Irish folk band Amble turned Glasgow's Barrowlands into every pub corner that's ever melted your heart on a cold night in the city.
They took to the world-famous stage tonight and declared that they'd always dreamt of playing it.
Frontman Robbie Cunningham declared: "We only started this thing two years ago, and the Barras was always a venue we dreamed of but thought we’d never play."
Opening with Shallow River Run they set the tone for a night that would stun the sold-out crowd into silence at points, then have them belting out life-affirming choruses.
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Last time here, the band played a mid-afternoon set in the sweltering sunshine at TRNSMT in the summer; the temperature was a good 30 degrees cooler in the city, but the harmonies Amble provided were still as bright
Following the opening songs with a firm favourite, Hand Me Downs, a song about telling your stories to people you love while they’re alive, it sets the tone for a set full of sing-along, heartwarming tunes.
They debuted a new tune, The Rarest Hour, which was about to hit streaming platforms by midnight before turning up the energy with Schoolyard Days - it's them at their pub corner best.
Flexing their already well-thumbed catalogue at just a few years into the band, they rattle off One Man's Love and Socrates Smiled, the former ending in a blistering banjo solo.
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When watching them at TRNSMT, I tried to describe Amble's sound as having the impact of hitting you in the lost places you thought you'd never find - and seeing them again, it still does.
When taking to the stage at the Glasgow Green festival, they'd spoken of coming to the city to see Paolo Nutini play and dreaming of doing the same, and it's clear they were relishing that experience.
The band is composed of ex-school teachers who got together about two and a half years ago to pursue their dream of making music.
Belting out their staple cover of Rod Stewart’s band Faces' song Ooh La La, they roared the chorus “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger," and wouldn't we all.
"I’m just trying to take all this in right now, cos this is f*****g special," admits Robbie as he pauses to stare into the cheering crowd.
Belting out Mary's Pub, a story told through song about "buying a lighter for a girl who wasn’t single", the honest lyrics shine through as beautifully as their voices.
The band were in high spirits and admitted that they'd been for "a few" in popular East End boozer Wee Man's Bar as they were celebrating bassist Liam's 30th birthday.
Of course, the Barra's crowd responded with a rapturous rendition of Happy Birthday.
Land and Sea, Lonely Island, and encore tune Mariner Boy were all highlights from a set that proved that while still in their infancy, Amble are a band who aren't short of a tune, a story and a cracking performance.
Robbie finished off the set with the final gasped sentence through a laugh: "We never imagined this - I was a f*****g teacher last year, and now I’m playing the Barrowlands.
"There are few venues around the world that carry around the world like the barras, we’ve always dreamed of this - thank you so so much."
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