GIG REVIEW: SPIRITBOX / JINJER / DYING WISH – SECC HALL 3 – 12 SEPTEMBER 2026

The announcement of Spiritbox, Jinjer and Dying Wish on the same bill was always going to attract attention. Three of modern heavy music’s most formidable acts under one roof is a serious proposition, and Glasgow turned out in force for a night that delivered crushing heaviness, huge vocals and an impressive visual spectacle.

There was one question hanging over proceedings before a note had even been played – the venue.

With Spiritbox now operating beyond the confines of the Academy or even the Barrowlands, the tour landed inside SEC Hall 3, a space that hasn’t exactly been synonymous with heavy music since the arrival of the Hydro. The SEC has also had a chequered history when it comes to live sound, particularly at the bottom end.

Any concerns were quickly put to bed. The sound throughout the night was massive, clear and remarkably controlled, giving all three bands the weight they needed without descending into an indistinguishable wall of low-end noise.

GIG REVIEW: SPIRITBOX / JINJER / DYING WISH – SECC HALL 3 – 12 SEPTEMBER 2026 — Dying Wish (c) Gavin Lowrey

Portland’s Dying Wish had the task of opening proceedings, hitting the stage with ‘I Don’t Belong Anywhere’ from their latest album, Flesh Stays Together.

There was no easing Glasgow into the evening.

From the opening chords, Dying Wish were relentless. Bassist Jon Mackey was already demanding a circle pit almost immediately, and the crowd needed little encouragement to oblige.

There’s a raw punk aggression running through the band’s melodic metalcore sound, but it’s the vocal performance of Emma Boster that really gives Dying Wish another dimension. Her ability to move between vicious screams and soaring clean vocals gives the songs both brutality and melody without sacrificing either.

With only thirty minutes to make their mark, Dying Wish packed eight songs into a ferocious opening set. Short, sharp and absolutely punishing, it was the kind of performance that leaves you wishing the support slot had been considerably longer.

After a remarkably quick turnaround, Jinjer emerged to the haunting opening of ‘Perennial’.

Any atmosphere created by the intro was obliterated seconds later as the song exploded into life and Tatiana Shmayluk took control.

Shmayluk remains one of the most commanding vocalists in modern metal. Her ability to switch from controlled, melodic cleans into monstrous guttural vocals is astonishing enough on record, but witnessing it live is another thing entirely.

While guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov and bassist Eugene Abdukhanov largely let their playing do the talking from either side of the stage, Shmayluk prowled across every available inch in front of them. There’s very little unnecessary conversation between songs; Jinjer simply hit, reset and hit again.

That approach allowed them to squeeze nine tracks into an intense fifty-minute set.

The setlist shared plenty with their previous Glasgow headline appearance at SWG3, although the running order had been heavily reshuffled and ‘Pit of Consciousness’ made its way into tonight’s performance.

Musically, Jinjer were devastating.

The technical precision of the band can sometimes be easy to overlook beneath the sheer force of Shmayluk’s vocals, but live, the musicianship is impossible to ignore. Complex rhythms, sudden changes of direction and enormous riffs were delivered with almost mechanical precision without ever stripping the songs of their aggression.

There was also a sizeable section of the Glasgow crowd who would have happily watched Jinjer continue for another hour.

After a longer changeover, a huge white curtain concealed the stage as anticipation built for Spiritbox.

When it finally dropped, the Canadians launched into ‘Fata Morgana’ from Tsunami Sea, revealing a production considerably bigger than anything that had come before it.

If Jinjer had relied largely on sheer musical force, Spiritbox brought theatre.

Courtney LaPlante initially stood almost motionless as the opening track unfolded before becoming increasingly animated as the set progressed, gliding around the stage as ribbons flowed from her striking outfit.

Behind her, the production was constantly evolving.

Lighting, smoke and projected imagery transformed the appearance of the stage from song to song. At various points it resembled everything from a giant glowing sphere to a smoke-filled wasteland, while enormous white drapes framing the performance became additional projection surfaces alongside the main backdrop.

It gave the entire set a cinematic quality without distracting from the band at the centre of it.

The rest of Spiritbox kept the focus firmly on LaPlante for much of the performance, providing the musical foundation while their vocalist commanded the centre of the stage.

And command it she did.

Like Boster and Shmayluk before her, LaPlante possesses the ability to move between beautiful clean passages and genuinely vicious screams, but each of the three vocalists brought something completely different to the evening. Rather than feeling like variations on the same formula, the performances highlighted just how broad modern heavy music has become.

There was also a strong sense of inclusivity from Spiritbox. Before ‘Keep Sweet’, LaPlante dedicated the song to “the girls, the gays, and the theys”, receiving a huge response from the Glasgow audience.

Across fifteen songs, Spiritbox demonstrated exactly why their rise has been so rapid. The production may now be considerably larger, but underneath the lights, smoke and theatrics remains a band capable of delivering crushingly heavy music with genuine atmosphere and melody.

Rather than closing with one of the obvious favourites, Spiritbox ended the night with recent single ‘Mourning’. It was an unconventional choice for the final song, but Glasgow clearly had no complaints.

Three bands. Three completely different performances. Three exceptional frontwomen.

Dying Wish brought the aggression, Jinjer delivered the technical brutality and Spiritbox transformed Hall 3 into a full-scale modern metal production.

On paper, this was already one of the strongest heavy touring packages to hit Glasgow this year.

Live, it was even better.