Carnivores supporting Penguins Kill Polar Bears

Captain's Rest 29.05.11

Sunday night on a bank holiday weekend. Lets face it. We’re all a bit knackered.

However, the Sunday of the Penguins Kill Polar Bears and Carnivores gig was one I had been looking forward to since the posters started appearing around Glasgow.

Having had a minor love affair with Penguin’s first EP, Dawn, when it came out last year, and seeing Carnivores perform on Detour’s videos on some very winedy stairs had me suitably excited for this gig.

After Kenny, the lead singer and guitarist from the Carnivores, very politely asked the audience of The Captain’s Rest to shuffle forward, they broke beautifully into Truth followed by Laughing at You.

I say beautifully, what I really mean is crashing and banging. It was beautiful to my sleepy little ears; any thoughts of being knackered were suitably reverberated out of the audiences system whether they liked it or not.

 “It’s good to be back,” explained Kenny, amidst heckling the audience about their lack of participation between songs, which was entirely justified; I put my hands up, out banter was appaulling.

However, they debuted their new song, which had the longest title in the world and I have to admit I only caught the first two words, “Positive Mental……(something-or-other-thingmy-thing) but it went down a storm with the audience.

It’s that ability to make a listener sit up and listen, to grab them by the ears and shake them until they’re suitably finished with you that make the Carnivores.

This was again demonstrated with their other new song, Scottish Football. It’s about “not taking sides with either of them cause they’re all idiots,” as Kenny so perfectly put it. But it’s poignant lyrics and suitably harsh and crashing accompanying noise addressed the issue perfectly.

I only wish there had been a stronger crowd to accompany this strong participator in the Scottish music scene. Oh well, all the more to look forward to when seeing them at T in the Park next month. They have the potential to rock that tent out of its pegs (and I’m very much looking forward to witnessing it!).

“Stick around for Penguins cause they’re loud and they’re awesome, which is one and the same thing.” Well said, Kenny, I couldn’t have put it better.

Penguins Kill Polar Bears Review to follow...

People, Places, Maps

King Tuts, 28.04.11 

There was one gig in particular last month that I do not want to go without mentioning.

 People, Places, Maps, the Dumfermline six-piece, whipped up so much excitement at their support slot for Polarsets that it would be rude not to whip up some excitement about them.

The boys released a free EP in May last year, which neither of their first two tracks of the set were from; I think this is just a testimony to the strength of their new material.

They opened up with Pyromaniac, with Ryan’s fiery vocals powerfully storming over the audience, then seamlessly, between a substantial amount of cheering and whooping from the audience, headed into I get so cold I get nervous.

Like all good bands that you can bop along to, their upbeat tempo and sing-a-long lyrics work so well together, as do the band; togetherness is an attribute that is not highly praised enough.

However, don’t let these boys fool you; they may masquerade in the pop-ier side of the rock and folk scene, but their storytelling capabilities are far beyond the chart-tastic lyrics of modern pop music.

Going from their newer tracks, into the first song off of their free EP mentioned earlier, Plans received some serious crowd participation. It was also the first time that the band looked like they were relaxing into their set. Somewhere between being three songs in and having a crowd singing a song back to them, there was space for some smiles and ecstatic glances to be shot between the boys.

Maintaining the happy balance between the new and the old, the boys went straight back into their newer tracks, Bury your head, and In real life, which again show cased a happy progression and growth from their original EP.

Taking down the pace a bit for Hotel Room, another perfected pop number off their first EP, there was mutual enthusiasm from the band and the audience, meeting in the middle for the perfect crowd singing to band harmonising ratio.

Their penultimate song, Deconstruct the familiar again let the audience see where the band are going with their new material. Slightly more rocky and folky compared to the pop based material of their previous record, but clearly developing their skills for writing strong yet understated music and wonderfully engaging, story-telling lyrics.

It also gave them time to beam about their debut album. Being recorded primarily at Old Mill Recording Studios with Marshall Craigmyle, the boys had a lovely on stage debate about when it is going to be released (July or August, we’ll need to wait and see!) but it was lovely to see the sheer excitement they had about it. None of this ‘too cool for school’ business, just raw boy-ish exhilaration about something they’ve clearly worked exceptionally hard for.

The final lyric of their final song, Splinter I think just topped it off perfectly: “I’m not sitting there with that lot waiting for my chance to come.”

These boys clearly have enough excitement and enthusiasm to do exactly that.

