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This was the fourth time I had been to a RF gig and the first occasion I’ve headed home not singing their all-out praises. But, I freely admit, I seemed to be in a minority. I know their latest CD “Thirteen Cities” got an americana-uk “ten out of ten” review but this time round, before a big crowd, there were times I felt a bit displaced from the proceedings, like the dustbowl characters in some of Willy Vlautin’s songs. Call me a heretic, but I’ve struggled somewhat with the new release and its predecessor, “The Fitzgerald” because of the all-pervasive and general gloominess of the atmosphere albeit they are fine bits of studio work. 

That said, there’s no doubting that RF are an extremely fine live act, definitely among the best on the Americana scene. For me, when the shoes are kicked off, the beer is downed and the shirt buttons are unloosed, RF’s faster tempo songs really merit the highest praise – and it was the same at this show. They swoop and glide, rattle and roll with a minimum of effort to maximum effect.

At the risk of contradicting myself, the sombre, slow opener Ghost I Became from “Thirteen Cities” was beautiful and measured with the band smoothing their way through it exquisitely as literary front man Willy mesmerisingly brought his words alive. As the show progressed, tracks to savour were Always on the Ride, Capsized (a classic already) and Four Walls plus Post to Wire and the show’s closer, Western Skyline from “Winnemucca.” These are quintessential RF compositions played by a band who, pleasingly, enjoy being on stage and are totally at ease with the audience. Someone shouted out a request for the gorgeous Two Broken Hearts from the ground-breaking “Post To Wire” and Willy happily obliged with an immense acoustic version. It brought the house down, no wonder, wonderful. I’m always intrigued why, given Willy’s way with words, they slip in instrumental numbers and indulge occasionally on Wilco-like squalls. That’s when my mind wanders (usually accompanied by my feet towards the bar) to think of other tracks I’d prefer to hear. Overall RF are a first-rate band and a personal favourite notwithstanding my slight moans. Unlike some contemporaries in the Americana field they show no signs of slipping back into the pack. What they’ll come up with next will be worth waiting for, I’m sure.

Mike Ritchie

Riding high on the success of 'Boys and Girls in America' The Hold Steady played to a sold out Cathouse on their first ever UK tour. They do an arresting brand of unashamed rock ala Cheap Trick and The Boss and they do it LOUD. 'Stuck Between Stations' was the opening number and it lit the touch paper on a firecracker of a gig. The mild mannered Craig Finn took on a Rasputin style persona to whirl, flail and spit out the lyrics, Tad made sweet sweet love to his axe and Franz remained unimpeachably cool on the piano. It was a delight to witness the disparity 'twixt the manic Finn and the (with the exception of a few leaps) statesman like Nicolay, a disparity not unlike the Hold Steady sound. The balls out rock is the backing for Finn's intricate and intelligent writing which is so good you don’t feel like an arsehole waving your fist in the air. But though the quirky lyrics have attracted The Pitchfork Set and all the other cool kids, these boys aren't pissing around trying to be suave and ironic; they're just playing rock music. And let me tell you rock, or actually

 

R   O   C   K   !

 

 

, hasn't sounded this good for ages.  'Boys and Girls....' and 'Separation Sunday' provided the bulk of the material but they dug deep for the closing tune '…Almost Killed Me's 'Killer Parties' It was sprawling and beautiful, and a fitting epithet.

 

Fankerton Stance

Canada's JP Cormier opens for Railroad Earth in ABC's main hall tonight as a 3-piece, accompanied by Hilda Chiasson-Cormier on piano and harmony vocals, and multi-instrumentalist Darren McMullen. The inrepid Crooked Rain team enter just as the set has begun and it is clear that we are in the realm of accompolished musicians, with the experienced Chiasson-Cormier shaking her electric piano to it's very foundations, striking passion into the traditional compositions. A musical prodigy in his youth, Cormier demonstrates huge enthusiasm for the guitar, telling the crowd how he'd taught himself whilst growing up listening to Chet Atkins and the like. He shows supreme technical competence by playing melody and counter-melody on the acoustic guitar at the same time, pushing his instrument to its boundaries (something which I have no doubt was met with earnest appreciation by the musos amongst the crowd); however it is with the full-band set up that Cormier's music, rooted in a traditional ceilidh style, really shines. Aw ord also for the hugely-talented McMullen on guitar and mandolin.

It soon becomes clear that New Jersey's Railroad Earth have travelled across the pond with an entourage of friends and fans; some mildly eccentric, some completely and utterly off-the-wall. When the band crank-up, their posse burst into-life, thrashing around in front of the stage like freshly-caught salmon. Their enthusiasm for the band's unique brand of folk-boogie is understandable as they rip it up with upbeat opener Dandielion Wine, and it looks like we are in for a hold-on-to-your-hats style rickety railroad ride.

What's great about Celtic Connections is that the sound men understand the intricacies of acoustic instruments, which means the multi-layered sound - guitar, fiddle, madnolin, banjo, upright bass; underpinned by Carey Harmon's shuffling drumbeat - is always brilliantly crisp and clear. What's great about Railroad Earth, is that they are truly an ensemble band - every instrument and vocal has it's righful place, and every person on-stage makes a weighty contribution to the set. Put the two things together - compelling musicianship and perfectly-balanced sound - and you have something very special.

Tonight's set showcases two sides of the band - their bluegrassy-Waterboys persona, where fiddle and banjo rule the roost, and the music and lyrics tell of travellin' tales (see 'Head'). Second - and more surprisingly - the band also show a tendency for a jam-out brand of psychadelia - as if Pink Floyd had become hillbillys (see 'Black Bear') - successfully showing that they are not one-trick ponies. The US entourage, incidentally, love it (whatever they're on, I'll have some of that!)

Railroad Earth can thoroughly entertain, but more than that, they can get a bunch of seated folkies up off their bums to have a right-good boogie, inhabitions completely gone (and on a Sunday night!). Go and see 'em. Dancing Shoes Recommended.

Lambert Butler

www.railroadearth.com

www.jp-cormier.com

 

Uncle Earl

Is it just me or is everyone sick and tired of  Irish artists playing the simpleton act in an attempt to get laughs. Its old hat and I hate it. John Spillane obviously thought otherwise. “I wrote all the words to this song all by my very self, every word. Fair play to me. Fair play to me. Fair play to me” His patter was rank and his set was monotonous and depressing. Just when I thought things could not get much worse, he brought on his childhood friend to recite some of his gaelic poems. I wanted to throw tatties at them by the end of it.

 

Then, like a steam train sent to run over Spillane, Uncle Earl rolled onto stage with “Sugarbabe” - a real traditional bluegrass number that near knocked me off my seat. You wouldnt have thought it was their first time playing in the UK. These 4 girls, or g’earls, (as they prefer to be known) were talented and beautiful. It was all very informal, as the girls bantered with the audience throughout their set. It was like hanging out with an old-time, bluegrass version of the spice girls but better looking. Rayna Gellert was my highlight, as she wowed us with amazing fiddle playing in their song “Willie Taylor”. The night ended with an a cappella version of a haunting gospel song “Keys to the Kingdom” and I went home a very happy chap. Their new album “Waterloo, Tennessee” is coming out soon – go buy it!

Stooge LaBas

Click here for an interview with Rayna Gellert

The Stairwell Sisters

You may not realise it, but we’re in the midst of an old time revival. Since ‘O brother…’ there’s been a surge stateside of people clamouring back to those good ole days of the depression, dustbowls and dungarees. A few of the acts have made it acrost the Atlantic, including the San Franco quintet The Stairwell Sisters. Their second album ‘Feet All Over The Floor’ has been building a fine reputation for the ladies ahead of their first uk dates. Opening with ‘Cindy in The meadows’ it was Evie Ladin who had her feet all over the floor, with some amazing buck dancing providing an extra kick to the proceedings. The Old Fruitmarket wasn’t the best venue for the Sisters, it’s as big as it is beautiful and the crowd were pretty far from the stage. The closeness of the someplace like the arches would have benefited their sound, but this didn’t put the brakes on a very entertaining set. The old time melodies are played with enough freshness and sass to stick in the mind and it seemed like the whole crowd enjoyed themselves.  Nice one, ladies

Benston Smithy
Interview soon!

“It’s been a while” muttered Malin as he took the stage, casually accepting that his 2 year absence was too long for his liking, and the ‘sold out’ sign proof that Glasgow has been waiting patiently for his return. He is a big draw round these parts, popular with everyone from leathered up old rockers to star struck young coke skanks and one arsehole with a rucksack (who wears a rucksack in a packed crowd?!)

Ably backed by a full band, he kicked off with an oldie (Riding on the Subway) before introducing some of his new material from the forthcoming album, Glitter in the Gutter. And let me tell you, having listened to the album for the last week or so, this is the best Malin so far. ‘Black Haired Girl’ (Christine?), 'Don’t Let Them Take You Down' and 'Modern World' all shine brighter than the North Star with that irrepressible pop/rock vibe he does so well. And we got the traditional Jesse Malin banter, poking fun at his fellow yanks as he describes the story behind the song. We also got a distinctly untraditional superstar huff when a bit of feedback caused him the throw the mic down and exit stage left in disgust. When you’re as good a raconteur as Malin is, surely you don’t need to leave the stage while a technical fault is sorted? Still, it was more rock n roll than sticking a duvet in a Travelodge bath which seems to be the best Scotland can do these days. And to be fair to Jesse  he did manage to laugh at himself later on, though by the time he’d completed the astonishing double dunt of ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Wendy’ I think the crowd had let bygones be bygones.

A staple of Jesse’s show is when he gets the crowd to sit down and sing-along awhile with him. In the hands of a less accomplished showman it could go badly wrong, but dammit Mabel, he pulls it off every time. The raucous ring of ‘Solitaire’ (nice change from ‘Helpless’) was probably the highlight of many peoples night. He also squeezed in a request for ‘TKO’ and into that squeezed a bit of Patti Smith. Class.

