Otis Gibbs @ the Admiral Bar, Glasgow. Thursday 24 October, 2013

Otis Gibbs is just one of those guys that gets 'under your skin' and gives you a pleasant itch! The fact that he is a gifted storey teller in the Harry Chapin mould, is of course, an extra attraction. Oh, and the fact that he hails from a place with an enticing name called Wanamaker (originally New Bethel), Indiana (a state with three unbelievably straight borders!) also adds colour to his personality!

My first encounter with Otis was back in 2008 when he toured as the support act to Rennie and Brett Sparks - The Handsome Family, and I have kept abreast with, and greatly enjoyed, his musical output since. So when I saw that Kevin Morris/The Fallen Angels Club were bringing him back to Glasgow, I was a 'shoe in' as we say!

I have been to one other gig in the Admiral Bar basement and that was Old Man Luedecke (see my review back on 9th May this year) and as luck would have it tonight was the same talented young man who was the support act - Al Shields!

Al, who advised us that he had come straight to the gig from his work, was wearing his usual 'pork pie' hat and played some fine electrified acoustic guitar as accompaniment to his songs. He started with a song called Bluebird (I believe) and after some minor technical gremlins, he settled into a great 30 minute set which included Losin' Sleep, Blessed By The Wind, Got It So Bad and Crying Over You. All of which were well received by an appreciative audience who had foregone the likes of Peter Gabriel (who was on at the SSE Hydro) to attend!

Al made reference to his last visit to the venue and explained that at that point he was just back to playing live music after an eight month lay off and he was far from 'on form' that night. I think he was being overly modest as he wasn't that 'off form' back then, but there was a confidence about his performance tonight that was palpable. He chose to end on a great cover of Lefty Frizzell's wonderful Saginaw Michigan (Lefty also wrote the peerless Long Black Veil) and Al left the stage to a well earned applause.

Check out Al Shields here.....

The great thing about these sorts of gigs is that whilst Al was performing on stage, Otis stood at the back and enjoyed a few songs along with the rest of us. Also, everyone in attendance was a fan in the sense that we were there to hear the songs performed live and not bask in reflected glory from being seen with or next to the 'star'! We were all 'brothers under the bridge' as Springsteen sang back in '83. No autograph hunters here, no embarrassingly posed photos with the 'band' tonight! 

And so, Otis took to the stage at 21:00 and acting as MC, he asked the audience to "put your hands together and welcome on stage, all the way from Wanamaker, Indiana, Mr Otisssss Gibbs"! We were all as one, in attendance to participate in a communal musical experience, as Otis was to say later on.

Let the show begin!

First up was Second Best from Otis' current album Harder Than Hammered Hell which got things off to a great start and it was obvious that his gravely, sonorous voice was in good form, as indeed was his guitar playing. Then we were treated to the sublime Where Only The Graves Are Real from 2010's Joe Hill's Ashes. As I said at the start, Otis has a talent for words and this song has some cracking lines in it including the acerbic:

"Where are my true friends? Where did they go? God dam all of my fake friends, the ones who cling to me like I'm a star. Everyone's your best friend when you're closing down the bars, god bless the ones who really are"

Mr Gibbs, who has been likened to Woody Guthrie, Steve Earle or Nebraska era Springsteen, is a story teller par excellence and I don't just mean the lyrics in his songs. His inter-song banter was entertaining, humorous, moving and at one point extremely emotional. Along the way he regaled us with stories of how he learnt to appreciate & sing Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers in the questionable company of his 'uncle' Brisco. Stories of his days as an underpaid 'doorman' ('bouncer' to us!) when he almost shook hands with Johnny Cash and tales of his days planting trees! In his time, Otis told us, he has planted in excess of 7000 trees and so perhaps it is no surprise that the cover of his current album is of a root balled tree flanked by two shovels. It was at this point that things got pretty emotional and that can't be easy for a man of such obvious sensitivity. We heard about an exceptional young man who Otis encountered during his tree planting days. The two became life long friends, saving up so that they could have some wonderful 'life experiences' together, sadly these times together were to be limited as fate stepped in and took Otis' friend at the age of 30 years old.

