by Ziggy Merritt

Few nights of the year leave you hankering for aspirin and three glasses of ice cold water the day after. Of these nights, New Year’s Eve remains one of the few that the entire globe can celebrate in all of its Dionysian delight. Hearing the call to help usher in 2016 came A Sunny Day in Glasgow, once again performing at Johnny Brenda’s alongside Mercury Girls and EZTV. Dazzling light displays, a never-ending onslaught of balloons, and a timely costume change by the headlining band just before the countdown aided in sending off the tumultuous past year.

However dramatic, 2015 proved to be a great year for Mercury Girls who infused the night with delightfully upbeat jangle pop. With a recent signing to Slumberland Records along with an upcoming 7”, they remain one of the premier acts to follow in the new year as tracks like “Golden” and “Ariana” will attest to.

EZTV’s following set came in strong with a more relaxed, at ease vibe that felt more than appropriate as people still trickled into what would soon be a sold out show. Barring a few acknowledged sound snafus -”cleansing the stage of the bad technical stuff” as they admitted- yet another set eased by with definite highlights in “Trampoline” and “Dust in the Sky.”

For once that evening I thought A Sunny Day had quite a bit to live up to given the stellar acts that had preceded them. Coming onstage with scarcely a half hour to go until countdown, they proved to more than live up to the hype generated in the room that night. Early numbers like “Hey, You’re Mine” from their most recent double-EP and a personal favorite in “MTLOV (Minor Keys)” from Sea When Absent recalled the most minute intricacies of these spacious yet energetic tracks as the powerful vocals of Jen Goma and Annie Fredrickson filled the room.

The eventual windup to the new year was preceded by a five minute break after which the band returned garbed in delightfully tacky yuletide attire to celebrate the changeover with said onslaught of balloons and a collage of dizzying animation in the immediate background. Sadly the confetti cannons hyped in our recent interview did not make a return appearance from their debut at Boot & Saddle the previous year. Only a shade of disappointment flew onto my face at that moment as I settled in, like many that evening, to the bliss of a hopeful 2016 rung in by a band who could not be happier to be there.