As he left the stage (for the final time) I got to thinking ‘Have I just seen Springsteen’s heir?’ and do you know what Claude? I think I did.

Fankerton Stance

The curse of working late struck hard at CR tonight, forcing me to miss opener J Tillman, and most of home-grown hot shots The State Broadcasters. However, their last 2 songs were brilliant, as is their debut EP (review soon!)

I last seen theonewhoflew when he supported The National in this very venue about 18 months back. I think I described him as ‘morose’ at the time, and I’ll stand by that but will also garnish it with ‘beautifully understated and carefully measured’ This was a good performance, his ‘Christmas on ward 7’   being the sublime highlight

I’ve coveted the works of Jurado for some years now but this is the first chance to see him live. He is quite an imposing figure on stage, almost as broad as he is long, but that belies his delicate voice which was on fine form tonight. Backed by Eric Fisher on drums and Jenna Conrad who was outstanding on cello. They added a subtle 'oomph' to DJ's sparse acoustic stylings and Jurado and Conrad are a great double act, really endearing themselves to the large(ish) crowd. He played quite a lot of new material ‘And now that I’m in your shadow’ and ‘Gillian Was a Horse’ among them, but it was the oldie of ‘Medication’ which was the real show stopper. I’d waited years to hear this live and Damo didn’t disappoint, with an amazing rendition which turned the heartbreak factor up to 11. He says this was the first time he’d played here for 5 or 6 years, I hope it isn’t too long till he comes back

Benston Smithy

Zapped by a Million Volts looked, and sounded, like rejects from Withnail and I and played a tuneless collection of 80’s inspired angst. When their drummer said ‘We’ve come all the way from Wales to play this shit’ I wondered if he too, knew what we did. That the 80’s was a shit decade and apart from the highlight of Mexico 86, will be remembered for the Toxteth Riots and Frank Bough’s lurid private life. I drove all the way from Govan to listen to this shit

 After Christmas are some good ole boys from Glasgow who sound like Fountains of Wayne copulating with grandaddy. The set wasn’t perfect, but their turbo synthed vibe sure was entertaining. The singer, who reminded me of Corn Mo in looks and demeanour, walks that fine line between showman and arsehole but doesn’t seem to care what side he comes down on as he hammers away at the ratty keyboard sat atop an ironing board. To be on the safe side I waited till he had vacated the area before I bought their CD, lest he feel obliged to engage me in some banter. Still, I did buy the CD, so they have obviously wormed their way into my cranky old heart. And it’s been a long time since that happened.

This is the 3^rd time in as many years I’ve seen the thermals, as they have evolved from the lo-fi noisters of ‘More parts..’ to the almost serious band on‘body blood…’ Tonight’s most obvious sign of this transition is the addition of a second guitarist, brought in to recreate the beefier sound of the new disc. Kicking off with ‘Our Trip’ the trio (plus 1) was on top form, but I noticed they have lost some of the momentum from days of yore. Used to be there was hardly a breath twixt songs, but tonight they paused several times before continuing, Not that it was slow, far from it actually, but just another evolutionary marker. Sleazys was pretty busy and the crowd were loving the gig. Their salvo of ‘Here’s Your Future’ and ‘Returning to the Fold’ closely followed by ‘Pillar of Salt’ was breathtaking, and showed The Thermals haven’t lost the knack of great performance during their transmogrification. A fine performance.

A word about the ticket before I go. £10 to see a band in Sleazys is taking the piss a bit surely? Especially as face value was £8… am I the only one who remembers buying a ticket at the venue without a booking fee? And the last thermals gigs were £5 in Tuts, with as many bands on the bill. Perhaps the Fozzy Bear look alike on the door was skinning a bit for his xmas fund, after all subscriptions to http://sexxyballoonbabe.com/ don’t come free.

 

On a windy, rainy and generally miserable November evening in Glasgow, I was sent along the road to The Halt bar to listen to Mr. Ben Taylor play a gig. Now I hadn’t a clue who this Ben Taylor character was until I was dutifully informed he is the offspring of songwriting legends James Taylor and Carly Simon. So, naturally I was intrigued and to be completely honest, rather dubious about whether or not he would be any good, going on the premise that most offspring never quite make the same impression as their famous parents.

Amazed that I successfully got into the gig, considering my previous attempts to review gigs have always ended up in the oh so nightmarish scenarios of ‘sorry love, the name’s not down’, I settled at the bar with a Magners and waited for the gig to begin. To warm up the crowd we had Catherine Feeny, originally hailing from California and recently moved over to the UK, she entertained with new tracks from her album ‘Hurricane Glass’ which mostly erred of the side of bland but this did provide the opportunity for me to assess the crowd of people eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mr. Taylor Jr. It was then I noticed that the crowd was considerably compiled of young females around my age and older men clearly there to see how the young pup would live up to his old man. Nevertheless, Miss Feeny certainly attracted the male attention and although her music is not necessarily to my personal taste, she did have a great voice and her songs can be likened to that of Katie Melua, Nerina Pallot et al.

After a short break and practically being pin-balled in every direction by the crowd rushing to the bar for more drinks, Ben Taylor casually meandered through the throng of twenty-something girls who had arranged themselves on the floor in front of the stage. The rucus at the bar quickly died down and all attention was focused on the stage. Within seconds I was transfixed by the voice coming out this man, which is so similar to his fathers, if he had launched into a rendition of ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ it would have been difficult to tell the difference. However after the initial shock of hearing James Taylor’s voice come out of this scruffily clad beatnik, I knew I was witnessing something special. With rapturous applause after his first few songs, Ben introduced himself and apologised for his unusual stage dress, which he referred to as his pj’s, having not had the time to change between here and the airport. It didn’t seem to deter the ladies as they wolf whistled and screamed for more.

The set was compiled of songs from his current album ‘Another Run Around The Sun’ along with a beautiful and unexpected cover of Glorybox, by Portishead. Although he was accompanied for part of the gig, it was clear Ben could hold his own. He was charming and witty and also made the effort not to avoid the oh so obvious fact he was the son of James Taylor. Needless to say, there were requests for some Taylor classics, but these were successfully diverted in favour of Ben’s fresh compositions which are more contemporary and if comparisons need to be made, Jason Mraz without the vocal gymnastics, and Jack Johnson with more bite would probably be an accurate assessment.

All in all, the gig was a pleasant surprise and it just goes to show, that there are some exceptions to the rule of famous offspring surpassing their parents legacy.  

For more information on Ben Taylor visit: 

www.bentaylorband.com

www.myspace.com/bentaylorbandfan 

His album is available to download on ITunes or from his website  

For more information on Catherine Feeny visit: 

www.catherinefeeny.com

www.myspace.com/catherinefeeny

Dakota Filou

A report from our Highland pal Rob Ellen as Shetland celebrates its Country music heritage and Thomas Fraser's
legacy

On asking May Simpson, one of Shetlands leading Country singers "What
would your father make of his memorial Festival?" May's face lights up
"He'd never had believed it in his wildest dreams, he'd have been over
whelmed, he was a very shy and unassuming man you know" .

  Thomas Fraser lived all his life on the Atlantic facing west island
of Burra which takes the full brunt of the north Atlantic. He lived as
a fisherman, and died in 1978 from the effects of a blow to his head
suffered while winching Scallops on board. Born in 1927, Thomas'
introduction to music was the gift of a guitar at the age of 8, and
indeed proved gifted from the on set, he soon added, piano, banjo,
piano accordion, and no surprise fiddle, to his instruments, becoming
famed over Shetland, playing for dances and gatherings, once he'd come
to terms with his stage fright, age 18 famously playing for his sister
Betty's wedding in the cupboard, so he wouldn't have to face the
audience.

It was with the electrification of the Islands in the 50's that Thomas
developed the aspect of his music that has some fifty years later
become such a phenomenon. He bought a reel to reel tape recorder and
started recording his unique take on the music of fathers of country
music Jimmy Rogers, Hank Williams and Hank Snow, recording songs and
giving them to friends as presents and mementos. All of which had laie
in cupboards and drawers all over the islands till Thomas's grandson
Karl Simpson (moved by the music and recordings quality), had his own
collection remastered and released, heralding the start of a journey
that has seen his grandfathers legacy revered and recognised from Noss
to Nashville.

Last weekend saw The 5th annual "Thomas Fraser Memorial Festival",
founded in 2001 with a concert to commemorate his life, Thomas Fest has
now grown into the Northern  Islands leading Country Music Festival, a
three day sell out celebration in the recently refurbished Burra Public
Hall of his life, music and influence on the Shetland Country Music
Scene,(and Scotland to by default some Shetlanders would argue) It has
become the focus of the year for Shetlands Country Musicians and fans,
many in turn directly influenced by Thomas himself. This year with
guest from the United States in the form of John Lilly, Jimmy Rogers
aficionado and West Virginian cultural archivist, and Jimmy's grand
nephew and grandson of Elsie McWilliams, (who co-wrote many of The
Singing Brakeman's hit songs) Rick McWilliams, both making their appearance by their own
volition purely on the strength of their connection to these remarkable
recordings. Karl and the family have now released three cd's and have
unearthed enough material for at least one more.

Here is this pilgrims account

The proceedings were dutifully opened by The Allan Tulloch Band, who
took the neatly sardined and seated audience through a deft ramble of
fiddle styles and tunes from Shetland to the Appallachians through
Texas, Cajun Louisiana, and back across the cold grey sea to Burra,
bringing warm appreciation followed by the first appearance of our
jovial compeer Geordie Pottinger, to apply some ready made sticking
tape to the seems of what was a tight, all be it long, but well
executed schedule, with a ready story or two and always affable intro
and wonderful sound from Michael Stout and the Shetland Arts Trust PA.

