Tuesday, February 22, 2005
A Rant
Student sent a bloke to Glasgow to review a gig by a band, or perhaps person, i don't know, called Hood. the paper's intrepid reviewer turns up late, blaming the fact that the venue (stereo) was "in the middle of nowhere" and because "Watching a newly released RomCom at the UGC is obviously way more important." He then reviews the support band but doesn't bother to find out their name - so we could all rush out and see them and not know about it, the review is scathing, but who is he slagging off? I dunno, could be these guys on tonight at venue x or y. He then leaves before the headline act because he has a train to catch. And this is a review? does my head in. All quotes taken from Student, dated 22/2/05, page 15
Art Brut. Edinburgh Wee Red Bar, Monday 21st February
The Art College's tiny Wee Red Bar (predominately blue in colour) is our venue for tonight, and does really have a stage so much as a line where the carpet stops. During St Jude's Infirmary's set, the crowd illogically observe that line and stand behind it. Not that they are offered much to get excited about (With the exception of the big, hairy dancing man at the front) as St Jude's, a great band, muddle through a frustratingly sloppy set of indistinct vocals and feedback. Once or twice they do get it right, as on set highlight 'The Church of John Coltrane' but all to often the spark is absent, 2/5.
A quick turnaround and then out come touring support band proper, The Chalets. Rubbish name, but this Irish indie 5 piece are tight and well set-up, doing interesting things with keyboards and xylophone, and prerequisite crunchy guitar and bass. Brilliant stuff, despite their fear that it was 'a bit sloppy.' They're up for a meteor award apparently, according to their website (www.thechalets.com) (and while we're at it, www.saintjudesinfirmary.co.uk and http://artbrut.nikkidido.com) but I've never heard of the Meteor awards, so I suppose it to be some sort of Irish thing, and also bemoan the lack of any biographical details on said website, so I can only say that the work of the guitarist was excellent and that the woman with the smaller keyboard (and xylophone) coaxed some brilliant effects out of it. 4/5.
A scat 15 minutes later Art Brut take to the stage, and before they even play a note you realise just what a group they are. One guitarist resembles a NOFX reject, the other looks like an accountant, they have a rock chick bassist and the drummer, who looks like Sting c. 1979, plays the entire set standing up. The line up is completed by the singer (Eddie Argos - thank you nme.com) who stole his look from the M&S St Michael spring 1974 collection catalogue and stroll on to rapturous applause, the crowd having edged forwards to just shy of the monitors during The Chalets' set and the band rip through their 40 minute set with ferocious energy which gets dancing man very excited indeed. Set higfhlights are anthem for the musically bereft 'Formed A Band,' joyously bashed out, 'Bad Weekend' and the last song about Top of the Pops whose name iI didn't catch as Eddie panted it out, leaping around with a visable belly and mad gleam in his eyes. Security guards had been involved earlier, seeminly to get Eddie out of the crowd and back on stage. No encore and that's the way it should be, the last 4 songs without pauses inbetween, driven on by the unrelenting energy as accountant guitarist attacks his plank and Eddie stands on a chair, and jabs a pointing finger at the audience. exillarating. 4/5
A quick turnaround and then out come touring support band proper, The Chalets. Rubbish name, but this Irish indie 5 piece are tight and well set-up, doing interesting things with keyboards and xylophone, and prerequisite crunchy guitar and bass. Brilliant stuff, despite their fear that it was 'a bit sloppy.' They're up for a meteor award apparently, according to their website (www.thechalets.com) (and while we're at it, www.saintjudesinfirmary.co.uk and http://artbrut.nikkidido.com) but I've never heard of the Meteor awards, so I suppose it to be some sort of Irish thing, and also bemoan the lack of any biographical details on said website, so I can only say that the work of the guitarist was excellent and that the woman with the smaller keyboard (and xylophone) coaxed some brilliant effects out of it. 4/5.