It seemed utterly appropriate that, after his "manufactured enthusiasm" for 'uncle' Brisco, Otis asked if we would mind if he sang a song for his friend, the applause was deep felt and genuinely encouraging as he sang Something More the final song from Joe Hill's Ashes:

"I was thinking about the lord above and why do the good die young and why do the worst of those amongst us never fail. I am trying to believe that there is something more to this world besides keeping score, but frankly I'm losing faith as all my friends pass away"

To lighten the mood Otis then told us about a guy in England who patted him on the back as he left the gig saying "Toodle pip old chap". To which Otis said he didn't know if he should "shit or wind his wrist watch". Classic!  

And so, after a few more songs Otis worked towards the end of the show. As any of you who read this blog regularly will know, I am not a big fan of the whole encore charade and so it was very refreshing when Otis explained that he had no intention of playing that "encore rock n' roll bullshit". So he suggested that after Kansas City he would take a step back and we could go batshit and then he would 'reappear full of surprise, wonder and humility' at our adoration! It was a fun and humorous way to draw things to a close. And we did indeed go batshit as we had really enjoyed a superb gig during which we had heard songs from most of Otis' albums. We had listened to some great finger picking guitar playing, some wonderfully meaningful lyrics sung to great melodies with catchy hooks and been regaled with some funny and uplifting stories of life on the road as seen by Mr Otis Gibbs of Wanamaker, Indiana.

Then and with a final touch of the unusual, Otis stepped off the small stage and walked around the audience playing acoustic guitar, unplugged whilst he sang Karluv Most the opening track from 2004's One Day Our Whispers album. A nice touch which brought us full circle, back to everyone being part of the shared experience.......thanks Otis and here's to your next visit!

Check out Otis singing "Caroline" (a favourite of mine!) here.....

Set List:

Second Best
Where Only the Graves Are Real
Unknown song
Caroline
Small Town Saturday Night (tribute to 'uncle' Brisco)
Unknown song
It's Never Enough
Joe Hill's Ashes
Unknown song
Preacher Steve
Something More (tribute to Otis's friend)
The town That Killed Kennedy
Kansas City

'Encore'
Detroit Steel
Karluv Most

PS. If anyone can update the three 'Unknown' songs listed above, it would be much appreciated!

The Proclaimers @ The Hydro, Glasgow. Saturday 12 October, 2013

The Hydro

I first saw Craig and Charlie Reid on stage at the Barrowlands in Glasgow's East End back in 1987 when they were the support to the Housemartins. I was so struck by their geeky uniqueness that I rushed out the next day (spot the geek!) and bought their début album This Is The Story and have been a fan ever since. Winding forward 26 years the twins look less geeky but are no less unique despite the passage of time. I was in fact impressed with how toned and well they appeared and was struck for the first time at how different from each other they looked. Craig has let his hair grow a little on top and wore it brushed straight back whilst Charlie wore his slightly shorter with a side parting. They also wear different eye ware these days!

Glasvegas

On the night, and due to an oversight on my part, I missed the opening act Roddy Hart and The Lonesome Fire which was 'a real bummer' (as our American 'cousins' are wont to say) as I really like their eponymous album and was looking forward to hearing them live. However, I was in time to catch the second support act of the night - Glasvegas and I really enjoyed their vibrant, raucous, thumping set. However, I'm not sure what the rest of the middle aged patrons, who made up much of the audience, thought of them!

Charlie Reid

This was the last night of The Proclaimers 2013 tour and the last chance to see them live until 2015. Therefore, it was extra special to see them in the recently opened, state-of-the-art, 13,000 capacity Hydro which sits, spaceship-like, adjacent to the SECC, were they concluded their last tour on 13 November 2009! On that tour the lads showcased their Notes & Rhymes album, however, this time out was to be more of a greatest hits show, as they ran through the latest album The Very Best Of - 25 Years 1987 - 2012. However, there were a few 'new' songs including Not Cynical (the only new song from the current album) and a handful from the last studio album Like Comedy.