  Then we're in the company of the Fraser family harmony combo The May
and Mackie Band, proudly boasting the membership of 18 year old winner
of the Glenfiddich Fiddle Competition Gemma Donald and featuring third
part harmony and occasional lead vocal of Ronda, Mays daughter
(Thomas's granddaughter). A mix of Country standards and self penned
heart sore country followed  shaken up with some competent kicking
Bluegrass, old timey and swing, augmented with stories of childhood in
the Fraser family home with reflections on a father, grandfather and a
by-gone age before the Islands were connected by the modern road bridge
network, (which now connects Lerwick and Hamnavoe in 20 minutes instead
of all day and two ferries in Thomas's days), leaving us, fully
satisfied and particularly justified of the journey wed taken.

Over the weekend I met people from every corner of these British isles
and those Shetland ones too. The concert took the form of social
gathering as much as set concerts with soup and bannocks to warm and
feed the body, and heart felt authentic String Band and acoustic
Country of world class standard to warm the soul. With some, it has to
be said, old country chestnuts, thrown in the gumbo in not to
overwhelming a measure.

A highlight of this (and many other Festivals these days, including
Shetland Folk Festival many times) are Glasgow's Moonshiners, huddled
round their single mike (Ralph Stanley Style) delivering fierce and
frenetic hoedowns in choreographed stage movements, with as consummate
an ease, as their melodic and more sedate close harmony waltzes and
bluegrass-afide standard tunes. Shining brightest of those their
rendition of  "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Particularly apt as it was
day three of a stand up gales before we were finally bless with our
first rainbow, and glimpse of sunshine, it was short lived but
appreciated. As was the Moonshiners blistering set. Not so short lived
were their prodigious sessioning capabilities, they could be heard at
the drop of a hat, in every not so quiet corner of the Festival
attracting a plethora of incredible Shetland talent to their high
octane home distilled authentic Bluegrass, from festival performers and
equally (in typical Shetland fashion) from the Festival audience too,
and all of the highest level of knowledge and musicianship.

Burra and Thomas Fest would not be itself without the Pottinger
Brothers cutting a swath across the Festival landscape as they have for
the last four decades across Shetland and Scotland's musical landscape
to. Normally a Shetland four piece with aforementioned Geordie, joined
by Gibbie, Stewart and Ivor, but swelled to the full quota of  seven
brothers  (I only met one bride) for the first time at the Festival.
Before the show older brother Arthur, who cites Thomas as his mentor,
explained how country music came to mean so much to his family and
community "We heard it directly across the North Sea thanks to American
Forces Radio Europe from an early age and many of our pals were
merchantmen who would bring us recordings back from land stops in the
US". Arthur went on to explain,  that when he took to a career in music
with his show band "The Shetlanders " touring extensively down through
Scotland and England they soon introduced the beloved Country Music to
their repertoire, and they were actually introducing it to an otherwise
little exposed audiences at the time. "It was a new sound to most but
an instant favourite, we were bringing the music back home full circle
these tunes started out here you know ". This innovation cut them apart
from their contemporaries on the circuit, and heralded  in The early
60's a huge Country Music boom fuelled by radio hits from the likes of
Jim Reeves and our own Alexander Brothers .

Arthur delivered his ballads and bar room classics with his distinct
butter melting bary-tones and easy guitar style and the Pottingers
displayed consummate and relaxed skill with harmonies which could only
be produced by sibling singers and players. Gibsons, Carters, Louvins,
Stanleys, Rorrers, Everlys, now we could add Pottingers and should
definitely add Fraser's. Thomas would be purring proudly I would wager.
Fellow ex "The Shetlanders" band member and now repatriated Shetland
resident Robbie Cunningham,  (after 10 years on the country/line dancing
circuit)  set was perhaps the most accomplishes, employing pedal steel
and 3 part harmony  fiddles and vioces, to great effect ,  recreating
some Texas Swing classics and Bob Wills favourites. No music swings
like Texan  music,  except perhaps Shetlands, an easy partnership, an easy
vocal performance and easy going nature,  and easily pushing all the
right buttons (its what we do in Shetland says Robbie later when
complimented). Also worthy of comment was the considerable contribution
by Guitarist/Dobro player Brian Nicholson, who was ever present with
all the local acts, every adaptable and versatile, never repeated a riff or
break , no mean feat, as now the acts were coming at us in 30 minute
spats.

Thomas would have doubtless been most overwhelmed by the appearance of
Ricky McWilliams, (second time at the Festival)  standing six foot 3 in
stocking soles (Six Foot 6 in Cowboy Boots and Stetson Hat) commanding
total attention (and totally commanding the tight confines of the stage
of the other wise wonderful Public facility ), receiving backing from
May and Mackie (there is Brian and Gemma again). Rick's sets emphasized
clearly his and the Islands direct link to the roots of country music
through souring vocal warbling falsetto renditions of Jimmy and Elsie's
best know works, for a spell bound audience . Many of  whom were of an
age to have heard Thomas cover the originals in person  and many of an
age you would just not expect them to know who Jimmy Rogers was,  Hi De

Helo Deee Heo Oh Del Eh Dee !! , Blue Yodels abound, and so dose a
fierce amount of cheering and well aimed Yee Haa-ing at the end of an
all to soon complete musical journey to and from Meridian Mississippi,
the birth place of Rick, Jimmy Rogers and Country music. Then to his
credit Rick made himself available to the gathered faithful for
questions on any aspect of Jimmies life , finding himself  repeatedly
in deep conversation with a precession of festival goers for all of his
none performance time at the Festival a real southern gent.

Coming in on the coat tales of Rick was fellow countryman  and fellow
Thomas and Jimmy fan, former guide at the Country Hall of fame, and
editor of West Virginia's State produced heritage magazine "Goldenseal"
is John Lilly for his first festival appearance. He and Rick having
done much in the States to bring Thomas to the attention of the Country
Music fraternity in the last five years and now John was about to
display as authentic a recreation of the music as had been heard in
Burra since Thomas's all to early demise. He set out to sing songs he
and Thomas had both recorded stay staying true   to the spirit and getting as close as
is humanly possible to the sound, uncanny and magical, but it was when
Hank Williams came under the Lilly lime light that the hairs on the
neck moved with the atoms in the air. A glance around the room caught
more than one person closing their eyes and doubtless easily imagining
Hanks towering presence, we all willingly allowed John to reproduce
Hanks love sick lonesome blue period picture, painted in our minds eye,
and framed with his own affable and insightful style of delivery,
Johns own songs holding their own effortlessly against the classics,
playing a guitar proudly embossed with his name in  silver on the neck.

He un assumingly says its ruined its value on ebay and explains it was
presented to him by HankFest as the 2004 winner of Ghost-Writers in The
Sky competition for writing a song in the style of Hank Williams.
Perhaps the biggest cheer of the night followed his singing of the song
"Blue Highway"  . Finishing with Sweet Virginia My Home and a buck
Dance flat foot clogging display to Gemma's, this time, trad fiddling
sets, unsurprisingly bringing the house down and more surprisingly for
this pilgrim at least, instigated spontaneous displays of Burras own
ancient step dance tradition, "The Burra Mans War Dance" from some of
the gathered. John delivered exactly what was needed, he may not have
stolen the show, but he had stolen their hearts ,  a true musical
artist.

  As will Shetland for any true music fan all of life revolves round
music and Shetland for this weekend  seemed to be revolving around
Burra and Thomas Fraser. Sunday saw the conversion of the hall into
Shetlands Country Music Hall of Fame, with exhibits from all aspects of
the Fraser (and Pottinger) dynasty, photos, records, tapes and real to
real recorders, with all Thomas instruments including his Levin Guitar
lovingly restored by Jimmy Moon (Moonshiners/Moon Guitars) along side a
Moon Guitar special commemorative Thomas Fraser edition, receiving
enthusiastic attention and circles of sessioners waiting patently to
play both instruments. A remarkable experience with friends of Thomas
and family standing ready to reminisce and inform,  with their own
photo albums tucked under their arms and instruments in hand of coarse
, there was a constant flow of people around the exhibits and in and
out of the ensuing session .

I can only strongly recommend Thomas Fraser and his Memorial Festival
for all with an ear for quality, an interest in heritage and a longing
for real community, go next year find the source and bath in it, but
rap up warm.

On the flight home, I noticed the 2007 Festival is proudly displayed on
a beautifully presented Shetlands Arts Trust brochure as in-flight
reading material with some 11 other Shetland Festivals for 2007  an
irresistible enticement to bring us all back to this very special jewel
in a grey sea, at the top of this chain of islands a shining star at
the very top of our of our musical tree. I leave love sick and blue
with a piece of my soul left in Hamnavoe.

First time in the newly opened Capitol tonight, and quite impressed by it. Clean, tidy, nice sound and pints for £1.50, you can’t ask for more.  Openers tonight were local crew Valentine Union. They play that kind of angsty 80’s agit rock ala Editors etc etc, not entirely my cup of tea but they did do it very well.

Next up one of CR favourites, Attic Lights. Another great set from the band described as ‘Jayhawks in Hawaiian shirts’ and ‘Buffalo Springfield meets The Beach Boys on the set of Big Wednesday’(described as that by me actually). ‘Wendy’ and ‘Bring Me Down’ sounded great, and we can’t wait for the album

Despite being tipped by Jo Whiley (the radio equivalent of a vodka/Night Nurse cocktail) The Hours are quite a decent band. First number ‘Murder or Suicide’ summed them up quite nicely; fragile at times but driven by an iron will and capable of some terrifically melodious moments. ‘Narcissus Road’ was top drawer, as was closing song ‘Ali in the Jungle’ which has ‘hit’ written all over it. A few downsides in that they can sound a bit overblown at times (‘Back When’) and the awful moment when the singer attempted a quasi-rap during ‘People Say’. Also, his patter would make the late Richard Whitely turn in his grave.

