At times it's hard to believe Andrew WK was once an NME darling.
During a period when sharp-dressed men like The Strokes were in demand, there was WK muscling in for attention too. It's not surprising his flirtation with the mainstream didn't last long, but 11 years later here he was before a noisy, appreciative audience, running through debut album I Get Wet in full.
The crowd showed their pleasure by repeatedly yelling "Yes! Yes! Yes!" throughout the show, a chant pinched from the loud and garish world of professional wrestling. It's rather fitting, and not just because WK is a burly enough presence to suggest he could be a grappler if required. There's plenty of testosterone flowing through the music itself, and it's all about having a good time.
Every track was a hymn to partying, and while that might not impress those who demand serious subjects lyrically, on a Saturday night in Glasgow it was hard to imagine anything more enjoyable. It rarely strayed into metal, instead offering beefed-up boogies in the vein of a modern Status Quo, with extra lashings of piano on top, and the likes of Party Hard, I Love NYC (here with Glasgow substituting for his home city at points) and the tactfully titled Party Til You Puke were chantable, dumb fun that thankfully avoided the macho posturing that sometimes creeps into such music.
By the time of the encore the formula was close to breaking point, but WK's relentless energy saw it through. He's a good-natured goofball who clearly believes in what he's doing, and like any good party it was best to go with the ride and enjoy his enthusiastic mayhem.
HHHH
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