Craig Reid

So, at about 21:00 Matt Lucas, one of the band's 'biggest' fans, approached the front of the stage and euphorically introduced the Proclaimers who then appeared with their band to a rapturous reception. First out of the traps was Whatever You've Got, the first track from the 2012 studio album Like Comedy. This song set the tempo for much of the rest of the night with its pounding drum intro and heavy bass keyboard notes leading into the twin harmonies and a sprinkling of guitar solo mid way through. The whole song building to an irresistible, toe tapping, sing-a-long finale where the audience sang one of the chorus parts and the twins sang the rejoinder. This is exactly the kind of song that the Proclaimers write to perfection and that the appreciative audience have come to love. It is strange to think that after two cracking albums (This Is The Story - 1987 & Sunshine On Leith - 1988) the brothers hit a barren patch and suffered "writers' cramp" before releasing album number 3: Hit The Highway in 1994 - a six year hiatus..

Zac Ware

Zac Ware on electric and pedal steel guitars played some great stuff and his solos were an integral part of the overall sound. He fitted them around Craig and Charlie's vocal parts expertly and he blended extremely well with Charlie's acoustic guitar playing. The drumming was crisp and clear, perhaps partly due to the wonderful acoustics afforded by the new, purpose built venue, and Clive Jenner kept the beat flowing with great precision. Standing in front of Clive but behind the twins was Garry John Kane who pumped, plucked and persuaded some solid rhythm out of his bass guitar to fill out the bottom end to great sonorous effect. Then finally, off to the right of the stage sat Stevie Christie 'tickling the ivories' with tantalising consequences for the general sound. On occasion he also played fine accordion to boot! The whole musical impression was then brought to almost unique focus by the singing of Craig and Charlie. Their harmonies are as much a trademark as their East Coast of Scotland accents, which gladly they refused to submerge in mid-Atlantic-ism way back when they set out. They were advised to drop the accent if they wanted to succeed, but instead they wrote Throw The 'R' Away and placed it track one, side one on album number one! Welcome to the Proclaimers! 

Garry John Kane

Born in Leith in 1962, Craig and Charlie grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty (a royal burgh until 1975 and also home to Sir Jimmy Shand!) in Fife. Growing up, they listened to country greats like Merle Haggard & Hank Williams and early rock and roll such as Jerry Lee Lewis and these influences are evident in their music today.

Their harmonies are also very reminiscent of the Everly Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. In addition to their vocal talents the Proclaimers have written some great lyrics too and on the night I particularly enjoyed The Light from 1988's Hit The Highway album which includes the following:

And if I'm found wanting when my case is heard, 

it will be by the author not some interpreter of his word

Then a little later in the show they performed perhaps one of their best songs in my opinion, lyrically speaking with Erica Nockalls (a member of the Wonderstuff) on violin. It comes from their 2001 album Persevere and is called Scotland's Story. The song tells of the magnificent mix that makes up the Scottish people and, by definition, makes Scotland such a wonderful, exciting, inclusive place. It encapsulates the meaning of the saying "We're a' Jock Tamson's Bairns" (The east coast village of Fife's Fishing History suggests the small fishing town of Buckhaven may have been one source for this saying. Of 160 families living in the village in 1833, over 70 were Thomsons!). Whatever the origins, the meaning is essentially that we are all the same under the skin and the final verse of the song goes as follows:

Clive Jenner

All through the story the immigrants came

The Gael and the Pict, the Angle and Dane

From Pakistan, England and from the Ukraine

We're all Scotland's story and we're all worth the same

Your Scotland's story is worth just the same

Erica Nockalls

This was followed by another of the lads landmark songs, the title track from their second album, Sunshine On Leith. Again to assist with the haunting violin sections in the song Erica played the part beautifully. Resplendent in her cropped, white hair and puffed out white dress she played and swayed to perfection and was awarded a resounding ovation as she left the stage. 

There was also a moment which illustrated why these lads are held in such affection when they read out the names of a few folk in the audience who were about to 'get hitched' just before dedicating Let's Get Married to them. Also, along the way we were treated to some joyous sing-a-long songs which kept the vocal cords loosened. These included songs such as I'm On My Way, Letter From America, Sunshine On Leith and the seminal 500 Miles which brought the show to a rollicking, rousing and rambunctious end. From where I was standing on the floor of the arena it looked as though everyone was on their feet, even away up there 'in the gods', metaphorically marching those five hundred miles! 

