Lo Rays first headliner at the legendary King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, was an immersive and captivating finish to their biggest headline tour to date.
Walking up the stairs of King Tuts last night, we were presented with a venue bursting at the seams with excited fans waiting to see some post-apocalyptic pop-metal, a line of large, metal heads guarding the barrier, excitedly waiting for the show to start. Warning sirens began, and two female dancers, Rebecca Duke and Melissa Heywood, wearing gas masks and trench coats, stood staring the crowd down, excitement rippling through the crowd. Then the woman of the hour appeared, lead singer Laura Takala took to the stage, wearing steampunk goggles, straight from Lo-Rays music videos, and joined her apocalyptic disciples. Then King Tuts erupted as the rest of the band joined the stage and launched into their set, starting with ‘Algorithm Gods’.
Front woman Laura was a powerhouse, making robotic movements and staring the crowd down, fully immersing us in her Mad Max-ian world. One fan shouted out from the crowd, “on repeat!” when singer Laura asked who had listened to the new EP. The band then played the … hit ‘Knee High’ from the band’s brand new EP RE:BIRTH SEQUENCE, released on 27th March 2026. During this song, the band gave stoic performances, playing the song identically to the recorded track and staring the crowd down, Laura dancing and moving so robotically that it made me ask, ‘Has she really become a cyborg? Is she a robot sent back from the future to warn us of an impending doom?’ The live stage visuals from Veronica or VJ further told the story of the band, creating a post-apocalypse wasteland tech nightmare as a backdrop for the band’s performance.
The band kept things moving on to their next song, ‘Freak’, announcing “…this one is for all you beautiful little freaks!” as the band broke out into the chaotic and angry song. Laura’s screams were raw and emotional during this track, embracing her ‘weird’ side, and the audience welcomed it, gaining a few headbangers. The crowd were warming up now. Mellissa Heywood returned to the stage for a drum solo and security breach dance break, moving with robotic precision and taking centre stage. The band returned to the stage for their song ’27 Club’ and afterwards reminded the crowd of their Edinburgh gig next month and their Cathouse afterparty for the gig.
Finally we reached the end of their set, 2 more songs to go and singer Laura asked “…we have 2 more songs left, should we pick up the pace?” the reply from the crowd was a Glasgow classic, “here we, here we, here we fucking go” chanted back as the band launched into yet another hit from their new EP, ‘Scapegoat’. At this, the crowd broke into a mosh pit, the energy in the room building, and Laura, having won the crowd over, began conducting them into a wall of death. The singer scanning the crowd to the sounds of computers and security systems. During the last song, singer Laura joined the crowd for their final mosh pit, singing and screaming from the pit, enjoying this moment. Almost as quickly as it began, the band left the stage and it was over. The crowd dispersed from King Tuts: some nosebleeds amongst the crowd, and a whole new group of post-apocalyptic disciples who, I am sure, are all big fans of Lo Rays now.
Human Renegade opened the evening with a bang, immediately reminiscent of My Chemical Romance but heavier. Giving us a dose of emo rock with a fun anti-Trump protest in the middle of the set, the band warmed up the crowd with their inextinguishable energy.
Her Picture followed, a welcome departure from metal, with high, dreamy and ethereal vocals. The band gave a cinematic backdrop to lead singer Anny Tahaney’s wild and enchanting performance. A band with a dark undertone and soaring, bright overtones.
Make sure to catch Lo Rays’ performance at Wide Days Music Showcase on the 30th April 2026 and listen to the new EP ‘RE:BIRTH SEQUENCE’ now on all streaming platforms.