Still, 3 bands in a good venue for a fiver makes for a good night.

DB Cooper

Harry’s London Liner overnight bus to The Capital really is a drive on the wild side. Leaving Buchanan St at 10.30pm, it’s full of bail jumpers, hustlers and hookers giving Glasgow a body swerve in search of the famed gold paved streets. And because Springsteen refused to play Scotland, yours truly was in amongst it, sleeping with one eye open at the start of a journey which will be forever remembered as The Best Gig Ever.

Wembley Arena is a massive space, over 12,000 capacity which knocks our SECC well and truly into a cocked hat. And the sound at Wembley also beats the SECC with a shitty stick too; managing to make the cavernous space sound like it was the Barras.

 The Boss was playing with his Seeger sessions band, from the sometimes maligned ‘We Shall Overcome’ album. I thought the album was ok, no more than that, and so was interested to see what kind of show Brucie would put on. I’ll admit I was half expecting a somewhat subdued performance, and I’ll also admit that I was wrong, and The Boss blew me away.

 Backed by 16(!) musicians playing everything from tuba to accordion to spoons, Springsteen played for 2 and a half hours, mainly from ‘We shall…’ but including a few others and even one new song. With this amazing band in full swing the Seeger Sessions tracks were injected with holy water and brought to full, glorious life. I always suspected these tunes were more fun for the musicians to play than the fan to listen to and tonight we seen how much fun they could have. The Boss had an acoustic guitar slung high on his chest and levelled it at the crowd like a shotgun as he led his merry band in a flat out party. With the brass section doing a hammed up march across the stage and fiddlers whirling all over the place, only a dead man could have failed to clap, stomp and dance. Their version of ‘Atlantic City’ was jaw dropping and stopped me calling out for ‘Born to Run’, ‘Erie Canal’ and ‘Jacobs Ladder’ were some standouts of the Seeger stuff.

After about 2 hours I got the feeling he was about to wrap up, but every time I thought he was doing the last song he kept going, doing ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’, ‘This Little Light of Mine’, ‘This American Land’ before ‘Froggie Went a Courtin’ finally brought the curtain down on an amazing show.

If it sounds like I’m kissing The Boss’s ass that’s because I am. The man is a genius, and everyone should see him once. Watching the stars sparkle over the new Wembley arch I remembered a Springsteen quote from Jon Landau “on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time”

Benston Smithy

Whats that you say? Why is Scotland’s home of Americana reviewing a punk gig on the night Neko Case played Glasgow? Well Claude, variety is the spice of life as they say , lately we’d had our fill of whinyYanks and Rancid are the kind of band that can really put on a show.(And she bumped us for an interview)

A punk gig has a great sense of inclusiveness about it, and has a wider cross section of music lovers than most scenes. Fatties, skinnymalinks, tall, short, goth, emo, aging rockers and hardcore punks (and one alt.country arsehole) all mixed freely without raising so much as a pierced eyebrow. The front of the stage was a frothing cauldron as Rancid tore through some fantastic tunes. This isn’t shitty British style punk, this is super soaraway, singalong punk rock that cannot be denied. Event the countriest of fans would tap their foot to ‘Roots Radical’ and pogo along to ‘Ruby Soho’ This is punk for those who don’t like punk, so check them out next time.

I hadn’t been in the Barras for quite some time and tonight reminded me of what a great venue it is. The neon sign outside, the wee bouncer getting a grip (literally) of queue jumpers, the sleazy ambience and brilliant sound all brought back some great memories. Lets hope the Barras can survive as long as possible.

Darvel was a cracker this year, here's some of the bands we seen

Endrick Brothers

The Endrick Bros are a great band, but talk about slow! Seems like seven long years (boom boom) since ‘Built to Last’ came out and left them hanging on the precipice of greatness. Fortunately tonight they played plenty tunes from the forthcoming (January?) album, including the blistering opener ,  ‘Thorn on Every Rose’. Holmsy intimated this was a collaboration with Ryan Adams, but I’ll duel at dawn with the man who says there wasn’t a distinct Interpol vibe from it. Seriously, not only Kessler style guitars, but if you closed your eyes at the right time you’d have sworn Paul Banks was singing (though Niall looks more like Ian Banks). Following it up with ‘Irish Angel’ the Bros were well and truly in their stride. I’ve seen
them play with keyboards and pedal steel before but tonight was a more direct rock approach wit great work by Martin Kelly on the six string. The

new tunes hit fine and true and sit well beside their older (and more countrified) brethren, like ‘Ballad for a Film’ and ‘Built to Last’. The encore of Shaky’s ‘Roll Another Number’ left Darvel deep fried, the southern way.

If tonight’s performance is anything to go by, 2007 could be a great year for the Endricks. And if Niall Holmes isn’t the best singer in Scotland today, I’ll borrow a hat and eat it.     

       

Holmsy, Banksy, Banksy

Amazing Pilots
For the 2^nd year running Irish outfit, the Amazing Pilots graced the Darvel stage. Last year we weren’t too keen on them, this year we’re warming to them. A bit. At least they have binned the routine when the singer brought a drum to the front of the stage! It was a decent set, with some inspired moments but just a bit too lightweight. In the words of a political slogan I don’t understand: ‘Where’s The Beef?’

Galipaygos

The Galipaygos have been making steady progress on the live circuit since the release of ‘Trucker Chic’. They have some fine tunes, an eye for showmanship and are quite a sight with the trumpet, sax and gurning drummer all going at once. ‘Hands’ is an ambitious song which sounded a bit too much like a number from a musical for my liking, but ‘Dog Leg Stair’ and their theme tune are excellent.Nice one, boys

Willy Clay Band

There is a burgeoning Americana scene in Scandanavia, and WCB is the top of the heap at the moment. These guys have a rabid following in Scotland, due in no small part to playing here umpteen times in the last year or so, and attracted a sizable crowd down to Ayrshire tonight. The boys play that kind of mellow, easy music associated with The Eagles and Poco and if it weren’t for their accents you’d swear they were real yanks. The boys are superb musicians, especially the multi instrumentalist Orjan Maki ( or is it Neil from the young ones?) What is nice about them however, is the influence they draw from Sweden, and their home town of Kiruna especially, going so far to write a song about it. Perhaps this patriotism is also a part of their Scottish rapport?

I wouldn’t say tonight was as good as the arches gig earlier in the year, but it was still very good.

Popup

This band are well quoted in Glasgow circles, which usually means
a)      they play a mish mash of styles badly, but really fast
or
b)   they hang around the ‘right’ record shops and bar/venues

I’m not hip enough to comment on the latter but Popup certainly aren’t the former and I’m surprised I can now say I like a Glasgow indie band. This mob deliver a high octane new wave vibe, that drips irn bru and chip shop grease (mental note: find out what new wave means) What I mean by that (and it does need explaining) is that Popup have a spirited Scottishness aboubt them, lyrically and vocally. No disguising our guttural accent for the young Billy Stark lookalike, as they tore through a very entertaining set. ‘Lucy..’ and ‘Chinese Burn’ are the only two titles I can remember, but I do remember enjoying the full set and ‘aint that what it’s about? Even if it meant standing shoulder to shoulder with guys in ‘retro’ tracky tops, carefully messed hair and rectangular specs I’d sell blood to see Popup again.

 

Starko, Poppo

The Sundowns

We like the Sundowns a lot, but tonight they seemed to be missing some of their normal lustre and shine, perhaps the continued absence of a pedal steel is affecting them. Still a good set however and along with Keef’s wisecracks, ’11:15’ and ‘Burning Blue’ were the highlights. Those new songs showing some great writing by Keith Benzie, on subjects pleasingly different from the norm.

Albert and Gage

Being together for 9 years has given Christine Albert and Chris Gage a terrific understanding of each other, and boy it sure comes across to the crowd. Gage is a jovial guitar/accordion/dobro/piano slinger  who has been there and done it all over the world, and Albert is one of the sweetest voices to ever play at Darvel. Their individual personalities shine through the music and didn’t the throng here love it.

Hopefully this most accomplished of duos will be back soon.

The Hazey Janes

The Hazey Janes produced a set of no little brilliance tonight, underlining their status as one of Scotland’s strongest bands. Alice stands in the centre of the stage, but it’s Andrew who is in the driving seat. He put in a stellar performance, with terrific vocals and guitar playing. Live, the Hazeys are much more powerful and energetic than on record and have a real driving power pop vibe. I quite like ‘Hotel Radio’ but it never sounded this good on a stereo. Excellent set

Slaid Cleaves

I was unfamiliar with all but of a few of Slaid’s songs so I was unsure about what to expect. Any qualms were quickly dissipated however as he gave a fantastic, charming and assured performance. Like a younger and leaner Peter Case, he displayed some fantastic inventiveness, including yodelling (which was superb) and a new take on audience participation. Also like Case, he’s something of a musicologist, and has recorded an album (Unsung) of other people’s songs, and tonight’s rendition of Karen Poston’s ‘Flowered Dresses’ was amazing. Cleaves is a slight looking man, but sings and plays like someone twice his stature. Accompanied by Chris Gage he had the crowd onside from the first moment to the last, and was one of the real gems of this years Darvel

James Apollo

 When they took the stage they looked like the prom band from Back to The Future fronted by Eraserhead. But Apollo and his merry men weren’t only visually arresting, they turned ‘Americana’ on it’s head, stretched it out then twisted and bent it into a very unique shape.  It didn’t always hit the spot, the vocal echo was a bit annoying after a while, but more often than not Apollo pushed the boundary and succeeded. His cosmic lounge music was the success of the night and it was excellent to see a band so enthused with their creation

Eraserhead, Apollo

Ben Arkle

Probably the worst way to start a gig is to talk in a faux American accent, like Dean did tonight. He bamboozled the audience with a drawl somewhere between Ronald Reagan and Top Cat’s mate Choo Choo. And the bamboozlement didn’t stop there as Ben Arkle rumbled through a disjointed set. It veered from a kinda prog-rock to a kinda agit-folk and the drafted in fiddler looked, and sounded pretty incongruous. ‘On and On’ was Ok, but The Queens of The Stone Age cover was ill advised. I was disappointed with this set as the stuff they did for that manc lad on YouTube was pretty good. Apart from the Avril Lavigne cover.

update! thanks to teh internets you can decide for yourself! click here!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSmQRkQ_e6A

Choo Choo, Arkle

Geist

Geist started off sounding like a sorta ska type band and had me thinking bad things. However as with so many things (gravity, plastic surgery) I was proved wrong. A few songs in I was converted to the Geist , thanks in no small part to frontman McDevitts charmingly self deprecating style. And some sparkling poppy/rocky numbers, ‘Untitled 9’ was a real belter (despite the crap name). The secret to Geist being more than another yawnsome rabble is some thoughtful lyrics and the wonderful Anna on the fiddle. Cuts her own hair apparently.