Stevie Christie

The band returned for a three song encore starting with a very personally poignant Life With You which began with a slow hand clapping beat and built to a wonderful crescendo, helped along by horn sounds coaxed by Stevie Christie from the keyboards! Up next was the Proclaimers' version of Roger Miller's wonderful 1964 song King Of The Road, and as before, we all bellowed along to every word. Then, after one hour and twenty minutes of pulsating, perfectly performed, pure-dead-brilliant party music which brought the punters to their feet, the show and the tour came to an end with Joyful Kilmarnock Blues. Given that this was the last track on their début album it seemed a fitting finale and the audience left the Hydro with a joyful feeling of time well spent in the company of friends.......

The Finale

"Thank you and good night"

Check out Scotland's Story here.....

Set List

Whatever You've Got 

Notes & Rhymes 

Not Cynical 

Shout Shout 

Letter From America 

Spinning Around in the Air 

The Thought of You 

Let's Get Married 

The Light 

Cap in Hand 

After You’re Gone 

Sean 

I'm on My Way 

Shadows Fall 

Scotland’s Story 

Sunshine on Leith 

Sky Takes the Soul 

What Makes You Cry? 

I Met You 

There's a Touch 

500 Miles 

Encore

Life With You 

King of the Road 

Joyful Kilmarnock Blues

Check out more photos from the night here.....

The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Garage, Glasgow 6 Oct 2013

This was a much anticipated gig and so, as we walked up the long double stair case to the reception area in The Garage on Glasgow's famous Sauchiehall Street, I was full of anticipation and was readily expectant. The band's third album Such Hot Blood has been an ever present on my phone since I first heard it.

The Garage, formally the Mayfair ballroom, has a total capacity of 1000 and the main hall has the ability to entertain 700 folk. Tonight, the place was so packed that it seemed that spare tickets would have been as easy to come by as hen's teeth! The current reinvigoration of this venerable old hall took place back in 1994 when, with its bright yellow trademark half truck emblem suspended over the entrance, the Garage opened its doors for live entertainment again. It very quickly became a place that aspiring up and coming bands wanted to play on their way to larger venues. 

The support on the night was The Drowning Men, a five piece of well honed musicians who played a thrilling set. I should say that I hadn't heard of them before, but was taken with what I heard. For me, the stand out tracks were A Fool's Campaign, Lost In A Lullaby, Rita and Smile. The band were on their first visit to Glasgow and were very well received by the audience who were fired up for the main act. They had brought their powerful, pumping version of indie-rock over from Oceanside, California and I hope to see more of them in the future. Nato Bardeen on guitar and vocals (he also plays keys & mandolin) has a great voice and and a well defined stage presence. He fronted James Smith (great subtle lead guitar, vocals), Todd Eisenkerch (bass, vocals), the prodigiously bearded Rory Dolan (percussion), and the slightly less bearded Gabelani Messer (keys, vocals). Since their first performances in 2006 they have developed as a great, tight, throbbing unit who are powered on mainly by Nato Bardeen's song writing skills. We were well warmed up for the main event, cheers lads.

Check out The Drowning Men here.....

Mikel Jollett

At 21:00 the lights went down, the crowd went 'tonto' and The Airborne Toxic Event (named after a section in the book White Noise by Don DeLillo) bounded onto the five foot high stage and blasted into their opening number. I have included a set list at the end which is from their official print out, however, the songs were played in whatever order the ebullient, efflorescent, energetic, exuberant Mikel Jollett decided at the time! From the outset I was reminded of the enthusiastic proto-punk of bands like the Clash, the Jam, Television and Elvis Costello. The excitable, frenetic, pumped up sound and energy was further enhanced by the drain pipe jeans and 4" turn ups that some of the band favoured. In addition, the three guitarists made use of the sturdy monitors to stand up and tower over the front rows of adoring fans. Indeed, the sprightly 39 year old Mr Jollett sprang from the stage and walked along the front crush barrier on several occasions and at one point was helped up on top of the barrier as he sang and swayed some five and a half feet above the ecstatic crowd. Thrilling stuff indeed! 

