Tiny Habits lightened up gloomy Glasgow at St Luke’s
The band are on their first headline tour.
Photo: Yuxin Zhang
This spring, the acoustic folk-pop trio Tiny Habits swirled all the way from across the Atlantic to Europe. On Sunday, Glasgow played host to their signature harmonies and first-ever headline tour. The trio and their gem supporting band Shallow Alcove managed to effortlessly put the whole venue in a state of awe on the rainy Sunday night.
Under the dim lights and the stained-glass windows of St Luke’s, Tiny Habits and their “supporting pal” Shallow Alcove led the whole crowd on a magical journey. Full of body-waving melodies, mind-soothing rhythms and soul-healing harmonies. Over the entire night you felt like you went through a therapeutic period sitting by the fireplace with a bunch of close friends. Guitars and glasses of wine in hand, with fairy star lights and a mirror ball shining above you.
The audience knew what to expect from Tiny Habits before the lights were on but no one had thought Shallow Alcove would take their breath away from the very first note. Four of them: all with mics, two guitars and a banjo, and the crowd were blown away by the perfect combination of the acoustic band and the crystal-like delicate vocals. Seemingly unsatisfied by greeting the crowd with their own songs, Shallow Alcove spoiled us with something “everyone here would definitely love”, beabadoobee’s Glue Song, which got the audience surprising them with an echoing loud ovation in return.
With the mesmerising intro sliding in, and violet lights falling down, Tiny Habits came to the spotlight and immediately started the first song from their new album, Cycling. Their captivating harmony grasped every single heartbeat in the venue without even trying. I know the word “magic” is probably overused by now, but to see and to feel how their layers of velvety harmonies dance together with the band and create this invisible intimate bond under the mirror ball is without a doubt pure magic.
After singing six crowd-pleasers from both the new album and their debut EP, Tiny Habits brought a special gift for the Glasgow crowd; a soulful, flawless cover of What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish. Their unique, suave trio of vocals intertwined together, brought the melancholic piece another layer of complexity, and put everyone in awe with the unexpected calibre.
Before everyone recovered from the last song, the trio invited them to witness their own “little moments to shine”. Playing their solo songs one by one under the spotlight, with the other two supporting as, they jokingly said, “background vocalists”. Starting with Broken, brought by Rae and the beautiful keyboardist (who is actually her cousin) followed up with Malleable by Khan, and ending with Planting Flowers by Mayowa. You can tell the emotional bond and long term trust among the three by their perfect harmonies, and all the smiles that came up when their eyes met.
The most emotional part and highlight of the night was when the three of them stood close — right next to each other — and performed the most delicate song from the album: Wishes. The lights dimmed down to deep purple, holding the trio in their grace. The three of them stood shoulder by shoulder holding their microphones in the position of making a wish, singing all the words like they were from the bottom of their souls.
Even though some of the songs were under the shade of blue lights, the whole journey was still beautiful, like dancing under the warm sun that mellowed the Northern wind. You can tell from the faces of the crowd that no one got away from being healed by the enticing and intimate vibe that was created by the trio. If you still don’t know the gem trio from Boston, you should. Don’t miss out their soul-touching debut album, All For Something.
All photos by Yuxin Zhang.