Gig Review: Yumi Zouma @ The Garage, Glasgow – 23/03/2026

After a long hiatus, the international spiderweb of Yumi Zouma converges once more and takes to the streets of Europe & the UK, and I for one am over the moon to be within a crowd buzzing to Kiwi music once more.

I’ve been in Scotland for just over a year now, a country on the other side of the world that feels oddly homely and familiar, and it is no surprise that many Kiwis feel the same way, flocking to the shores, riddling the music venues, bars, and cafes of Edinburgh and Glasgow. As such, the unmistakable twang hangs suspended in the air within G2 (The Garage), one of the many spacious clubs and venues that line the Glasgow strip.

It’s warming to be greeted with a familiar face and voice in Vera Ellen, the unmistakable croon of Heartbreak For Jetlag brings me home. From Feelings I Can’t Name to Person I Like and the sad groove of Sangria, Vera and bassist Audrey May sway through each track, backed by drum machine in Ben Lemi’s absence. It’s a different vibe for a different crowd, but the connection to the performance is unquestionable. I’m unsure of who is already a Vera fan, but I can only hope that they know they’re seeing something special.

The brand new Gayfever pops through despite the rearrangement, but the lack of drums truly serves the sludgy trance of Stuck With Me. Rasping through Thaw, a sincere and heart-wrenching delivery, the duo offers a choice to the crowd of a closing cover, with democracy willing a beautiful rendition of Daniel Johnson’s True Love Will Find You In The End. The bond that Vera and Aud have for each other is evident through the set and our chat afterwards, lifting each other up through a long tour, a long way from home.

It’s not long before the lights are down again and Yumi Zouma take to the stage for their first Scotland show in 5 years. With drums noticeably absent, the quartet-turned-trio eases into the dreamy Waiting For The Cards To Fall, picking up where their latest album concludes, before spinning us back to the beginning again with the energetic Cross My Heart and Hope To Die.

Touring No Love Lost to Kindness, the band are exposing us to a reinvented sound that is born of frustration and acceptance, almost a throwback to 90’s alt-rock of adolescence. The songs have more energy and edge, with fuzz-laden guitars, overdriven bass lines, and reflective lyrics. Yumi Zouma is a band revitalised and is clearly loving the re-emergence amongst fans. Due to the change in direction and attitude of the new songs, older songs like Astral Projection and Cool For A Second stand out in a more mellow light, but 2023’s KPR serves as a nice bridge between the new era and tunes of old; it’s saturated and reverbed character, a precursor of the material to come.

It appears as though the trio are enjoying playing through the back-catalogue, but I can’t help but wonder how much they resonate with in comparison to the new material that they visibly revel in. Regardless, marching through the crowd pleasers like The Brae and Depths captivate the audience. It’s a trip to hear so many Kiwi accents on stage again. Josh and Charlie invite further crowd participation with the temptation of a coin flip from one lucky audience member. Enter “Brad from New Zealand”, a tall Kiwi who engages in some light-hearted banter with the band, coincidentally, Christie recognizes him from the gym back home, entertaining the degree of separation stereotype for the Scots. After Brad is promptly returned to the audience for not possessing a coin, a different member of the crowd who can follow basic instructions is brought on stage for the flip that results in whether Charlie and Josh swap instruments for a track. It’s a nice moment and really goes the distance to connect us.

The power behind the chiming Cowboy Without A Clue is somewhat lessened by the lack of live drums, but regardless, the swirling vibe of the song carries through. With the electronic partner backing the song, the band fall over themselves a bit, but they find the comedy and joy in it.

One of the best performances of the night comes in 95, a very mellow song with lyrics that yearn to go home, a notion that Christie asks us to ignore as she doesn’t resonate with the message at this point in time. The rendition is poignant and very much suits the rearranged personnel. Christie’s vocals are on point and just as crisp as the album sold me. I am slightly disappointed that my favourite of the new material Did You See Her? didn’t make it onto the setlist as I believe it would have been well-suited to the setup and intimate atmosphere, but it is clear that the band have opted for the higher-energy material, and it’s hard to argue with the results amongst the grooving audience.

Launching into Bashful On The Sugar, the energy is brought up a notch in this fast-paced pop-punk piece that relishes the call-and-response vocals in the band as well as the driving instrumentation, including some great guitar work. Ending with the crowd favourite Powder Blue, the band briefly leave the stage before coming back for the ripping Blister, one of the band’s lead singles from the new album that would allude to their sonic reshape. It’s an extremely lively and carefree song with a hell of a melody. A real earworm.

The night concludes with In Camera, the stand-out and fan-favourite track from 2018’s EP III. Christie’s tender vocals and subtle instrumentation rounding the set off with a quintessential example of their indie-pop sound. It’s a dreamy reminder of the sonic journey the group has travelled. For band members to be stationed at different ends of the world could encourage a disconnect, especially after a long hiatus, but the energy and camaraderie that radiates from Yumi Zouma tonight is a heartening sight and a statement of the connection one of Aotearoa’s most successful international indie acts hold.

Photo Credit: Tom Langdale-Hunt