The Airborne Toxic Event, an American indie rock band from Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, is the 'brain child' of Mikel Jollett (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and a candidate for Robbie Williams' brother. The band released their début, self-titled album in 2008 and followed it up in 2011 with All AT Once. Jollett took to writing music fairly late in that he was 32 by the time he started. It is perhaps no surprise that the person he would like to spend time with most, dead or alive, is Leonard Cohen who started writing music when he was 33! 

Anna Bulbrook

Meanwhile, on stage, the band were trashing out song after song with metronomic pulsation and little said between tunes. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves, if the smiles of appreciation were much to go by. Having said that, Anna Bulbrook (tambourine, keyboards, violin, backing vocals) played some stunning violin parts, some of which sounded like horns, appeared to have an interesting moody, bored, disinterested thing going on which contrasted with Mikel's grinning, smiling, chirpy features! Indeed, at one point he told us that all we really had was "today". Oh so true, Mikel, oh so prescient. 

At one point the lights dimmed and the band stood mannequin-esque, frozen to their respective spots as the audience went 'bat-shit' (that's x decibels louder than 'ape-shit' by the way!) and as the crescendo intensified to industrial strength, Mikel, for one, stood there with an ever increasingly appreciative grin which worked itself into a full blown smile of absolute wonderment at what he and his cohorts were capable of creating. This is a group of artists who not only produce an excellent product but are also grounded enough to fully enjoy the reaction their art produces. They are still humbled by the experience and long may that continue, it is an essential connection between artists and their public. Yin and yang, give and take, joy and pleasure. 

Noah Harmon

During the set both Noah Harmon (electric bass, backing vocals) and Mikel Jollett struck classic guitar player stances, reminiscent of both Eddie Cochran and Joe Strummer. Excellent choices in my opinion! However, this gig wasn't about poses, it was about high octane, energised, stoked up, sweating, simmering songs set to scintillating syncopation! The shear joy expressed by the band was tangible and Mr Jollett kept the surprises set to the max by hand picking the order of play from the set list. OK, the band knew what they were playing but the order was pure 'Russian roulette'! From what I have been able to determine this was about the 920 th time that this lot have stepped out on a stage and therefore it was inevitable that they would sound 'spot on'. We were witnessing a well oiled machine at the top of their game, don't get me wrong, I don't mean calculated, soulless, mechanical. I mean, powerful, vibrant, immediate, zestful, fun and exhilarating. 

Steven Chen

Over to the right of the stage Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards) was working magic playing some smashing guitar and acting as a foil to whatever Mikel was laying down. Occasionally, he dropped his guitar over his shoulder and hammered out some joyful additional beats on a stand-alone drum. Meanwhile, and inevitably stationed back there in the furthest reaches, was Daren Taylor (drums) who kept everything pinned down with his pin sharp drumming. Often the 'custodian of the skins' is a beefy kinda guy but Daren is a slight lad but no less able for that. He laid down some wonderful beats, filling in where necessary and cajoling things along excellently with some snappy rim shots! Half way through the gig Daren had to contend with a latter-day helium balloon which had lost its ability to stay in the stratosphere above the stage and had drooped, dropping to the level of the drum kit. It floated aimlessly about but due to unseen heat currents it drifted randomly back and forth in front of his elevated position like an uninvited drunken, dipsomaniac at an AA meeting. I doubt that even Mikel could have scripted this intrusion! 

Daren Taylor

Nor do I believe that he orchestrated his 'amnesia' during one of the slower songs. Mikel genuinely seemed aghast that he had temporarily forgotten the lyrics, however, several members of the audience were able to prompt him along and on a couple of accessions he asked for help to get things back on track. For me, it was all part and parcel, the joys of live music. 