A scat 15 minutes later Art Brut take to the stage, and before they even play a note you realise just what a group they are. One guitarist resembles a NOFX reject, the other looks like an accountant, they have a rock chick bassist and the drummer, who looks like Sting c. 1979, plays the entire set standing up. The line up is completed by the singer (Eddie Argos - thank you nme.com) who stole his look from the M&S St Michael spring 1974 collection catalogue and stroll on to rapturous applause, the crowd having edged forwards to just shy of the monitors during The Chalets' set and the band rip through their 40 minute set with ferocious energy which gets dancing man very excited indeed. Set higfhlights are anthem for the musically bereft 'Formed A Band,' joyously bashed out, 'Bad Weekend' and the last song about Top of the Pops whose name iI didn't catch as Eddie panted it out, leaping around with a visable belly and mad gleam in his eyes. Security guards had been involved earlier, seeminly to get Eddie out of the crowd and back on stage. No encore and that's the way it should be, the last 4 songs without pauses inbetween, driven on by the unrelenting energy as accountant guitarist attacks his plank and Eddie stands on a chair, and jabs a pointing finger at the audience. exillarating. 4/5
Friday, February 18, 2005
The Dresden Dolls, Edinburgh The Venue, Thursday 17th February
Impressions from last night: Brian's own sweat rising off the drums as hit beat them, Amanda's feral sexual stare, shaking Brian's hand and blabbering about how amazing it all was, Amanda waving a beer bvottle at the front of the stage belting out 'Amsterdam,' and some fantastic, fantastic music
***
Support Gisli (and his "bunch of ladyboys") starts off fantastically with his own take on white Icelandic hiphop, with electronic beepery and an insane bass solo. After the first three songs however it becomes apparent that all his songs are about the same thing, use about the same chords and sound, well, about the same. "This is a song about my love life," he announces after forthcoming single, and set lowpoint 'The Day it All Went Wrong,' "it's called 'Straight to Hell.'" Ok so he's lonely. That said, album title track 'How About That?' is a cracker.
The crowd hustles towards the front as Gisli dismantles his drumset and the fairground atmosphere from the queue outside is back, complete with bass-heavy rap music, someone struggling manfull against it with a wooden whistle, glittergirl showering glitter and an odd sideshow involving a heavily bandaged wheelchair bound accordianist being wheeled around the venue by a 1930s Berlin whore, dressed like The Dolls' Amanda.
The roar is deafening as The Dresden Dolls stomp onto the stage and tear into 'Good Day,' Brian's drumming one part theatre to two parts punk, all facial expressions, cybals and deafening bangs as he beats the skins incredibly hard, Amanda pounding the keyboard with almost as much force as given to the drumming, her kohled eyes staring out of her whited up face with tremendous intensity. The depth and range of the music they produce belies their number, as they manage to convince you there are at least another 2 musicians contributing. Their set comprises of equal parts material from their debut album and songs from the import-only 'A is for Accident' live recordings, with a few new songs and two amazing covers - a piano and drums 'War Pigs' which maintains the heaviness of the original; and a lusty guitar, vocal and handclap rendition of Jaques Brel's 'Amsterdam' - thrown in. It's all over far too soon and the merchandise queue is so long the bouncers have to tell everyuone to hurry up- they're closing. More's the pity.
Oh dear, only three reviews in and already I have to give this 6/5
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Fickle Public - Bannerman's, Wed 16th Feb
"We have some stuff to sell, but I don't know where it is"
Singer/guitarist Al Ferguson's remark reminds us firmly that we're back in Edinburgh's premiere firetrap toilet venue, Bannerman's Underworld.
But it's busy tonight and as the guitarists either side the stage throw alarmingly similar shapes and play almost exclusively the same notes, I can't help but wonder if Fickle have invented stereovisual rocknroll. Leaping around, their too-brief, thirtyfive-minute set rocks hard and is clearly appreciated by the crowd crushed into this tiny cellar. It's clear that Fickle Public are a band of short attention spans, pounding out riff after unrelated riff one on top of the other, seemingly at the whim of the visibly perspiring drummer behind the gaffertaped bass drum. And yet the guitar attack's eerie symmetry proves this to be not the case, they are in fact ferociously tight and powerful and playfully messing with rhythm and timing to disconcert the odd headbanger. It's all done with precision though and it helps to elevate their sound above the solid plod available in countless pubs, bedrooms and garages throughout Edinburgh. The overall effect rocks although the vocals aren't so clear, but whether this is bad set up or the devastation to my hearing caused by the ferocious, crunchy guitars, I'll never know 3.5/5
Singer/guitarist Al Ferguson's remark reminds us firmly that we're back in Edinburgh's premiere firetrap toilet venue, Bannerman's Underworld.
