Photo + Words: Olivia Macrae
Rising alt-rock outfit Keo played to a packed sold-out room in Glasgow’s School of Art union on 23rd October.
Kicking off strong was Irish supporting act Brooki, bringing fierce rock and alternative tunes for the Glasgow crowd. Original track ‘Amber’ was a stand-out in the set, with raspy vocals, strong guitar instrumentation and punchy drums. Founded in 2024, this new rock quartet are already making waves across their local Irish music scene as well as beyond – and overall a great choice of support act for tonight’s gig.
By 9pm the Scottish crowd was ready for the headliners of the night, who took the stage by storm opening their set with Hands.
The rising four-piece is made up of two brothers Finn and Conor Keogh, alongside Oli on drums and Jimmy on guitar. The alt-rock outfit are quickly on the rise, having already supported bands like Gurriers, Nieve Ella, and also shared the bill with Kings Of Leon at Hyde Park, all despite only having 5 tracks released on Spotify.
Keo’s debut EP Siren came out on 19th June, with their lead single ‘I Lied, Amber’ having already accumulated over 1.1 million streams on Spotify. The 13-track set consisted of several original unreleased tunes, which the crowd was equally as receptive to as the released ones. ‘Spaceman’ showed a different side to Keo, with more emotionally-driven, authentic lyrics with rhythm that reminded me of Aeroplane by Wunderhorse.
‘Kudos’ and ‘Crow’ were crowd favourites, with heavy guitars and raspy vocals, taking genre influences from 90s grunge and guitar shoegaze. Notable band influences include Jeff Buckley and The Smashing Pumpkins.
You could tell that the crowd was buzzing to be there tonight, and excited to witness Keo play still in the early stages of their career. Keo are most definitely a band to watch for 2026, and with several unreleased bangers under their belt, make sure to keep a look out for new music on the horizon.
Taped Magazine 