17 April 2026, Oran Mor
IST IST
Throughout our #AtoZMusicalTour to date, most gigs have been selected due to having at least some knowledge of the acts we are going to see. Even breaking bands have come with some degree of knowing what to expect.
The IST IST gig is one of the few exceptions though where expectations were non-existent. Tickets bought purely on a very brief video that passed through the FB feed several months previously. A brief check of the diary showing there was no existing conflict of dates and being a Friday night, what was to be lost in taking a punt to go to Oran Mor to see them play live?
That punt, proved to be a lucky one as we were introduced to a band who were on top form throughout the night, displaying a confident swagger as they played through their catalogue of songs in a 20+ song set list.
By all accounts, IST IST have been steadily building their audience across the UK and beyond over the past decade with a string of tours and albums, the latest of which Dagger spawned eight of the songs played during the night.
There is something familiar with the tracks played, coming as they do from a post-punk perceptive that offers a soundscape heavy with a dark atmosphere created by the strumming bass hooks of Andy Keating and deep baritone vocals of Adam Houghton.
Together with Mat Peters on guitar and synthesizer, and Joel Kay sitting on the drum stool, they manage to take that familiarity and make it their own.
Knowing a good bit more about the band than a few months ago, there is no doubt that they have now elevated themselves into the see you sometime soon list.
The Youth Play
There is something special about seeing an up-and-coming band delivering a set of songs to a room quietly filling up with people who have came to see the band they are warming up for. There is the hope, maybe more than expectation, that within the audience there are existing fans and, more importantly, a cohort of new fans that they can build their fan base around.
Based on their short set ahead of IST IST taking to the stage, The Youth Play, can certainly count on two new ‘fans’ following a set that was part shoegazing, part post punk darkness.
While the focal point remained on lead singer and guitarist Diego Brancho throughout, his bandmates can also share an equal amount of the plaudits as the overall sound is part of a collective that should, all things being equal, give them a chance to move up the musical ladder.
Another band to watch out for in the future.
