20-year-old Sofia Isella shakes SWG3’s TV Studio
★★★★★
By Iain McLean
Alternative rock artist Sofia Isella made her debut in Scotland last week and forever left her mark on Glasgow’s music scene. Whether it was switching between her surprising arsenal of instruments or actively engaging with the crowd, she notched herself in my list of the best gigs I’ve ever experienced. And going by the reaction of the fans in attendance, I was not the only one stunned by her stage presence.
Isella, originally from California and daughter of famous Chilean American cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, appeared in Glasgow for the last show closing the first leg of the “You’ll Understand, Dick” world tour. She made it a showcase of her musical talents all through the set-list. There was no band, just Isella’s own mother pressing play on the backing track and watching her daughter made the stage her own.
Throughout the show Isella switched between electric guitar solos during her song “Muse”, to bass guitar during “Dogs’s dinner”, the piano during “All of Human Knowledge Made Us Dumb” and surprisingly, the violin for a short snippet in the song “The Well”.
There were some tech issues, mainly feedback from the microphone, during songs where Isella moved around or when she entered the crowd at the start of “All of Human Knowledge Made us Dumb”, but thankfully, her crew resolved the issue before she crowd-surfed the length of SWG’s TV Studio hall during her song “Orchestrated, Wet, Verboten”.
The entire show was a master class of how to put on a stellar performance while connecting with the fans. Whether it was singing in the faces of the front row or moving through the crowd during “All of Human Knowledge Made Us Dumb” she held hands or embraced those she got consent from, even touching forehead to forehead.
At the end of the set, the crowd chanted for an encore so loud that my smart watch sent me a decibel warning. Instead of re-appearing on stage Isella returned from the stage doors and performed her most popular hit “Hot Gum” as part of the crowd for the entire encore. She danced and sang among her fans and exited from a stage door on the opposite side of the venue.
This cemented her as an artist to watch as her career grows. An artist that isn’t scared to connect on that level with their fans is hard to come by these days. Her technical music skills paired with writing touching, topical or technically impressive songs will only propel her in the coming years.
After the show Isella held a meet and greet for fans who had bought anything from the merch store, which I opted to stay for. During the wait in the line her appreciation for her fans only became more evident as she was never shy to hug those that had chosen to stay behind, even holding their hands as they spoke or comforting those that were emotional.
When it was my time to come face-to-face with Isella, I asked her how Glasgow had lived up to her expectations as a crowd. She said: “It was amazing, I mean, you saw and felt the energy. I’ve never seen anything like that. I loved it.” She reiterated this on her Instagram page where she thanked the Glasgow crowd and said: “Glasgow you were so f’ing loud it was insane.”
The variety Sofia Isella displayed paired with the energy she put out which the crowd echoed made this young newcomer a must watch rising star in the music industry and one show you NEED to experience when she returns to the city in the future.