Photo + Words: Olivia Macrae


Rising 4-piece ARKAYLA hit Glasgow with their May UK 2026 tour at The Attic on 29th May. 

Doors opened at 7 and Leeds-based alt-rock outfit Roscoe promptly warmed up the crowd at 7.30. If you haven’t already heard of Roscoe they are well worth a listen and a bunch of the crowd were wearing Roscoe merch tees and showed up early to not miss their set. They have a catchy nostalgic indie soundscape and their debut EP ‘What Do We Do It For?’ is a cracking piece of work. 

ARKAYLA opened with ‘Lost In A Valentine‘ at 8.25pm and The Attic was packed out right to the back of the room for their set. Hailing from Manchester, the quartet have an undeniable chemistry which perfectly reflects into the crowd who were buzzing throughout the whole set. 

At one point, frontman Cal Blakebrough asked the crowd if anyone had seen them live before and almost the entire room cheered. I had also caught ARKAYLA live before supporting Swim School back in February, so it was nice to see so many people in the same boat and knowing most of the words to the setlist. 

The crowd absolutely loved ‘Waste Of Time‘ as the band bounced around the stage and infectious energy pelting across all corners of the venue. ‘Doctor‘ closed out the set and lots of the crowd stayed behind for merch and drinks. This was a loyal and attentive crowd and I’m sure I’ll see the same faces at ARKAYLA gigs in the next few years to come!

Their latest single ‘Run Kid‘ was also a crowd favourite in the set despite it only being released a couple months prior. This is the start of a highly anticipated new era for the band. And, with a new body of work on the horizon, ARKAYLA definitely needs to be one of your new bands to watch for 2026. 

Having already supported massive names like Blossoms and The Royston Club, it won’t be long until Arkayla become a huge name themselves. If you’re heading to TRNSMT this year you can catch ARKAYLA on Friday 19th June. They’re at the BBC Introducing stage this year, but it might be the last time you catch them playing in such a small setting.

Photo Credit: Olivia Macrae