But it's busy tonight and as the guitarists either side the stage throw alarmingly similar shapes and play almost exclusively the same notes, I can't help but wonder if Fickle have invented stereovisual rocknroll. Leaping around, their too-brief, thirtyfive-minute set rocks hard and is clearly appreciated by the crowd crushed into this tiny cellar. It's clear that Fickle Public are a band of short attention spans, pounding out riff after unrelated riff one on top of the other, seemingly at the whim of the visibly perspiring drummer behind the gaffertaped bass drum. And yet the guitar attack's eerie symmetry proves this to be not the case, they are in fact ferociously tight and powerful and playfully messing with rhythm and timing to disconcert the odd headbanger. It's all done with precision though and it helps to elevate their sound above the solid plod available in countless pubs, bedrooms and garages throughout Edinburgh. The overall effect rocks although the vocals aren't so clear, but whether this is bad set up or the devastation to my hearing caused by the ferocious, crunchy guitars, I'll never know 3.5/5
Saturday, February 12, 2005
hmmm
the timing on these posts is all over the shop- can't work out why. oh well. i'm gonna stick on this hitcounter the now, just for kicks, like
The Jazz band at The Left Bank, Friday nights
Not a proper review as such but I'm just back from there and these guys are amazing! It's tucked away on Guthrie Street off the Cowgate and although the drinks are expensive its still worth going dowen there
Intro
Evening All
I set this up using a flatmate's computer on a whim because I don't always, or even often, agree with the student paper's gig reviews. But thanks to the miracle of the internet, I don't have to. Whether anyone will read mine however, remains to be seen. ah well, here goes nothing...
I set this up using a flatmate's computer on a whim because I don't always, or even often, agree with the student paper's gig reviews. But thanks to the miracle of the internet, I don't have to. Whether anyone will read mine however, remains to be seen. ah well, here goes nothing...
Friday, February 11, 2005
The Delgados - 1st February 2005, Queens Hall
The grand but intimate setting of The Queen's Hall is our venue tonight. Despite claiming on its literature to be "The HQ of live music" the QH is terribly underused for this kind of performance, more used to string quartets and the like. This is a pity. As the floor and balcony pack out the overall impression is of a band on at a friend's house, albeit a friend who is a minor member of the aristocracy who is none too fussy about whom he invites as guests.
Support band My Latest Novel play gentle and almost ethereal little tunes, but their moments of beauty are undercut by the singer's inpenetrably thick scottish accent. Good stuff all told but the crowd are tolerant rather than enthusiastic.
Enthusiastic they get however as The Delgados wander out onto the strains of Nancy and Lee's 'Some Velvet Morning.' The Chnemikal Underground lynchpins have become almost indie gods and are clearly and visibly chuffed about it. From the first it is evident that the band are among friends here, with inbetween song patter in abundance, mostly concerning the football game running concurrent with tonight's gig. And sure, they occaisionably duff things up, they laugh, we laugh, it doesn't matter.
And it really doesn't. because shining through the glitches and the joshing is some fantastically good indie pop. The band switch easily between guitar-based tracks from latest album Universal Audio to earlier, string-laden work, with real strings, and even to some acoustic versions of their songs easily. Above all, they had as much fun as the crowd tonight, which was a lot 5/5
Support band My Latest Novel play gentle and almost ethereal little tunes, but their moments of beauty are undercut by the singer's inpenetrably thick scottish accent. Good stuff all told but the crowd are tolerant rather than enthusiastic.
Enthusiastic they get however as The Delgados wander out onto the strains of Nancy and Lee's 'Some Velvet Morning.' The Chnemikal Underground lynchpins have become almost indie gods and are clearly and visibly chuffed about it. From the first it is evident that the band are among friends here, with inbetween song patter in abundance, mostly concerning the football game running concurrent with tonight's gig. And sure, they occaisionably duff things up, they laugh, we laugh, it doesn't matter.
And it really doesn't. because shining through the glitches and the joshing is some fantastically good indie pop. The band switch easily between guitar-based tracks from latest album Universal Audio to earlier, string-laden work, with real strings, and even to some acoustic versions of their songs easily. Above all, they had as much fun as the crowd tonight, which was a lot 5/5