They’re playing the Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh, 5^th June, P.J. Mollys Dunfermline,  14^th June supporting the La Fontaines, and The Flying Duck Glasgow, on the 18^th June, so go along and check them out for yourself!

Back in the game!

So as you may have noticed, my blogs have been sparse this past month.

Somewhere between Uni work, post-uni-work-partying and being knocked out for two weeks with the flu, my blogs have been neglected.

I am wholly and truly sorry.

This will never happen again.

Consider me officially back in the game!

H x

Kassidy Interview

At the end of last month I was lucky enough to interview the lovely Barrie James and Hamish from Kassidy just a couple of hours before their sold out Glasgow gig- 28th April 2011 in O2 ABC. Due to publications with other sites, it's delayed going up on mine, but thought you might fancy a swatch anyway! 

What a Welcome home…

After playing thirteen headline gigs in sixteen days, selling out three of these dates and running about the country with the enthusiasm and excitement of a small kid at Christmas, Barrie-James O’Neil and Hamish Fingland did not disappoint as they burst into the dressing rooms in Glasgow’s O2 ABC. With just hours to go until they graced the stage of their sold out home town gig, they were the epitome of the confidence and determination that has lead Kassidy to the levels of success that they are achieving.  

“Everywhere we’ve played the crowds have been fantastic to us,” said Barrie with a grin on his face. “People have learnt the words to the songs, totally helping us out with the singing. It’s just a great buzz. Everybody’s coming and everybody likes it. We’re on form just now, so we’re pretty happy.”

Kicking off in Dundee before touring Scotland, driving down to England to play the likes of Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester and London, before heading back home for the Glasgow date, Barrie explained, “Dundee was the first one. We’ve started our last few tours in Dundee, pretty much because it’s the best place to start… the people there are just fantastic. We just love the banter of Dundee people. We know a lot of people in Dundee, so it’s a good place to start and Glasgow’s a good place to end it, because it’s our home town.”

Selling out their Glasgow gig five weeks in advance, as well as their dates in Dundee and Edinburgh, the guys remain down to earth about why they’re fans are so supportive in their home town.“We have no idea. All we can think of is the fact that we’re very active to anyone who follows us… who follow Kassidy on Facebook or on Twitter. We like to keep everyone informed about everything that we do. We like to make videos and we like to share our music tastes with people and we like people to share their music tastes with us. We just like to know what people think. You know, people who follow us, we want to know what’s on their mind. We’re very personal with people who follow us,” said Barrie, with Hamish jumping in to explain, “We’re really appreciative. It gives us energy.”

Kassidy are famous for their innovative use of social media to keep in touch with their fans, updating frequently and actively interacting with their fans. Recently this included a live performance via live streaming on Facebook.

Hamish explained, “We just heard about the programme and we… well everyone has Facebook, and everyone loves to get involved.  

                                                                                                          (Photo by Henry Lee)

If there’s a spell where we’re not gigging… we love to be active- if we’re not gigging and we’re not recording, we’re like “what are we meant to do? What are we meant to do?!” cause we love performing. So it was like “You know what, there’s this programme where you can do that,” and we thought, “let’s just get gigging!” So it’s good fun; we got a great reception.”

But the guys were exceptionally modest when it came to the fact that they’re not far off 10,000 fans on Facebook. “It’s amazing. It just comes out of nowhere man, we don’t know where these people come from. We don’t know how people hear about us… I’m pretty sure our friends make up fake accounts to try and help us get to the 10,000 mark,” laughed Barrie.

When asked what made the band different, the guys showed no lack in confidence over where the strength of the band lies. “We’re real, we’re honest. We’re a real band,” Hamish quickly and confidently stated. “There are not a lot of real bands anymore. We live in the same house, we write songs every day, we record ourselves… we don’t stop- ever. We’re a real band. We’re a family.”

The enthusiasm and excitement that this band has for their band and their music, is something that you cannot deny. Barrie explained, “We want to write the best songs, and we want to be happy with our own songs and our song writing and we want to play, we want to be the best live band out there. I think we’re pretty close to getting there.”

“We are close to it,” continued Hamish. “You’ll see it tonight. We are. It’s confidence. We’re doing well just now. You’d rather be hated than just be alright. So if you can be loved or hated, you’ve got to be one or the other. Who wants to be mediocre?”

Bear Arms, Directions EP

So the time has finally come for the Bear Arms boys to officially release their first EP. I have to admit it’s been a long time coming as their loud and luscious record has forcefully and speedily become a staple part of several of my playlists.