Deadstring Brothers

If you searched for a place to file The Deadstring Brothers, you’d probably find that it was already full with The Stones. Which isn’t to say that’s a bad thing, the DB’s do play a quite infectious brand of soul driven rock ‘n roll, but it was maybe lost a bit in a large hall that wasn’t full. The band themselves seemed to think so too, appearing a bit disinterested at times. No doubt a tightly packed sweaty venue brings out the best in them, but I’m sure they’ll have played gigs similar to this in their Motor City home and far beyond.

Grant Campbell

Campbell is one of the loudest performers I’ve ever heard. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, he damn near deafened the assembled crowd. But this wasn’t a vulgar display of power; he has some fine songs and put in a great set tonight. The Scottish Springsteen? You read it here first

.

 

Ryan and his Cardinals released 2 great records last year. One was an
excellent Country-rocker and the other (in my opinion the best of last
years bunch) was a good ole Honky Tonk classic. This was our first chance
to see the band live and hear them play these albums and hopefully a few
other gems.
Ryan Adams took to a very dark stage, hair all punky and dressed in the
tightest pair of jeans I have seen in a long time (I think these helps him
reach those high notes!) and muttered the words "It's good to be home"
before battering into a very promising "Magnolia Mountain". This was going
to be the gig of my life, or so I thought. Now I'm all for people changing
their songs when playing live, otherwise you'd be as well sitting at home
listening to the CD but what we were subjected to after this cracking
opener was minute after minute of self-indulgent guitar wanking and
unrecognisable songs. There are so many great sing-a-long songs on those
albums but they were broken down so much that me and many of the other
people I spoke to just got bored and headed towards the bar.
After reading the official website, I noticed a blog posted by the
Cardinals drummer, Brad Pemberton which informed us fans the we "were
warned" and that they would be jamming and trying things out on stage. Yeah
we were warned but only AFTER we had bought our tickets. I did not pay to
see the Grateful Dead. Granted, I would pay to see the Grateful Dead (and
I'd have a hard job, I know) but Jerry Garcia's name was not on the bill
outside. Ryan Adams name was.
Being the loyal Ryan Adams fan, I will go back to see him next time, even
if only to make sure he redeems himself in my eyes. This gig just left
myself and many other fans feeling flat and disappointed.

Poor show sir but hurry back!

Waldo Lafayette

Watching a singer taking to the stage, looking like Terry Sullivan circa
1980's Brookside does not fill you with confidence and assure you that you
are about to be impressed by the mans musical genius. In my opinion, that
look should be saved for Harry Enfield's "The Scousers", Chaps from The
Zutons and football casuals of a bygone era. Fortunately it wasn't style
challenge we were here for but rather to listen to some good music and good
music were given.
I'd never heard of Richard Swift prior to attending this gig, so didn't
quite know what to expect. I had seen him kicking about in the crowd before
the gig and thought he was just another one of Glasgow's arty crew, trying
to look that wee bit different. I always like when it's a surprise to see
these people jump on stage, rather than the photo-fit, contrived band guys
who you can spot from a mile away. Skinny jeans, converse and leathers (or
whatever the fashionable band they are listening to this week is wearing).

When Richard Swift started his set my ears didn't exactly prick up as the
song did nothing for me. I was all set for another dullard trying to be
arty and clever but this man is clever. After my initial disappointment we
were treated to a musical kick up the arse, as the songs grew in melody,
size and spirit. Some of these songs could have easily been used on a
Broadway show as they packed a bigger punch than Mike Tyson and were
carried along by what I can only describe as 'Razzmatazz'. Again, having
never heard of Swift, I have no idea as to his influences but I'm wagering
on Elton John (at his flamboyant best), Ed Hardcourt and even a
smattering of Billy Joel. The man definitely has an ear for a good song and
seems to know melody inside-out. An ability which is sadly lacking in many
of the bands and songwriters of today.
The thing with up-beat and melodic poppy set's is that they seem to pass
very quickly. This has it's good and bad points but I would like to see
Richard Swift again and possibly playing a longer set. I'm sure it won't be
long until he's back delighting the crowds of Glasgow with his bright
sounds and anyone bright enough in this town will be there to see him.

The sound of ‘My Morning Jacket’ has moved on in recent times from the
country-rooted rock which often drew comparisons to Neil Young, to a less
subtle blend of reggae-tipped, rock-yer-socks-off Americana, no doubt
partly influenced by their recent partnership with studio producer John
Leckie. In some ways it is a surprise they have expanded in this direction
as the band could never have been described as overtly fashionable, yet
their team-up with ex-Radiohead helmsman Leckie suggests a desire for a
wider audience. However, the energy and motivation displayed by “MMJ”
tonight suggest their new direction has not resulted in a loss of
fire-in-the-belly and passion for their art.

Tonight they provide us with a set which not surprisingly consists mainly
of tunes from last years acclaimed “Z”, the most notable being ‘Off
the
Record’, a ska-based, rollocking affair which draws huge appreciation
from
tonight’s far-from-unrespectable crowd. There are also moments from
“Z”’s
long-playing predecessor “It Still Moves” (the one with the bear on the
front; tremendously cool cover by the way!) including the delightful
'golden'
which showcases a lighter-side to the band, seldom-glimpsed on an evening
where rock ‘n’ roll certainly rules.

Despite being perhaps not wholly to this reviewer’s taste, “MMJ” show
tonight a huge lust for life as they power their way through a set
characterised by enormous enthusiasm for what they do. Maybe I wouldn’t
choose one of their albums as a desert-island-disc, but my guess is that
“MMJ” wouldn’t give a sh*t, they’re just doing their thang and are
(obviously) loving every minute of it. A decent turnout at Glasgow’s ABC
were loving it too.
Waldo Lafayette

It’s testament to the abundant charm of  Rob Ellen and the undisputed talent of Joe West  that this evening  at the ABC managed to be a enjoyably ramshackle night for all concerned. They just about managed to overcome a catastrophically poor turnout ( come on people of Glasgow, get out to support good music) and the non-appearance of highly fancied headline act I See Hawks in L.A. whose van broke down in Glencoe and who didn’t arrive in Glasgow until midnight.

            It was left to Joe West to save the day and he did so easily, beginning with  Trip to Roswell and running through some great numbers from Human Cannonball and South Dakota Hairdo. Standouts were Rehab Girl, Jenna Cab and Human Cannonball. He was followed by Scotland’s very own Tom Morton, playing with his son James, whose own quirky lyrics went down well the crowd. He did songs from The complete and utter history of rock n roll with Learning to Hate the Beatles  provoking the biggest reaction. If only he was American  I’m sure jools Holland would lap him up !! Then disaster as Rob announced that the Hawks wouldn’t make it. He softened the blow by buying everyone  a drink and getting Joe back up again to do some 70s trucking songs and a charming children’s ditty written for his new baby girl Clementine.

  A weary looking Joe finally got a rest as local troubadour Dave Nelson took the stage. On this evidence it’s worth checking out his band the Ping Pong Banana show. Extolling the virtues of ‘taches in Magnum P.I. and transforming Xtina’s Genie in a Bottle he certainly tickled my fancy. And remember there’s nothing gay looking about moustaches at all. Get behind his campaign to bring back the ‘tache!

   Joe’s planning to return next year with his gospel band so lets hope more of you get out there to hear him.

Fanny Golightly

The Belladrums roll but once a year, and yet again team Crooked loaded the wagon with beer, crisps and man size tissues and took the high road to Beauly.

This year the main stage and hothouse stage had a more mainstream feel, but we suppose you have to draw the punters to turn a profit and ensure the festival’s survival. Though judging by the interest shown by the popular media this time Bella is here to stay (better late than never I suppose). Anyhow The Grassroots stage was awash with some tasty propositions and it was nice to see some new talent on the Seedlings stage, so there was plenty for everyone.

One of the great things about the festival this year was the expanded fringe. For 2 weeks previous to the main do Inverness and the surrounding area played host to an extensive entertainment programme, boosting the local economy and the profile of performers. The people of Perth and Kinross must be pretty envious.

 

So here's the highlights, in no particular order ( of merit OR appearance)

 

Moonshiners

These boys are one of Scotland’s best kept secrets, and they wowed the grassroots tent with hotter than hot bluegrass stylings. Once the sound was sorted out after the first few numbers the crowd really dug these cats, rocking to ‘Duelling Banjos’ and almost lifted the roof for the closing number ‘Viva Las Vegas’ Lead Moony Ian is perhaps the least probable Elvis impersonator you’ll see but his wide legged, collar-up stance was pretty memorable. And when we got a few words backstage with the boys, they insisted on doing an exclusive track for us.