On this wonderfully melodic meandering journey through the gig, we had Noah swapping bass for rhythm guitar & keyboards; Steven swapping electric guitar for keyboards and drum & bass and Anna swapping violin for keyboards and tambourine. The instrumental interchanging was infectious and the audience celebrated every incarnation of the band with wild applause. 

And so, nearly an hour after the band bounded on stage, they exited stage right at a canter. There then followed the raucous encouragement from the audience to entice them back. Mercifully, things have evolved in this regard. I am old enough to remember clapping, stamping, cheering, enticing, imploring and extolling bands to return for their encore for 15 - 20 minutes! These days bands are more commercially aware and so The Airborne Toxic Event returned after an acceptable pause. However, the down side of this commercial awareness is that encores are now scripted. No one seems to play an unscheduled song and almost nobody returns for a second encore (Costello often did if he was having fun!). Indeed, I saw the set list as the roadies taped it to the stage and the three encore songs were listed. So much for spontaneity! 

However, as the band in question was TATE we were still in for a couple of surprises. The set list had Timeless as the first song, but they played All For A Woman instead! And so to finish things off the band set to with Missy, the ninth track from their début album. It was during this song that the band let loose, for example five days earlier in Manchester during this finale they played Ring of Fire, American Girl and Born in the USA (Cash/Petty/Springsteen! Wow). We were treated to a song written by a member of Buddy Holly's band, Sonny Curtis who penned the wonderful I Fought The Law, which, as if to bring things full circle, is perhaps best know in the UK as a song made famous by Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Nicky "Topper" Headon aka The Clash! As Costello once sang "....there's no such thing as an original sin..."

So, as were trooped out of the hall, our ears dulled by the majestic musical onslaught, our feet scuffing plastic beer 'glasses' and our minds full of the intricacies of the last 80 minutes or so I thought about my highlights. The following sprang to mind: energy, spirit, joyously precocious talent, melody and commitment. The songs that stood out? Gasoline, Bride And Groom, Timeless, The Graveyard Near The House, and All At Once.

I was left with a slow burning, warming ember of satisfaction. I had seen the band on their game, perhaps at the top of their game. They will get better, but sadly that means bigger and that means stadiums and that means further away, that means more isolated, that means more removed and that means more remote. But hay, with modern technology (see my Springsteen review) we can still be part of the action. However, as I left I felt privileged to have been there, in the front row, in the Garage on Sunday 6 October 2013, a mere three feet away from The Airborne Toxic Event. 

Check out The Airborne Toxic Event here.....

Check out other photos I took at the gig here.....

Official Set List:

Gasoline

Happiness Is Overrated

Does This Mean You're Moving On?

Changing

Something New

Bride & Groom

Hell And Back

Wishing Well

Numb

Safe

The Storm

Sometime Around Midnight

All I Ever Wanted

All At Once

Encore

Timeless

All For A Woman

The Graveyard Near The House

Missy/I Fought The Law/Missy



PS: Apologies for the quality of photographs, but getting a decent camera into some gigs is like trying to fry eggs in a chocolate frying pan!

Anna Coogan @ CCA, Glasgow 05 October 2013

I have always been interested in how people find out about an artist. Back in my youth, and hay, I admit, it wasn't this century, it seemed so much simpler. We gathered around the radio on a Sunday night to listen to Radio One on the BBC and catch the 'Hit Parade'! It was easy but it also meant that we all listened to the same stuff, but now, ha! We have the internet, blogs, Sound Cloud, My Space, FaceBook, YouTube etcetera, etcetera, etcetera......

So how did I get to hear about Anna Coogan, you might ask. Well, a friend invited several of us to his house to attend 'a house' concert. This was a new idea to me but seems fairly popular on the other side of the pond. Put simply, an artist is invited to perform in a 'fan's' house and the attendees pay a nominal sum for the pleasure! As it turned out, it was a pleasure, a pleasure indeed! Afterwards I spoke with Anna and when she told me that she was playing a gig in CCA I took the opportunity to go and listen to her again. 

Therefore, on a relatively mild October evening I went to the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) on Glasgow's Sauchiehall St, named after the sauchie haugh or willow meadow which once surrounded the area around the early 1800's, and settled down in anticipation of a great show.

