Catching up on the chaos...

I’ve been absent for three months. That’s quite a long time.

I’d like to say that I’m sorry and I’ve thought about my little lost blog and the horrible neglect I’ve been putting it through on a weekly basis.

But that’s nowhere near true.

My life has been pretty mental recently.

The same week of the Dananananaykyrod gig, my last blog entry, I started my six week placement at BBC Scotland/BBC Radio1. Now that was pretty mental in itself. Working in the place where I’ve wanted to be for a very long time now, mixed in with the four or five gigs we were going to every week. Surreal doesn’t cut it. I was living the dream (albeit in my dream I would have been getting paid, but you’ve got to start somewhere right?)

Just as I was getting used to… mmm maybe not getting used to… just as I was getting my head around that, it was time for Go North.

Now Go North, for all of you who, as I was until about a month before I went, are unaware, is a big music industry festival in Inverness, where everyone who wants to be anyone in the Scottish music industry travels up to see what the ‘people’ say are going to be up and coming.

It is the oddest thing that Go North is still considered a festival. There are no tents, no outdoor stages, no camping (thank god!), no wellies and best of all… NO PORTALOOS! But don’t let them fool you, you’ll get more music squeezed into you in one night at Go North than most people would at a full weekend camping at a normal festival.

So after working all day, then falling asleep on a man in a business suit on the train up to Inverness (yes, there may have been some snuggling… and some drool… the poor man, I had to buy him a coffee when we got off the train. I’m not sure who was more embarrassed, me or him) I arrived, travel bag in hand, working my way via google maps on the old i-phone (other brands of technology are available, but I love a mac!) to a place called Madhatters… above Hootenany’s Bar. Thankfully it came up on my map, as I would have sounded like a total twat asking directions to “Hootenany’s Bar” in my posh Glaswegian accent in the highlands.

Detour Scotland, oh yeah those guys, were putting on a stage at Hootenany’s, so it seemed like a logical place to start. A wee caught a bit of Homework, who mixed up their already collaborative genre of alternative/electronic/rock/pop by wearing odd and slightly scary masks. Then me and my partner in crime headed off to The Ironworks which was literally a five minute walk, and you passed about four other venues on the way, to try and catch the last of Aerials Up. It is safe to say, we walked in as they played their last note. 

So, an hour in and we had only seen about ten minutes of live music… but it was ok, as Lightguides were just about to start in Flames, as a part of The Scottish Music Blogs Showcase. They blew me away. Literally. I was squished on front of a speaker at the front as it was that busy, and literally, I could feel the vibrations wobbling my chubby cheeks. With how much there was on offer that evening, it was great to see such a great turn out, not only for a truly talented band, but for the lads who had organised the showcase too.

Now…

This may seem that I’m rambling… which for all intensive purposes I am. But it’s for a reason.

Go North is mental. More mental than any festival I’ve ever been to. There is so much to see in a relatively small area, so you’re lured into thinking that you’re going to see everything, but alas… it’s just not possible. As you can hopefully gather from my story telling from the evening, it is just not possible, despite all good intentions, to see everything that everyone in the Scottish Music industry want to showcase in one night. There is far too much to choose from, which is NEVER a bad thing.

So after The Lightguides, and catching up with the lovely Pop Cop, we ran back to Madhatters to catch Kobi Onyame. It was my first time seeing Kobi, and my expectations were exceptionally high as everyone, and I mean EVERYONE had been raving about him. And I was not disappointed. At one point everyone in the room was jumping for no other reason that he had said so. That man knows how to work a crowd. His raw talent just demands your attention.

Running back over to Flames to see PAWS, then running back to see Bwani Junction at Madhatters. There was a lot of running about that night. Proven by the fact that Ally McCrae and myself had to run from Madhatters to the Ironworks as they had a curfew (we weren’t in Kansas anymore Toto, us city girls don’t have those sorts of things!) I say run; Ally jogged leisurely and I sprinted along side his 6”6 lanky frame.

And that was that. Go North was over for me. The festival/showcase/discussions about the industry continued on to the Friday but alas, I had other places to be…

We went straight into Rockness. I would have loved to be working at that, but alas, I was given the weekend off to party with my friends. Which I did. A lot.

I saw as much music as I could, whilst hanging with my amigos, and I paid £17 to wash my own hair in cold water and then blow dry and straighten it myself, but sometimes you just have to do these things.

So, shall we just list the bands and give one word descriptions? I had far too much fun to be reciting exactly what happened with who and what not, so here goes…

Friday: Nero- amazing, Zane Lowe- inspiring, DJ Shadow-mindblowing, Kasabian-meh, Erol Alkan- messy…

                                      

Saturday: Japanese Popstars- hungover (me not them!) Oooh! I went on the Big wheel on Saturday and saw Annie Mac- dance-inducing, Sons and Daughters- gooooood, Example- bouncy, Frightened Rabbit- amazing, Chemical Brothers- disappointing… Pan Pot- blurry…

Sunday: I slept in for The Twighlight Sad which I was gutted about, We are Scientists- rocking, The Wombats- alright, Simian Mobile Disco- awakening, Glasvegas- *blows raspberry*, Boys Noize- mental, Paolo Nutini- fireworks… literally there were fireworks, we only saw his last song.

                                       

And that has been my ramblings about just four days I had in June.

Dananananaykroyd The Ivy 03.06.11

This is not going to be a normal review.

To be fair, Dana (I feel the abbreviation in necessary as it’s very hard to keep counting my ‘na’s’) are anything but normal.

I’d never been to the Ivy before, but as I wandered in through the side entrance, I looked around and thought, “They must be playing down stairs. There’s no where near enough room up here.”