CB How did you boys get together?

Ian I used to play in a band called Old Hickory years ago and when it split I formed The Moonshiners with Tom Connel and Jimmy (Moon – renowned instrument craftsman). Over the years we’ve evolved by bringing in more players, probably over 15 years.

Jimmy The band as you see it has been going for 12 years, with the exception of our new man Victor, all the way from Denmark.

Alasdair Victor’s just joined but sounds like he’s played with us for 13 years!

 

CR what is your set list made up of?

Alasdair Mixture of originals and standards, Ian writes a lot of tunes for us.

Jimmy There is so many great old songs, and that’s what we are fans of but we try for a 60/40 mix.

 

CR Do you have an agenda for furthering The Moonshiners, or are you just happy to keep playing?

Jimmy This is fun for us.

Ian It could never be a full time living for us especially as it’s a minority interest.

Jimmy We’re not a pushy band and we never actively seek gigs, they just seem to find us, and we’ve got some cracking gigs coming up too

Alasdair Mulligan's bar in Amsterdam!

Jimmy As well as Amsterdam we’re playing the folk festival in Shetland, for the 2^nd time and that’s a real honour.

Ian We do the gigs we’re interested in now. When we started we played all the bars and pubs in Glasgow and the west, but we’re tired of that now.

Jimmy we’re not chasing the big bucks, we’re just having fun

Check out the exclusive track the boys done for us. CLICK HERE!!!

 

 

I See Hawks In LA

This was a band most were unfamiliar with, but by the end of the set no one was going to forget them. Ex ‘X’ man Tony Gilkyson provided a blistering introduction with his frenetic fretwork, before the Hawks landed. Belting out some of the finest countrified rock you’ll ever hear they have set the bar high for future gigs. ‘Raised by Hippies’ and especially especially especially (it really was that good) ‘Golden Girl’ were some of the best tunes all weekend .The Hawks and Tony were elated with the reaction from the crowd. Once frontman Robbie got his mother in law (!) out the way, he gave us a few words.

CR That’s quite a name you have there

RW Yeah, I See Hawks in LA was a line someone said, and we can’t remember who. About 5 Years ago Paul Lacques and I started writing songs together, then we took a trip one time with Paul’s brother and got lost in the Mojave desert. We’d been smoking some weed and running around like monkeys and cavemen and someone said ‘I See Hawks In LA’ and someone else said ‘that’s a good name for a band’ but we cant remember who is responsible. And it was a name we thought stood out, which is hard in LA because it is so HUGE, it’s fucked up dude it’s insane. But even with that you can still see a lot of wildlife like hawks and coyotes, so we’re encouraging people to look up!

CR California country has a beautiful photograph on the front cover

RW Yeah! That was Paul Lacques, our guitar player, it’s really great

CR Tell Me About ‘Byrd From West Virginia’ Byrd doesn’t sound like the kind you’d sing about if you were raised by hippies?!

RW  He started out, like a lot of people in American politics, in white supremacy. He was involved in the Klan, hence the line ‘He burned the cross of Jesus, in the west viginia night’ But then he turns out to be one of the first to voice his opposition to Iraq, so he moves from right to left. He gave the most eloquent speech against the wat when no one else had the courage. He encapsulates a lot of the contradictions about America, the good and the bad.

CR In wikipedia it says you recorded a ‘tribute’ to him

RW Yeah that’s funny! It’s neither a tribute nor an attack, it’s a tribute to boldness and courage. Sometimes it comes from the most unlikely sources. We like to write songs that are complex and not straight ahead.

CR Talking of complex, what about ‘Slash From Guns n Roses’?

RW Haha! That was about a guy going round pretending to be Slash. From Guns ‘n Roses. Hollywood is such a weird town, honestly. A Guy just started appearing at parties saying he was Slash and LA being the place it is just let him away with it. It was a funny story we heard and we wrote a song about it

check out myspace for 'Byrd From West Virginia'

Wonderstuff

Now this is just the ticket. The stuffies have been a firm favourite of mine since the days of ‘Hup’, back when indie really was indie and not just some TV execs idea of a cash register. Miles Hunt and co put on a really solid performance in the Hothouse Tent. The Highlight? Don’t Let Me Down, Gently, of course.

 

Puppini Sisters.

Fortunate to catch these ladies doing a reprise on the BBC Scotland stand. Glorious voices belting out stone cold classic songs, they sure are something different. In return for our last badge they gave us an interview. Hoochie Mama.

CR Come on baby, what’s the deal with your retro vibe?

Marcella P. It’s just really good music, really good fun to sing AND to listen to. Our album is just out (‘Betcha bottom dollar) and we’re getting ready to tour.

CR Have you enjoyed Belladrum

MP Yeah, it is amazing up here; we’ve had a great time

CR You guys may be the only classically trained artists here…that’s not very rock n roll is it?

Steph How dare you! You can still rock and roll at college you know!

Kate If we hadn’t gone through all that and learned our craft we wouldn’t be able to do what we do now. We’re intelligent rock and roll!

CR And what else are you planning?

MP We’re working on our second album, getting some original stuff together. We’re looking at our dark side for that.

CR Like murder ballads?

Kate Yep, just like Nick Cave!

CR And the long term?

Steph World Domination. Starting with Scotland.

(Consider me dominated…)

 

Seasick Steve

Crazy name, crazy guy. But what a set, fantastic start to finish.

 

Joe West

Santa Fe time traveller and long time drinking buddy of CR is personality personified. He insists his songs are rooted in real life and if that’s true then he’s drank more than Olly Reid and been tied to more bedposts than David Blunkett’s dog.  The Venus Flytrap stage was less than packed, but the crowd were certainly appreciative of Joe’s efforts. ‘Rehab girl’ and ‘Jam Bands in Colorado’ give us the quirky side of Joe, but that is only half the story.  His cover of Townes van Zandt’s ‘Tecumseh County’ was delivered with a feeling and pathos that makes the hair stand on end, and ‘Heaven’ is such a lovely song it deserves to be a hit.

We took a seat on a dusty old couch and chewed the fat with Mr West, touching on such subjects as how hot Sabrina the Teenage Witch is.

 

CR It’s been almost a year since we spoke, what’s shakin’?

JW Well I’m a father now! A father to my daughter Clementine.

CR That must change things for you.

JW It’s changed everything. I had this toured planned a long time ago and I’m kinda regretting it, it’s hard being away.

CR What’s happening musically?

JW Well the main development is my Gospel band. We’ve been playing around Santa Fe and I’m pretty excited about it. Back home I have the freedom to experiment a bit more.

CR Are you quite a community based artist back home?

JW I would say so, I have a real fan base back there and I get a lot of inspiration from the folks there. I’ve also started a bluegrass band; the Santa Fe Allstars.It’s became quite a hit in Santa Fe. I’d love to bring it over and so on this tour I’m just talking to people and checking out the vibe for the All-stars

 CR And what’s become of the time travelling intergalactic honky tonk machine?

JW It’s evolved into ‘Zoë Fitzgerald Time Travelling Transvestite’ it’s a little bit of a country drag show.

CR Would you say you’re an attractive woman?

JW I have goooorgeous legs! I don’t shave them but they are SHAPELY! Theatrical stuff like that is real fun to me

It wouldn’t be a Joe West interview without ending on a weird and slightly troubling note.

 

 

Attic Lights

I was strolling past the Venus Flytrap stage when I was trapped. Like a fly.  By Glasgow’s very own Attic Lights. It’s no secret we like the west coast vibe pumped out by this rabble of rogues who sound like The Jayhawks wearing Hawaiian shirts, and today was another good show under their belts. As well as the classic ‘Wendy’ there was a few newer numbers which the boys told CR about backstage

CR what’s been happening since the King Tuts show?

Jamie We’ve been really busy since then, just played down in London, done the Wickerman festival and finished a Highland Tour with Dropkick, there’s plenty of stories to tell…

CR Save those for ‘Penthouse’ please!

Jamie Aye Ok… We played T in the park too, and we’ve been talking about tying up some publishing deals

Kev I think we’re the hardest working band in Scotland just now. We’ve been recording our first album too; it’s going to have some songs off our EP’s and some new ones too.

CR when will it be out?

Jamie We’re not sure when it will be ‘out’ We’re just recording at the moment, then we’ll try and get a distribution deal. A few people we’ve spoken to think that’s the best way to go, rather than doing it all for someone else.

 CR Do you reckon Myspace helps out any?

Jamie Sure, it helps a lot as it is so accessible. After our Highland tour we noticed all the comments left from people in places lie Ullapool and Forres

Colin Lots of girls commented

 CR With all the touring and album work do you find it hard to fit in your day jobs etc?

Kev It is getting harder, but we’re all 100% committed

Jamie Kev’s day job is basically Attic Lights admin 9 to 5!

 

 

Culture Clash - STAR PICK!!!

Rise Kagona and Champion Doug Veitch provided the highlight of the weekend, and there is a whole tent of people who will agree with that. This wasn’t so much a gig as a flat out party. Even the band seemed to be having the time of their lives as the tent rocked, jumped and generally went crazy. We didn’t know what Rise was singing about and we didn’t care, his and Doug’s jangling guitars broke the language barrier. A real first class show. The boys were in ebullient mood when they spoke with us.

CR Rise what on earth are you singing about?

RK It is a shame that my audience cannot understand me. I sing about what is happening in day to day life, but the good thing is the music

CDV The sound is universal, the 2 guitars work great and the audience know what we’re trying to get across. Whether we make the guitars sad or we make them happy, everyone picks it up

CR Are you hoping to make it big?

CDV (looking like he wants to kill me) WE ARE BIG!!! And we’re going to get bigger; everywhere we go people love the culture clash sound. And it’s not actually ‘Culture Clash’, it was meant to be ‘a culture clash: Rise Kagona Vs Champion Doug Veitch’ but I suppose the name stuck!

