The Dublin band gave Glasgow a lively set of feverish fun. 

Following the release of their third album Open Wide, Inhaler wasted absolutely no time in bringing their latest offering to the stage, immediately setting off on yet another headline tour across the UK. Two weeks in, and the indie rock band finally hit Scotland’s music capital for two sold-out shows at Glasgow’s O2 Academy. 

With the house lights dimming to a deafening roar, it couldn’t have been more obvious that this was going to be one for the books. The quartet got ripped right into setlist staple Honest Face, raising energy levels from bubbling to boiling point for what felt like a quick four minutes of searing indie bliss. Glasgow was more than ready to go for it, and clearly so were Inhaler.

“A few of us have the flu,” frontman Elijah Hewson told the screaming crowd, “But, instead of cancelling the show, we just said ‘fuck it’, ‘cause we’ve been really looking forward to these shows.” You could tell Elijah was struggling through some of the vocals on Eddie In The Darkness and A Question of You, taking lyric breaks on the latter, but I honestly don’t think anyone cared. The stage and, by extension the room, lacked absolutely no energy – arms were in the air, feet were pounding, and voices were hoarse – so it felt guaranteed that it would be a good night of good music, with the band’s obvious illness instead making for some pretty memorable moments.

From the rowdy crowd carrying the chorus of When It Breaks to Elijah letting the flu medication do the talking and dedicating the groove-laden Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah) to the “doctor who was putting something down my mouth four hours ago”, it was one of the most fun gigs I’ve been to in a while. 

It seemed as though the Dublin four-piece had a new sense of showmanship, fine-tuned through years of gigging, with their floral silhouette backdrop swiftly falling to allow the Irish flag to shine for Dublin In Ecstasy, and Elijah selecting a ‘chosen one’ to sing (or in this case scream) the final line of the track’s bridge before the room went crazy for Josh Jenkinson’s effortless musicianship on the guitar.

Yet even though setlist classic like Dublin In Ecstasy, Cheer Up Baby and It Won’t Always Be Like This were reliable as ever — their anthemic qualities making us all feel as euphoric as if we were also on strong flu medication – the band’s new tracks also made their presence known. Little Things felt equally as anthemic with its chant-worthy chorus and commanding bass-line, while the deliciously rich guitar tones of X-Ray offered up something a bit different and showed just how in tune these childhood friends are with each other. I can only imagine how great these tracks sound when the band are on top form. 

Having now caught Inhaler live more than a few times, they’re now firmly in my faithful live act category. Three albums in and they have more than enough hits to make a killer setlist and, as their confidence and sense of self continues to grow, they’re easily proving to be a formidable live act who should be on every indie rock fan’s gig bucket list.