Anna, born in Seattle, raised in Boston and now resident in upstate New York was once a whitewater kayaker and a fisheries biologist! She is also a former opera singer with a fine sense of song writing in the 'story telling' mould. Indeed, some of her latest songs (a few of which were 'outed' at the CCA) will be recorded over the next few weeks have a strong Scottish flavour, based as they are on a book of Scottish poems. She acquired the book for 'hee haw' (as we say around here!) from her local library. The opening song was True Love (I believe, but it may have a different title!) and it is a wonderful example of her current infusion of Scottish lyrics and musical phrasing. It is full of insightful imagery of Glasgow, the Clyde, Scottish hills and glens and all this from a young Americana singer

On the night, Anna who has been compared to artists such as Kelly Willis, Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams, was dressed in a bright red and white dress and the almost obligatory 'cowboy boots'. She settled on to the stage and played a handful of songs whilst accompanying herself on a clear, crisp electrified acoustic guitar. Her 'patter' between songs was entertaining and informative as she explained how she came to write each song. The song Auchengeich was about the mining disaster of 18 September 1959 in which 47 men died. The youngest was 22 and the oldest 62 years of age. It was a particularly emotive example given that the Auchengeich mine was in Lanarkshire, just 20 minutes down the road from Glasgow.

Another example of her attention to detail in her lyrics came in her rendition of the wonderful song from her The Nowhere, Rome Sessions album from 2012 called Red Shoes, Black Dress. The song, about procrastination in love, includes the lyrics:

"Some day when you wake up, babe, you won't be so young any more. You won't be so young any more. So the next time babe, that you fall in love, don't you make her wait, oh give her the stars above, give her the sun and moon. Take her on a honeymoon, oh give her a Diamond ring, oh give her everything. Don't you make her wait......". 

Her explanation about the song she wrote with J D Foster called Just To See How It Feels about thinking what it would be like to not be married was also illuminating especially as she wrote it during a visit from her in-laws! Come Ashore from her 2011 album The Wasted Ocean was a real delight and the stripped down version added to the intensity of the lyrics. Another thoughtful and insightful song was The Birth Of The Stars, written in the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings last year, however, even a song such as this was sung with an upbeat sense of hope. I am always extremely impressed by an artist who can command a stage and has the confidence to sing solo such poignant lyrics! By the reaction of the enthusiastic and receptive audience, I would say that I wasn't the only one to appreciate her heartfelt lyrics and melodic guitar playing. 

Anna brought her show to a close with May You Have The Wind At Your Back which has a very Scottish phrasing to the musical accompaniment and a wonderfully soulful sound to it. She also invited the audience to participate in the final chorus singing "May you have the wind at your back tonight, may you have your limbs, may you have your life, may you hold on to each other tight, may have the wind at your back tonight ". Given the oblong nature and acoustics in the voluminous venue at the Centre for Contemporary Arts it was a very effective & emotive experience and I feel that this song will serve her extremely well in the years to come. 

I for one, am looking forward to the results of her imminent recording sessions........

Check out Anna Coogan here.....

A Sudden Burst of Colour @ King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow 01 October 2013

I was first introduced to A Sudden Burst of Colour on a night out with a friend who told me of a young instrumental band from Motherwell, some 15 miles south east of Glasgow, who were "making waves" on the local music scene. So when I found out that they were playing at King Tuts I went along to see what I thought for myself.

By the time I entered the recently renovated King Tuts Wah Wah Hut on St Vincent St, on the fringes of Glasgow's central business district, I had listened to a couple of the band's videos on YouTube and was keen to hear more. The most evident reference to their style and sound would be another local band Mogwai, and one of the obvious similarities between the two bands is the lack of lyrics. Stuart Braithwaite, one of Mogwai's singer / guitarists once said "I think most people are not used to having no lyrics to focus on. Lyrics are a real comfort to some people. I guess they like to sing along and when they can't do that with us they can get a bit upset." This doesn't seemed to have stood in the way of Mogwai on their way to success and I see no reason for it to do so for the young lads in A Sudden Burst of Colour. It certainly didn't seem to 'upset' anyone on the night!