 

Echo and the Bunnymen

Team Crooked were left disappointed by McCulloch and the boys, lacklustre and boring were the most used words. Though plenty of people seem to disagree.

 

Grandadbob

What a choice, close out the festival with Embrace or Grandadbob. Or if you like, be jabbed with a red hot poker (embrace) or have your feet rubbed by Carol Vorderman whilst the good looking one out the pussy cat dolls makes you a cup of tea (grandabob) That’s probably the worst metaphor you’ll ever read but it gets the point across. Vanessa Robinson whirled like a mad thing in a flowery dress and cracked out some tunes far more powerful than her studio efforts sound. They overran, but could have ran and ran even more, no one wanted them to stop.

 

Sunday morning coming down brought the usual festival goer’s self admonishments. Don’t mix cider and red wine. Camp in the quiet zone next time. Don’t use the tent you take on holiday. A frying pan is not an instrument. Don’t mix cider and red wine.

There were a few grumbles about this year not being as good as last year, but on the whole Joe Gibbs and his team have pulled it off again. A much wider variety was provided this year, with price increase of only a tenner. There was in increase in capacity too, but things never reached an uncomfortable level and the extra punters were only noticed when waiting in the queue to exit the site. And it still provides considerably better VFM than the others.

So for the second year in a row, Bella has put the ‘T’ out

Thanks to soozann for the pics

 

 

Big Big Country organiser Billy Kelly was keen for Jesse Dayton to return to Glasgow this year. And after seeing Jesse’s zoomeratin’, salivatin’, electrifyin’ and satisfyin’ supercharged country it is easy to see why. Blown in via Vietnam and Amsterdam, Jesse blew the cobwebs off the ABC right from the first yell of ‘What’s goin on!?’ as he bopped around the stage like a lanky stick of dynamite. And in addition to his musical dexterity and prominent presence he has some finely honed patois, which is so good that even if you thought it was the same lines he did last night you don’t care.
Dayton sounds like the unholy combination of modern day John Doe and Dave Alvin, almost equal parts country and rockabilly. Sounding just like Alvin he ripped into a fine selection from his 5 albums and one from his soundtrack to Rob Zombie’s ‘Banjo & Sullivan’. I’m not sure of the title but if the chorus is anything to go by it is entitled ‘I’m home getting hammered (she’s out getting nailed)’ More fun than a barrel of monkeys and just as cheeky, Jesse Dayton could quite well be the greatest thing to happen to the country scene in quite some while.
Farmfoods McCoy

  Howe Gelb has been around in various guises for over 20 years and has produced countless quality albums, both solo and under the Giant Sand moniker which have been criminally overlooked by the general public. However, a packed Arches and the 5 star reviews he’s had for the gospel enhanced ‘Sno Angel Like You’ may finally be going someway to compensate for that. Not that Gelb seems at all troubled by such things. As the fantastic Voices of Praise make their way onstage, already singing gloriously acapella, Gelb has surreptiously slipped out and taken
 a seat beside a lady in the audience, amiably chatting away until he deems it time to begin.  His deep whispered vocals are the perfect vehicle for delivering the richly narrative songs that make up ‘Sno Angel……’ He yet again stakes a claim to join the likes of Guthrie, Dylan, Waits and Case  as one of America’s great storytellers. Most of the album is delivered with particular standouts being Get To Leave, The Farm and Love Knows (No Borders.)  Despite a striking resemblence to Robert De Niro, Gelb cuts a charming figure on stage, bantering gently with the audience and indulging in much wordplay and punning. His set is rapturously received and the roof is almost raised during the encore when Gelb gracefully steps aside and lets the Voices of Praise have the last two numbers in order to give some idea of what true Gospel should sound like.
Perhaps Gelb can add ‘Soul Saver’ to his lengthy CV now
Fanny Golightly

First off, Kudos to the arches for having cans of Carlsberg at £1.50, makes a pleasant change in Glasgow. And also kudos to Southpaw, who opened the night with a blistering support slot. Hope to see them again soon.

If proof was needed that Americana is psychological rather than geographical, look no further than the Willy Clay Band. From the Swedish mining town of Kiruna, the Arctic Circle slickers kicked off Big Big Country with a show that will be hard to beat. Though they have only one album ‘Rebecca Drive’ the sound they produce is so authentic, so tight, you could think they are veterans straight outta the dirty South. They really are excellent musicians, but especially Orjan Maaki (or was it Neil from The Young Ones?) on lap steel and guitar and the unusual but outstanding, standing, drummer Fredrik Elenius. And despite English being their second language Tony, Bjorn and Reine made some engaging repartee with the crowd, who really lapped up this performance. It’s hard to pick out favourites in what was a great set but I’ll go for ‘Stay the Night’ and ‘If You Leave Me Now’. The cover of Young’s ‘Long May You Run’ was excellent too.
Top class entertainment from a band with (hopefully) years ahead of them. They say they are back in October…. You’d be a fool to miss them
Benston Smithy
http://www.willyclayband.se

When I first heard Director’s single ‘Reconnect’ it reminded me of type of indie rock that’s in vogue with the likes of Editors. It is slick and well produced, with one of the best intros I’d heard in a looong while. But when I seen Director take the stage I was shocked, and disappointed. Shocked because the deep voice on record actually belongs to a young fresh fellow of around 17 and disappointed because I’m 12 years older and done diddly squat with my life. And youth was certainly an advantage tonight, as they had the enthusiasm to put on a good (though short) set despite the paltry crowd. In a genre which is oversubscribed it was nice to see a mob that can play and actually have some decent tunes. ‘Reconnect’ was one of the best live tracks I’ve heard this year and blew us all away. All 20 of us. Schmindie rock usually leaves me feeling cold and cheated, but I’d definitely keep an eye out for Director in the future.
http://www.directormusic.co.uk

What a difference (almost) a year makes. Last time Gina V played Glasgow the top room in Bastille had around 14 people there to see her. This time a very healthy crowd at G2 greeted her and after some fine countrified rock, and a tattoo contest, left well impressed.

Opening the gig were east coast boys The Sundowns and Hobotalk. The Sundowns were pared down to Benzie and Taylor on acoustics and big Keef on the drums. They gave the excellent ‘11:15’ another airing and at one point Keef joined in the vocals, like a hairy Phil Collins. Sandwiched between Keef and Gina (!?) was the terrific Hobotalk. Marc Pilley and his rabble of musicians put on another great show, and are surely bound for big things this year.

Both bands are a hard act to follow, but Villalobos rose to the challenge. Accompanied by guitarist David Dyas she ripped into her new album ‘Miles Away’ but it wasn’t till some old faves from ‘Rock n Roll Pony’ appeared that the crowd got really into it. She built up a great rapport with everyone, and opened the stage for possibly the first tattoo contest G2 has seen. The prize of a CD went to a guy with around 20 lines of text tattooed on his torso, probably bomb making instructions but he certainly knocked my henna tat of  Leo Sayer riding a unicorn into a cocked hat. Contest over, Gina resumed and only the miserable management of G2 prevented a second encore, though she had run 20mins over curfew time. Highlight was her version of Karl Wallinger’s ‘Message in a Box’, but the whole set was pretty special. It will be interesting to see where Gina is playing a year from now.

DB Cooper

Heading out midweek can be a nightmare when you are skint but fortunately
Lambert's giro came through, so we arsed a bottle of Supersonic and headed
to the ABC to see Todd Snider.

The night started off badly, as we went to take our seats on the raised area
at the back and I fell down a little step and spilled my beer everywhere. I
think my dignity landed on the floor beside it. My embarrassment was short lived
though as several other punters made the same mistake as me and fell arse over tit!
Quality!
First up were support act 'The Believers'. This Nashville based duo used to
Tour with a full band but decided to leave them at home as they were rather badly
behaved on their last tour. So the set was stripped back to the bare bones.
Guitars, mandolins and singers Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini. They stuck
mainly to songs from their latest album 'Crashertown' and the lack of
backing band did not detract from form quality of their songs. The stand out song
for me was 'Get started'. A crackin' little Texas swing number, which is guaranteed
to have you smiling, singing and dancin' around in your scants as you prepare
for a night on the tiles. Anyway......

I'd been praying Todd Snider would play here for a while now, as his latest
album East Nashville skyline' has rarely been off my stereo since last
summer. He strolled casually onto the stage to rapturous applause. A tall, geeky
looking chap in bare feet and wearing the best waistcoat I've seen since the snooker
tournaments at the YMCA in the 80's.
Todd Snider is an excellent, witty and observant song writer. His between
Song banter as funny as each of his songs. A definite all round entertainer.
He started his set with 'Age like wine'. This is the opener on 'East
Nashville skyline'. I've only been in to this guy since last summer, so only
Recognized the songs from his latest release, although many of the people in the crowd
Were familiar with the other songs he played. He's been touring for the past 16
Years and his wealth of experience certainly shows throughout his well crafted
songs.Fights, drink, drugs and general excess seemed to be the recurring theme throughout his set.
Sounded very much like one of me and Lamberts nights out in Shawlands.

