This was the first of a few gigs that the band had lined up over the weekend which saw the launch of the album The Long Haul, the 2nd in the series, so far. The title is a description of the band's recent history and, as lead singer Keith Benzie explained at one point, the album is the culmination of a long, hard and arduous journey to get to where they are today i.e. at a point where they sell out their home town gig in Edinburgh.
 |
| Johnny Smillie & Monica Queen |
But first, a quick mention of the support act Monica Queen and Johnny
Smillie. These two, both co-founders of the band Thrum, who were part of the indie scene
in Glasgow in the 1990s, were an interesting and intriguing presence on stage. Johnny sat his thin lanky
frame on a chair and seemed to shrink behind an oversized baseball cap and
acoustic guitar whilst Monica stood resplendent in a black dress, vibrant red
lipstick and ankle socks with black (sensible!) shoes, oh, and sunglasses! He
looked like a Midwestern gasoline pump attendant and she reminded me of that other great Glasgow elfin, pop-pixie Claire Grogan! As I said a strange and fascinating presence.
 |
| Johnny Smillie |
 |
| Monica Queen |
Some of Johnny's guitar and harmonica playing reminded me of Steve
Forbert circa his Alive on Arrival era and was excellently welded onto Monica's singing. She sang some great vocals in her
very crisp, clear & distinctive voice whilst gesticulating with both arms or alternatively
standing still, hands in pockets or gripping the mic stand, as if to emphasise the lyrics of a particular
song. And what of the songs? Well, they played a relatively short set with some
great tunes including I'm Sorry Darling, Tear Behind My Smile, The 260 (about a
bus ride to Coatbridge) and the mournful final song One Room House. Having bought the duo's album and given it several listens, I would urge you to check out Ten Sorrowful Mysteries if peaceful, tuneful, melodic music is what 'floats your boat'.
 |
| 'The Badge' |
So back to the main event, the album launch gig for The Long Haul, the 2nd album by the Edinburgh band The Wynntown Marshals. If any of you have been a regular visitor to my music blogs then you may know that I first encountered the band back in May this
year when they supported Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express (see review of
01 May 2013). I was so impressed with what I saw and heard that night that I
bought their recorded output to date i.e. The Wynntown Marshals (an EP from 2008),
Westerner (2010) and a pre-release copy of The Long Haul and have been
listening to these albums regularly since. Possibly because of the new, settled
line up, the latest album has a maturity about it that has allowed the band to
write some great songs, many of which were performed at the gig. Whether or not
it is intentional to come over as an American band I can't say but that is what
they sound like to me. That is no bad thing as that is the home to the style of
music they play, rocking Americana / alt. country. As was reported by Andrea Mullaney in the Scotsman review of this very same gig, the
band had embraced 'Americana' in its many guises, not least lyrically
and "their debut CD, Westerner, stuck to the classic Americana
sound – going back to The Eagles and drawing comparisons with The
Jayhawks". Indeed, the band also acknowledge other influences on their
great web site, namely Tom Petty, Wilco, Drive-By Truckers, Ryan Adams &
Neil Young. To which I would add traces of The Gaslight Anthem and The
Hold Steady! So there is a pretty good musical basis for what these guys sing
and perform.
