their tracks as they danced through tracks like ‘Maybe California’, ‘Millionaires’ and ‘Dreams’ which opened up some mosh pits and withdrawal from the band as they beamed out at the crowds singing the lyrics back to them.
Alongside ‘Summer Rain’ other new unreleased tracks made their own appearances like ‘Motherlands’, ‘Get Up, Get Out’ and ‘Defibrillator’. These also displayed more of an emotional vulnerability lyrically but with positive melodies and pitches which were well received by the crowd. ‘Defibrillator’ was the last track played before they walked off which deserves a particular highlight for the awe-inspiring, moving choruses and chord patterns from McGillveray. This has particularly stuck in my memory so can only hope a release is on the way soon!
The Snuts jogged back on to deliver THE dream encore of them all. The two best Snuts tracks, ‘Hallelujah Moment’ and ‘Always’. Cochrane moved around the stage with subtle movements for ‘Hallelujah Moment’ spreading the infectious happiness this song incites. The bassline from Wilson for this track was brilliant as Mackay’s drums boomed and echoed throughout the room over a jazzy compelling chorus.
The effervescent anthemic ballad and my favourite Snuts song ‘Always’ brought the set to a close as everyone sang the glorious guitar riff, and the alluring lyrics captured every fan. The band gave it everything for their final song of the final night of the tour with the “now make it all as right as rain my brown eyed girl” blaring out across the crowd; hitting the balcony right at the back to end a truly wonderful night.
The Snuts went out in style on the final night of their March tour with a huge statement that they are well and truly back to take 2026 by storm with plenty more exciting releases on the way, more festival appearances and hopefully more tours. Please don’t leave it so long next time guys!
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