Having seen them perform live, several times and in several different locations (including The Banshee Labyrinth last week, where they suitably rocked that little dungeon out of the ground) I know these songs, and I know how they fit into a set list.

But what I really enjoyed was sitting down this evening, coffee in hand and staring out into a dark and gloomy Buchanan Street, just listening to how this EP fits beautifully together, while still giving each song space to suitably shine.

Perfect Symmetry forcefully grabs you and passionately crashes you about.  This song just emphasises how together this band are. The guitar line, the drums, the bass, the vocals; they’re all talented and perfected in their own way, but still manage to stand together strongly as a group.

Echoing and distorting into focus comes To Whom it May Concern. Not quite as forceful as Perfect Symmetry, but it gives  the listener time to focus on the lyrics and vocals that just add to the Bear Arms package; not only can they play their instruments brilliantly and effortlessly, they can also write and perform vocals and harmonies that create a distinctively different  sound to what is popular in the Scottish rock scene at the moment.

Wolves takes the tempo back up, with a rhythm that you can’t help but to nod along to. Loud and luscious I think covers its perfectly.

And then, Directions; the title song off of the EP. Take all of the positives that I’ve said about the last three songs, and bash them together- you’ll then get Directions. They showcase their talents perfectly, while still giving each element its own space to breath, giving the listener that little second to fully appreciate it before it moves onto the next.

The EP is everything that you’d want from a debut release. Strong, together and clearly derived from a whole lot of talent with equal amounts of passion.

With Perfect Symmetry on my running playlist, and Directions on my driving one, I’m excited to see where the songs off their next EP can be a theme tune for.

Their EP launch will be  at Captain’s Rest on Wednesday the 18^th of May. 

This Silent Forest & Little Fire (Supporting The Boy Who Trapped the Sun)

King Tuts Wah Wah Hut

15.04.11

The whole point in a support band, or warm up act, is to warm up the crowd- right? Pretty self explanatory. Still, it must be pretty tricky; going on stage to perform on front of a room full of people who, lets face it, aren’t their to see you, and are using this time to get their round in at the bar, catch up with their gig buddies and sneak in a pee break before the main act comes on.

Well if this was what you did at The Boy Who Trapped the Sun gig at King Tuts, then in all honesty, you lost out.

The first support act, This Silent Forest, demanded the entire room’s attention. It was almost in a reverse psychology kind of way, as their stage chat was incredibly laid back, with their dulcet Scottish tones reaching out to the audience.

This was then emphasised by the semi-acoustic, stripped back set that they performed, with Squirrel, their lead singer, explaining, “We’re a lot louder on the single. This is very different to how we normally sound.”

Even without drums and their usually incredibly full sounding musical accompaniment, the six piece still held the audience’s attention throughout their set. There was an almost vulnerability to their performance, with their echoing harmonies and beautifully story telling lyrics being entirely exposed.

Considering the band are from all across Scotland, the mix of accents and influences, including Scottish folk music as well as a healthy mix of up tempo pop music, all contribute to the band’s un-ignorable sound.

Falter Discover, and The Fight both went down particularly well and not only showed a lovely snippet of what this band are capable of, but left the audience suitably warmed up for what was to come next.

Little Fire; quite ironic as a name for a warm up act, but entirely appropriate.

I always admire solo artists, and Jamie McGeechan, aka Little Fire, as he strolled on stage and introduced himself, is no exception. To have the confidence to showcase yourself, your voice and your song writing, even with the amount of talent that he has, is something I cannot comprehend. 

He started strumming, then burst into some of the strongest vocals I’ve heard in a long time.

No wonder he’s called Little Fire; his voice is so strong, rich and powerful that I don’t think the audience had any choice but to be warmed up.

On the rockier side of the folk scene, Little Fire’s dulcet Ayrshire tones went down a storm with the audience, who, by the noise of them, where there specifically to see him play at his debut King Tuts performance. 

Fire Me Up Now, and All I Need in Life were definite crowd pleasers, with the avid fan standing behind me singing his socks off to every lyric.

I think that’s what is so great about these types of performances; the support can get such a strong crowd in and get such a strong reaction that you begin to wonder how much pressure the headline act is under to outshine their scorching hot warm up acts?

Why bother with the main performance when the warm up acts are on fire? 

Excuses, excuses!

Sorry it's been a while guys.

Alas being a post grad has finally taken its toll on my blog as well as my social life! But alas I'm back and I'm ready to blog my socks off! Expect a couple of catch ups tonight to get us back on track.

H x