All in all, a great evening's entertainment. Just hope both Snider and The Believers get their
Asses back to Glasgow and entertain us again before much longer

Waldo Lafayette

A star studded crowd turned out to see The Walkmen at ABC2. I say star studded, I mean Dominik Diamond. This could have been awkward as there has been bad blood between DD and me for years. I wrote to Gamesmaster asking ‘why can’t I get the pizza power up in Super Mario?’ and the Diamond said, on air, it was because of my small penis. Still it was nicer to see him than the squad of bams who thought this was a Celtic match. Well I say nicer…

Anyone who seen The Walkmen at Tuts a few years back knows their live show is sensational. Perhaps The National is a similar band but The Walkmen are more full on than Berninger’s boys. And whilst Berninger sometimes breaks into unrestrained hollering, Hamilton Leithauser rarely avoids it. He must have a monster supply of lozenges to keep that voice going every night. On a 3 date UK tour to promote ‘A Hundred Miles Off’, The Walkmen set the ABC alight tonight. New songs ‘Louisiana’ and ‘Lost in Boston’ sounded great alongside the ‘Bows+Arrows’ favourites ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and the almighty ‘The Rat’, though my favourite was ‘Thinking of a Dream I Had’. Unfortunately no room for the Modern Lovers ‘Into the Mystery’ this time around.

A Hundred Miles Off is out later in the month; hopefully The Walkmen will be back later in the year.

 Benston Smithy

Crooked Rain’s wanderlust has taken us to many remote places. Knockengorroch, and Darvel for example, even Coatbridge once (shudder) but we really pushed the boat out this time and struck a bearing of North West, direction Ullapool.

Ullapool is a strange place, you can see 3 guys standing at a bar and one will be dressed like Wyatt Earp, one like Tam Weir and one like 50 Cent. I think I seen 50 haircuts, with styles from late sixties to early eighties (says me with the flattop) It’s so far north the road signs are displayed in Gaelic, though as my old teacher said how can you trust a language that has a word for incest but not computer? Fashion and language aside one thing is for certain, the locals’ love a bit of music and Ullapool was the ideal place for the inaugural Easter West fest.

We pitched the tent, then pitched up at the Caley Hotel’s bar. Just in time to see local outfit The Dysfunktionals, play a very good set. Blending fiddles and pipes with funk driven rock, these young boys sounded like apprentice Peatbog Faeries, which is no bad thing. Judging by the amount of blonde groupies hanging around, these scamps are already local celebrities, but they should be wary of a life of excess. We spotted a few of them looking ‘tired and emotional’ (and steaming) on a back road around 3AM. The Crooked Rain Scout badge for cider drinking is in the post lads.

Next up was Joy Lynn White, fresh in from Nashville. When I say fresh, I mean jet lagged. However this did not stop her putting on a fine show, showing off her album ‘One More Time’ She has a great voice and was well backed up by her band, despite tonight being the first time they had played together. Which is quite something because Simply Red played together for years and they always sounded shit. Her guitar player is Walter Egan, who not only hit number 1 in Belgium, but also wrote ‘Hearts on Fire’ for Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Walter and Joy Lynn’s cover (?) of this was the highlight of a quality performance. A brisk walk later and we were in the Arch Inn, in time to catch Jeff & Vida’s performance. This duo plays some terrific music. Mixing bluegrass and country they fired off a good selection from their current album ‘Loaded’.  Vida’s singing was excellent and Jeff was a sight to behold with some truly outstanding banjo and mandolin work. We hitched a ride out to the festival club for the sole intention of late night drinking, but we were also entertained by a yank called Peter Lang. When Peter took the stage I thought ‘what is this?’ A senior citizen dressed in leisure wear and a fair few stone overweight, Peter produced some of the most delicate yet intense guitar playing I’ve heard. His gruff singing voice was fantastic too; especially on ‘None of Your Damn Business’ that to the pleb’s ear (mine) was recognised as the ‘Crisp ‘n Dry’ advert. Peter was a real surprise, a real delight and a great way to round off the night.

 

Saturday morning was not a good morning, for a few reasons. Driving rain, howling wind and banging sore head were just a few of them. But despite all that, and the worst nights sleep since Belladrum, I hauled my fat ass off to the Caley Hotel for the yodelling workshop. I hadn’t yodelled since the time a young (er) Kelly Cooper Barr hoofed me in the haw maws. She was working at Greggs in Wishaw when I did the old ‘do you have a cold pie?’ routine. Never again readers. However, some organisational hiccups led to the workshop being blown out and the yodel was denied. I’m still bitter about it. There was still plenty to do and after browsing the overpriced camping shop we rolled up to the Morefield Hotel for an old time session by The Federals. Caught up with Lemmy from The Sundowns in the bar, and he gave us a lift back in the band bus. I opened the door and waited on the piles of beer cans, scud books and other ‘paraphernalia’ spilling out, but it was cleaner than most hospital wards. A tad disappointing, don’t they realise they have an image to uphold?

Later on that night we seen Lemmy and co put on another fine show in the Seaforth Hotel. They closed with a new number, ’11:15’ which was a real cracker. Sounding to me Willy Vlautin-esque, lead man Keith Benzie explained it was inspired by a Drive By Truckers disaster song. Can’t wait to hear it on record. The Sundowns were accompanied on this northern tour by Hobotalk, one of Scotland’s most talked about bands. Marc Pilley is an excellent songwriter and the album ‘Notes On Sunset’ is a cracker. Perhaps the Seaforth was a touch raucous for the Hobo’s mid paced melodies but those who paid attention seen a great set from a band en route to big things.

Another ‘canny shank’ (which means something different in Glasgow) up to the festival club beckoned, and we were in time for the ‘Culture Clash’ of Rise Kagona and Champion Doug Veitch. I haven’t a clue what Rise was singing about, but it sure was sweet sounding. These boys are playing around the country now, so look out for them.

Sunday dawned with weather changing every few minutes or so. Ullapool is a stunning location and it looks best just before the rain pours. And you never have to wait long for that. The festival culminated tonight with a full set by the Culture Clash boys, but Crooked Rain was long gone by then. Were we missing the refined atmosphere of Govan’s wine bars, or the ‘all you can eat’ at the Swiss Chinese restaurant? No, we just wanted to check the junkies next door hadn’t broken in.

 

 

 

 

 

 Beautyshop’s album Yardsale is one of my favourites this year so I was hoping they would live up to this promise live and they did, even making it worthwhile sitting through some spectacularly shite local support.
    The most distinctive thing about the album is singer John Hoffleur’s gravelly baritone which, we’re  pleased to report ladies, translates into a very sexy speaking voice. Live, his voice is just as rich and is especially effective on the slower numbers like Paper Hearts For Josie, a definite highlight.
    The band veer between slower Americana type numbers like A desperate cry for help  and rockier songs such as Baby shaker and Rumplestiltskin Lives propelled by Ariane Peralta’s stonking pixies-esque basslines.
    Although many of the songs seem to deal with disappointment, depression   and life’s more negative  side the band are far from miserablists on stage. Hoffleur has a fine stage presence and a nice line in gentle banter and at times bears a spooky resemblance to Jack Black in School of Rock! The small but appreciative crowd lapped them up and hopefully they’ll be back in Glasgow before too long.
Fanny Golightly and The Ginger Ninja 

After sticking it to The Man for more than 12 months you’d have thought that Benston and Lambert would have their music radars so finely tuned that it hurts, and no gig worth its salt would slip by them unnoticed. Au contraire readers, au contraire – no sooner was Jenny Lewis’s Glasgow gig announced it was sold out, leaving the boys high and dry. What a slip up. Fear not though – a quick call to yours truly and a ticket for Jenny at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire was secured. And get it right up ye bawbags, you missed a belter.

There was no grand procession to the stage during the first number Run Devil Run, as there has been in previous gigs, with proceedings just starting in the usual fashion of the protagonists (that’s stars to you Benston) entering stage left. For the fashionistas out there, the impossibly tall Watson twins were both in slinky black numbers and Lewis was sporting a frock that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Mary in Little House on the Prairie (before she went blind and married Almanzo of course). In front of a very receptive audience the trio, ably assisted by Jonathan Rice (also the support act), Wurlitzer Dave, drummer Jason and someone who’s name I didn’t catch, then rattled through most of the fabulous numbers on Rabbit Fur Coat and a few new songs, including one of the highlights of the evening, Jack Killed Mom. It was the last night of the tour and Lewis in particular seemed to be relaxed and enjoying herself. Probably just grateful she was about to leave the country without the torture of an interview with Benston. Maybe she took a few tips in that department from Nina Persson. By the time it got to the encores the place was rocking, and the three final songs really topped it off – first Lewis on her own with It Wasn’t Me then joined by the Twins for a cover of The Shirelles I Met Him on a Sunday and finally a full-blown tub-thumping cover of the Grateful Dead’s revivalist classic Cold Jordan. The only stain on a perfect evening was having to fork over a staggering £3.40 for a can of Carling. Expect my expenses soon boys.

Evil Edna

When you’ve been in this game as long as I have (12 months) you learn to take the rough with the smooth. But tonight was hard to accept. Thanks to a mix up and an employer who insists I work instead of surfing the net all day, I blew an interview with the Cardigans. Arriving several hours too late (and several dollars short) I was denied the opportunity to brighten Nina Persson’s day with my coy, yet smouldering, flirting. The only consolation is that she is on a tour bus saying ‘Benston, Benston, wherefore art thou Benston?’ A marshmallow bus on a liquorice road.
Sorry about that, on with the show.
It had been said to me before the show the cardigans are on the wane.  I agree they aren’t in the limelight as much as the ‘Gran Turismo’ phase, but tonight’s performance waxed more than it waned. Persson is often the focus of the cardigans, but that does a disservice to a fine band. Especially bassist and Righteous Boy Magnus Sveningson whose scary looks were softened slightly by his flamenco-esque handclaps. On ‘Hanging Around’ the whole band cut loose, rawk and roll style and was my highlight of the gig.  Persson still cuts a swathe as front woman however. During ‘I Need Some Fine Wine...’ I was ready to ‘Sit!’ when she commanded, like the ‘bad dog’ I am!
‘Don’ Blame Your Daughter’, ‘Erase/Rewind’ and closing number ‘Your Favourite Game’ all rocked the shit. Did the gig make up for losing the interview? No chance, but it did lessen the sting.

Benston Smithy