On our way up to the venue I was taken with the names recently added to the stairs, acting both as a roll call of superb bands and a reminder of what a great wee place King Tuts is. There have certainly been many wonderful nights in this small but vibrant little venue. 

On the night I would guess that there were some 50-70 people gathered in front of the small stage with many more milling about in the adjacent bar area or just popping in to catch a glimpse of whoever was playing. The band came on stage at about 20:15 and their set consisted of only 4 songs, however, with each one lasting around 5 or 6 minutes we got to hear them for the next half hour or so. 

The lads lined up on stage with Liam Shaw on drums at the back and centre, Callum Brand on lead guitar to our left, Calum Farquharson on bass in the middle and Luke Duncan on rhythm guitar on the right.All of the band were born in 1993 except 'the old' boy Luke who is a year older at 21 and the band have been together since March 2012! 

A Sudden Burst of Colour

Callum Brand

The band's opener was Afterglow which started with a low thrum of guitar and some simple bass lines and then the drums came crashing in to pound out a metronomic beat over which Callum Brand laid some fine high end guitar notes. It had the audience nodding their heads and tapping their feet from the outset and as the song progressed there was some fine interplay between the drums / bass and the two guitars culminating in a thrash of staccato sounds which then eased off and the drum and lead guitar took over to provide a quiet section before the whole delicious cacophony came back together to bring the song to a thumping close.

I was very impressed with the drumming which, probably due to the lack of the traditional verse / chorus / verse lyric structure, was given space in the songs to act as an equal rather than the more usual 'time keeper'. Liam played some great stuff and the use of his symbols added significantly to the over all sound.

Calum Farquharson

Another song, Riptide again had Liam's drumming as an integral part, especially at the start when he thrashed out some solid, sonorous beats. Calum Farquharson played fittingly fine rock steady bass & along with Liam the two of them provided a concrete platform to the song. Calum reminded me of the late, great Ian Kevin Curtis and I half expected him to grab the mike and start singing!

Some of the musical references I detected, apart from the generic East African style guitar i.e. single notes picked from the higher register of the fretboard (a sound favoured by the likes of Vampire Weekend), were Hank Marvin, John Martyn, the American collective Friends of Dean Martinez and a smoother version of Wooden Shjips. As the quotes from the band's web site (www.asuddenburstofcolour.com) make clear their musical style is ethereal, imaginative, pleasingly melodic and they create evocative soundscapes to boot! As Cast the Net Promotions say of their music on the web site”Think somewhere in the massive void between Massive Attack and The Deftones” and you have them to a T! I was to learn later that the band's musical preferences include Deftones, Incubus and the multi-instrumentalist DJ Matt Preston aka Phaeleh from Bristol.

The lads then finished off their potent, professional and studied performance with the track Zen (which is right up there with Friends of Dean Martinez's opener Landfill off their Lost Horizon album) and showcases the band in a more subdued, subtle and mellow vein. Throughout the song Luke's rhythm guitar 'harmonised' fluently with Callum 'Brandy' Brand's lead and there is some wonderful picked guitar work by Callum two thirds of the way in as the track starts to build in intensity (again fine work from drummer Liam) before fading out on a few solo guitar notes. Sublime!

The band were to release their independently produced début 3 track EP ‘Reborn’ in April 2013 and it is available in both physical and digital formats, which can be found on the Music / Merchandise pages of their web site. The EP was officially released at a sold out show in Glasgow on April, 5th 2013 and the band are currently working on their second EP which will be completely self produced, engineered, mixed & released in due course.

So to recap, if you like mood music which paints wonderfully imaginative images with fine and delicate brush strokes and evokes wide open soundscapes. Or indeed, you like the pumped up quasi thrash metal guitar sound, then this bunch of talented young lads cover the spectrum. Oh, and you can use your own imagination to add 'pictures' to the tunes, you really don't always need lyrics to guide you there! 

To hear the band, click this link.....

To see other photos taken that night, click here.....

Set List:

Afterglow (on EP)
Riptide (new)

Let go or be dragged (new)

Zen (on EP)

To visit the band's web site, click here....