 |
| Keith Benzie |
On the night they kicked things off with the album opener the wonderful
Driveaway. This song is pure Americana with its road story lyrics and
instrumentalisation and Keith Benzie even forgoes his local accent to sing in
an American style, just seven words in and he wraps a cloak of linguistic
disguise around the word "twenties" and New Jersey is pronounced like
a neighbour of Springsteen's would say it! However, songs like The Submariner (not aired on the night), Low Country
Comedown and Canada sound more rooted in Scotland, dealing as they do with the
various aspects of loss / separation as seen from these shores. The Submariner, written about unresolved love and the loss of a friend
has the very poignant lyrics:
I still fear the day that you’ll return / To steal her away from me
/ I hope you found what you were looking for / At the
bottom of the sea
Whilst this verse from Low Country Comedown, a road song of a different
kind (returning from touring the Low Countries - Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg) includes the following:
This is a low country comedown / Now I'm back in the arms of
the ones I love / This is a low country comedown / 5 days
away from you is sometimes too much / It's been so good to see you
this time
 |
| The Wynntown Marshals |
Incidentally, these songs were performed to perfection on the night
although sadly the vocal mix was pretty dire (merely an observation as in a
larger, better kitted out venue I have no doubt that it too would have been
spot on!) These quaint old dungeonesque Victorian basements provide a great, sweaty, intimate,
intense and exhilarating experience but were sadly not really designed with acoustics
in mind! Talking of sweaty, the heat in Broadcast on the night was racked up to
the point of endurance, especially for the lads on stage. By half way through
their set the backs of their shirts looked like Rorschach test
marks! Indeed, it was so hot up on stage that Keith was moved to say that
even the Tenants larger tasted good and big Murdoch was drenching his towel with every mop of his brow!
The band played a great tight set and many of the lead guitar solos were
excellent, Iain Sloan should be pleased with his work on the night, his
concentration and natural flair shone through on many songs, but stand outs for
me were Driveaway, Crashing (Like The Reds), Two's Company and Tide. It was on
this last number, the one before a short break, that Iain, Keith and Murdoch
(or is it James Cosmo?!) all combined together to work up a wonderful guitar
trash workout that had me thinking back to some early Neil Young & Crazy Horse stuff, yeah it was that good, I just wished it had lasted longer!
 |
| Murdoch MacLeod |
I would also like to make a special mention of Murdoch MacLeod. This man
commands the stage like a colossus and his sensual caressing on the slower
numbers of his 4 string Fender Squire had my companion commenting that she
wished that she was a bass guitar! This band is not about personalities, it
seems to be more about the music, however, this guy is an eye catching presence
placed as he was between the lead vocal and guitar.
 |
| Kenny McCabe |
The drumming was fresh and rhythmical and Kenny McCabe must have lost a
couple of pounds, cooped up as he was at the back of the stage! However, he
stuck to his task and kept the beat pounding along with precision and gusto. Then finally, in this 'name check' section, we had Richie Noble on
keyboards (the newest band member with a Borussia Dortmund scarf ambiguously draped over his
monitor!). I felt his contributions were fantastic, especially during the final number, the slow, smooth country song Change Of Heart. Subtle, unimposing and
fluid, his playing added a great dimension to the overall sound. All that was
missing was a pedal steel player, but Richie had most of that department
covered!
 |
| Richie Noble |
Then after a raucous and rollicking rendition of Tide, a monumental number to close on, the band left the
stage but we were shortly thereafter treated to a two song encore. The first
song was the great cover version the band do of the LA Guns song Ballad Of
Jayne and then they wound things up fittingly with Change Of Heart which is
also the longest and last song on the new album and includes the line
"Life's a journey and this is the long haul".
 |
| Iain Sloan |
So, after a relatively short haul, we had been treated to some great songs and some wonderful musicianship in the form of The Long Haul the new album and we had been treated to all but two of the songs off the album. Thus ended another fine night of live music in Glasgow and my thanks to all who made it possible, cheers.
Set List
Driveaway (The Long Haul)
You Cab Have My Heart (Westerner)
Crashing (Like The Reds) (The Long Haul)
Different Drug (The Wynntown Marshals)
Whatever It Takes (The Long Haul)
Thunder In The Valley (Westerner)
Two's Company (Westerner)
North Atlantic Soul (The Long Haul)
Canada (The Long Haul)
All That I Want (Westerner)
Low Country Comedown (The Long Haul)
Tide (The Long Haul)
Encore
Ballad of Jayne (Westerner)
Change Of Heart (The Long Haul)