A sold out gig for an album launch of one of Glasgow’s nosiest bands (in all senses of the word noisest) on one of the hottest days of the year? I could see how this was going to go.

I’d been to one Dana gig before, when they played at Oran Mor (last year?), and literally, my t-shirt was soaked in sweat by the time I left. Between a walls of hugs and jumping about like a Duracell bunny on heat, in a room that was at least twice the size of the Ivy, and no where near sold out; I knew for a fact that tonight’s gig was going to be… sweaty. 

But sweaty in a good way.

Bronto Skylift suitably set the bar for the night; they are possibly the loudest and tightest bands out there. I really wish they had been placed second on the running order, as they totally blew the crowd away, despite some technical issues leaving Niall without vocals for a couple of songs, and Iain’s drum kit sliding away from him throughout the gig.

Crashing, banging and screaming through their set, the electricity between the crowd and the band was unexplainable. We, the audience, could see and hear that they were having technical issues, and they could see that we still loved it all the same. 

Their enthusiasm for their music was reflected perfectly in the crowd; it was beyond head bopping, it was involuntary body bopping. Iain’s spectacular drumming again is just another attribute to their music. The practice that man must put in to be that talented at his art, and art is about the only word I can use to even start to describe how he drums.

I’m not sure if it was out of being in the moment or just being pissed off at the sound, but the duo broke into the crowd at the end of their set and performed their last song on a table. You know, as you do. 

It was the dramatic craziness that tends to encapsulate Dana gigs; I think if they’d got us to do a couple of stretches pre and post set, they would have been the perfect warm up for the Dana boys.

Young Legionnaire took to the stage next and in all honesty, I wish they had gone on first. The trio delivered their post-hardcore sounds strongly, especially since they had to deal with the continuous sound problems throughout their set. But it seemed that the atmosphere dampened a wee bit after the excitement of Bronto. Those boys had the placed strummed and stuck into a frenzy, and, maybe it was substantially down to the technical problems and the fact that the audience was getting more and more packed into a very small and sweaty room, that the buzz just didn’t seem to be the same. 

However, by the time the Glaswegian six-piece, swaggered onto the stage, you could feel the excitement in the air, primarily through the body heat from the people you were squished next to. That many Dana fans crammed together on a hot night was bound to lead to an atmosphere of anticipation.

The boys were clearly raring to go. They looked adamant and ready to give us the performance that our already sweaty bodies deserved. Dana are a band who clearly love to perform. Their excitement is apparent in their recordings and is almost over powering in their live gigs.

Now why I am saying that this is not a normal review is because, normally, there would be some sort of set list slotted in amongst the paragraphs. However, again as I said before; this is not a normal review.

At a Dana gig, you do not have the opportunity to whip out your phone and start typing in a set list. Nor would you want to!

With Calum and John, who battle it out on the vocals front (Calum won this one, but I think that’s only because John’s mic was not playing the game; another technical issue of the evening) while bounding out into the audience, hugging folk and joining in with the mild moshing and manic dancing.

The gig was for the release of their album, There is a Way, following Hey Everyone. Between their albums and their live performances, you can see that they exude excitement. And it’s wonderful, refreshing and catching. I am excited by Dananananaykyrod.

And I was also exceptionally sweaty by the end of their gig. But that’s only because it was involuntary movement to jump along and dance like a loser with the rest of the crammed, sweaty and excited people in that very small room. 

Penguins Kill Polar Bears

Captain's Rest, 29.05.11

“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.

Having a support as strong as Carnivores is always risky; what if they’re better than the main act? I know, I know, the thought is terrifying. It’d be awkward for both the bands and the audience.

You will be reassured to know that Penguins Kill Polar Bears stood up to the plate and suitably established themselves as the headline act, breaking into Sandcastles, and making sure that they were not upstaged by anyone…

Apart from their super fan at the front. They were most definitely upstaged by him. I was debating about whether to mention it or not, but it really couldn’t be ignored.

I guess on one hand it’s extremely flattering for a band to have a fan know the words to each and every song, and have the enthusiasm to sing along at the top of their lungs throughout the entire set. It’s also great to see people have that sort of passion for such an up and coming band.

But at the same time, all I could think, amidst the giggles I was trying to control, was ‘I’ve paid good money to come and see Ben sing!’ So, dear super-fan, wheesht down the front next time please!

So, after asking for more vocals from the nice sound man, to which there was an audible giggle from the audience, the guys rocked on with a beautiful balance of older and newer songs.

The Captains Rest gig was the last in the guys tour for the Sapling single, and to be honest the guys looked shattered, which made it all the more impressive that they provided the audience with such a strong performance. Check out the band’s review of the tour here: http://penguinskillpolarbears.tumblr.com/

Homebound created a strong, super-fan lead sing a long from the audience, which lead perfectly into In Everything, showcasing their old record with strength and ease in equal measure.

“Are you guys alright, do you need anything on your monitors?” jested Fraser, and it was about the limits of the band/audience banter. Another downfall of the final gig of the tour being the limited chat, but at least they were honest about it, “As you can tell we don’t have much chat- it’s for the best!” You can’t begrudge them when they’ve been busy running about the country like mad men.

So wrapping up with 309, Valley and Lungs, the guys rocked it. In true hard core, rock style they powered through and gave a smashing performance. They may have been knackered but their loud and ear tingling noise suitably awoke the audience to their talent.

My ears were ringing until the end of the following day; a sheer sign of a great gig! 

Make sure you check out both Carnivores and Penguins Kill Polar Bears on Facebook and on Twitter for up to date posts on what they're up to.

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?”