KURO - live Audio Glasgow 3rd July 2026

It's Friday the 3rd of July and I am once again in the finest small venue in Glasgow, I am in Audio in Midland Street to shoot tonight's KURO gig.

I was asked to cover this gig not long before, so not a major amount of time to do some research. 

To begin with, I looked on KUROs social media page to get the gig details, I follow the link which takes you to a site to buy tickets, not that I needed a ticket, however it did give a door time of 6pm.

I arrange transport and gets dropped off outside Audio at 5.50pm, the place is deserted, which I am surprised as KURO usually pulls a crowd in their hometown. 

I step into Audio and instantly greeted by Kuro Andrews, KURO frontman, usual pleasantries over (I have known KURO from their first gig) I'm told the band are heading out for dinner, which left me even more confused, until I see door and stage times on the inside of the venue door. I door time is actually 7pm! 

Well I am not leaving to come back in a hour. I perch myself at the bar (which is not open yet) just as the main support, Burning The Dream take to the stage for their soundcheck, I've known about the band for a while, having seen videos on social media, also knowing their guitarist Greig, some of you might recognise Greig too from one of my previous reviews, Greig also plays guitar with Six Year Silence. After their soundcheck, I have a few words with the lads, then they also head out to get fed too.

Next on stage for their soundcheck are opening band Mercy Prevails. Now this band isn't just young, they are YOUNG! I'm sure I heard that tonight was only their third or fourth gig! The band are a four piece, 2 lads and 2 lassies.

As I know how drum sticks work, I tend to pay attention to drummers first. What happens next leaves me speechless, this young lady is f/king phenomenal! 

These days, that word gets thrown around too easily, yes there are great musicians out there, there are also some spectacular musicians out there too, but rarely you get someone who can leave you dumbstruck after quarter of a song during a soundcheck, and it just keeps getting better, and this is still the soundcheck!

After the soundcheck, I head up onto the stage to have a word and to get a couple of photos, to be honest, with dealing with bands for a while, I just tend to jump in, like most of us do, I didn't even think for a minute and just jumped in again, the young lady looked absolutely terrified, there I am in front of her with my camera right in her face, oops, my bad, but I did get a couple of shots, she still looked confused when I left.

Twenty minutes later, the doors open right on 7pm, no hold-ups at all. Fifteen minutes later Mercy Prevails take to the stage, having been there earlier, I know what is coming next. I'll just say it's really great to seeing women getting involved in some of the heavier genres of metal. YES I do know there are some out there, but it's still pretty rare.

Mercy Prevails play a kind of melodic death/metalcore crossover style, with both soft and harsh vocals. Now not being a major fan of growling or screaming, it's ok in small doses, but tonight, the MPs singer sounds a lot more comfortable with the harsh vocals. For a band that has not played often, they don't move about much, but that will change the more they play, you could see them relax more as their set progressed. Again, as a new band they should be proud of tonight's performance. There was also a healthy crowd in for these youngsters, a smattering of proud parents and friends who sang along helped with the nerves on stage.

Will Mercy Prevails make it in the music business? Who knows, every other band out there knows how difficult it is. If they put the same effort in as they did tonight, they are in with a chance. There is one thing I am 100% sure of, when other bands see and hear the young lady on drums, every single one of them will be knocking on here door.

Lets get one thing clear here, I am not suggesting that the young drummer should ever leave her band, far from it, every band gets better and bigger with loyalty within, I am saying is this young lady will have a lot of offers coming to her door, and not just local bands. YES she is that good, and I'm not the only one who said so tonight. 

Burning the Dream are a five piece and are next on to the Audio stage, and another band that is difficult to pigeon hole, which is not a bad thing, like our first band, there are some melodic death/metalcore sound to them, Arch Enemy/In Flames vibes with some Judas Priest thrown in too.

Unlike our opening band, Burning the Dream do not build their performance, they are on it from the first note. Being a support, they too are restricted by time, so what half dozen songs do we get to hear tonight? 

If you have read my Acid Reign review, you will have read how difficult it can be to get to see a setlist, this time however, because I was present for the soundcheck, I got a glimpse of tonight's setlist. "One Shot, One Kill" kicks off a blistering set, followed by "Name Yourself". Chat between the band and crowd is sparce, but considering it is a 30 minute set, it is understandable. "Strongbow" and "Who Are We" follow rapidly, which leaves "Rebirth" and "Requiem" as the final 2 songs, pounded out with an intensity set up for KURO to take over.

During the break the atmosphere in Audio changes, no actually the whole dynamic changes, we have had two heavy metal bands, now we move to our headliners, the anticipation is at frenzy level. 

KURO have a unique intensity about them. I have been lucky to have seen the bad progress from the very beginning, when it was duo, Andrew on vocals and occasional keytar, and Jb.Storm on bass, they are now a four piece with David on drums (another great drummer) and Robbie on guitar.

Over the years they have had a couple of known guitarists play with them, Gabriel Lennox from Glasgow band Seraph Sin and more recently with Industrial legend En Esch. Kieran Robertson, who carved out a reputation touring in America and becoming former Queensryche legendary frontman Geoff Tates guitarist has also played with KURO.

KURO have spent the last couple of years on the road building a reputation and fine tuning their sound.

The last time I saw them they were one of the support bands for Industrial stars Combichrist.

As they take to the stage there is the usual roof raising noise from the Audio crowd. There is a change onstage since the last time I saw KURO, not membership but a slight change in appearance, ok, one of the band has a change in stage gear, bassist J.b Storm has ditched the heavy black and white make-up, appearing more "natural". His persona has also changed, in the past, while onstage, he was always aloof. I have joked with him many times that one day I'd catch him smile onstage, he was rather adamant, in a fun way, that would never happen, pity we never made a wager, because he was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat all night.

Frontman Andrew glides onto the stage like a train on rails oozing flamboyance, his face make-up that any of the worlds super models would be proud of.

The bands sound is a lot tighter than the last time I saw them, which was a year or two ago, everything is a lot tighter, well not J.bs facial expressions lol. 

After a couple of songs we have our first chat to the crowd. Andrew rhymes off a list of personal pronouns and states that everyone is welcome and safe at every KURO gig, to be honest, that should be the case for every band and every gig.

KURO have a 14 track setlist, I have to admit it's difficult to pick out individual, stand out songs because they all stand out, however, there are two that stand out more for me, "I Hate You" and "Wake Up & Choose Violence" two songs that have deep negative connotations. This is like modern day social media "clickbait" posts, you either ignore them and make up your own meaning, or you dig into the actual lyrics and then take from it. A few years ago I saw Nick Cave doing a "Spoken Word" tour, he said something that makes perfect sense, but not many bands say the same, he said "once the song is released and out there, it is no longer mine, you decide what it means to you"

I keep saying I am not a reviewer, I am a photographer, but I continue to hope that I give a honest opinion on what I remember, it might not be 100% factual on what happened timewise, but I hope it can give you a mental picture of how I see what happens onstage while I am trying to capture the band enjoying what they are doing.

As always, if you don't know any of the bands above, even if you do, head on over to your favoured social media platform and have a look, you never know, you might find something new to add to your daily playlists.

See you at the barrier.

Photos by Jai Dee Photography