Wooden Shjips @ SWG3, Glasgow. Thursday 12 December 2013

There are a few gigs which for one reason or another I really look forward to and this was one of them. The reason is pretty immaterial (just never imaginged these dudes pitching up in my back yard!) and so once I found that they were stopping off in Glasgow on their European Tour I jumped at the chance to get tickets. I then found out that they were playing in another new venue to me - SWG3 (Studio, Warehouse, Glasgow). 

The building is located in a former Clydeside warehouse adjacent to the railway arches by the expressway at the end of Eastvale Place on the periphery of Glasgow's West End. Also know as the Studio Warehouse, it houses artists' studios, a gallery, a gig venue and a bar. The venue, whilst one flight up, resembles a concrete post war bunker and is brutalist in looks and hard edged in nature, showcasing as it does less 'main stream' acts and artists. Tonight was the turn of local band Helicon and San Francisco's Wooden Shjips, both cases in point. 

A feature of concert going these days is that the venues tend to be pretty well filled by the time the support comes on and this was to be no exception. Indeed, the 'hall' looked pretty full when Helicon, who had travelled all the way from East Kilbride on the outskirts of Glasgow, came on stage at about 20:00. The band, described as doom-mongering behemoths of Psychedelic Rock, set to work and almost blew us away in terms of volume at least. I was upfront on 'the rail' and the sound was, in Spinal Tap parlance, set to number eleven! I doubt that I have heard a louder band and obviously these things are impossible to compare, but I reckon that they easily beat my former loudest band - Nazareth from back in the early seventies in the old Apollo. Once my ears had adjusted to the assault I was able to get into the groove and really enjoyed the apocalyptic cosmic crescendo of swirling psychedelic soundscapes. 

The band, formed in earl 2009 by brothers John-Paul Hughes (lead guitar, vocals) and Gary Hughes (guitar, vocals), includes Laura O'Brien (keys, synth, violin, vocals), Gary Sharp (guitar), Martin MacVicar (drums) and Mark McLure (bass). They are fans of Brian Jonestown Massacre, as was evident from the guitar sticker and other influences include The Warlocks, Mogwai, The Doors,13th Floor Elevators, The Velvet Underground and NEU! to name a few. This was my introduction to Helicon and so I was unfamiliar with the set list added to which and in keeping with the dark, moodiness of the gig there was little 'chat' between songs. Also the lyrics were indecipherable and so I didn't catch any of the tracks by name, however, one song reminded me of Chelsea Girl by early Simple Minds, it turns out that it is called Seraph and is from the Mind Explosion EP. I also really enjoyed the trance inducing groove of  Suburban Decay.

The interactive explosion of guitar and keyboards was a delight to hear and the whole sound was held up by Martin MacVicar who played some wild and energetic drumming. At one point it looked like John-Paul (I think it was him) was attempting to file the fingers of his right hand down to the knuckle as he frantically strummed the strings to get just the right frenetic sound. I also liked the singing by Laura and Gary although as I said earlier the words were lost in the mix, however, the voices added a fine additional 'instrument' to the concoction. The band have an album called Suburban Decay available to listen to on line or download at http://heliconglasgow.bandcamp.com/album/suburban-decay and following the gig they are set to return to the recording studio to lay down some more track.

Check out the song Seraph here.....

Next up: Wooden Shjips (pronounced Ships). I first came across them around the time that they released their third album Dos back in 2009 and have enjoyed their brand of psychedelic musical workouts ever since. Their sound has been described as drone rock, experimental, minimalist, and "spacey psychedelic rock". They have been compared to Suicide, Guru Guru, Loop, The Velvet Underground and Soft Machine. As a 55 year old, it heartens me to know that my nephew (in his mid twenties) was 'wayyyyyyy jealous' to learn that, not only were the Wooden Shjips on tour, but that his 'aged uncle' was at one if their gigs! Woo woo!

So at around 21:00, as seems to be the custom in Scotland, the band strode onto the stage. Erik "Ripley" Johnson (guitar/vocals and who also plays in a side project: Moon Duo) took up a stage right location (viewed from our side), then moving over to the left of the stage ,Omar Ahsanuddin (drums) was next, Dusty Jermier (bass and looking rather like a latter-day Richard Drefuss) and finally Nash Whalen (organ). The band were assembled and we were ready to 'gie it laldy'!

Erik "Ripley" Johnson

Omar Ahsanuddin

From the outset there was some discordant 'noise' to go along with the psychedelic light show and this was to be a theme throughout the show. There was a rush of 'ambient noise' in the gaps separating the songs and little in the way of interaction between the band and audience, save from the odd "Thank you". However, this only served to enhance the experience for me as it left the emphasis on the 'groove'. I particularly enjoyed In The Roses which started out with a combined bass and drum, metronomic beat, pulsating through us and after some muffled vocals, was taken to a new level by Nash's keyboards. Then Ripley set off on some exceedingly finely picked guitar notes soloed into the latter half of the song. By now it was (for me at least) not possible to stop 'ma groove', the song rolled out over some five minutes and took us all to somewhere other than Glasgow on a dreach, dreary Thursday night. Superb stuff! I have to say that I reckon that it takes an extremely special kinda concentration to hammer out those same drum riffs and bass cords over that length of time. A heart beatin', live givin', body movin', spirit evokin', limb shakin', trance inducin', drug free high! The essence of music over the millennia, rock on Tommy! You got me and I ain't lettin' go!

Dusty Jermier

Another high point was Ruins, another song off their latest (and best in my opinion) album Back To Land. A drum punch and then we were off into familiar mind freeing territory. Ripley Johnson's low, muffled, dry vocals combining seamlessly with the groove being pounded out by the band. I have always been a 'sucker' for the low key, simple, Bert Weddon - esque guitar solo (possibly my all time favourite is the Clash's Mick Jones' solo half way through Police and Thieves on their début album) and Mr Johnson fired them off with aplomb and easy 'devil-may-care' panache!

Looking around me I saw folk 'zoned out' and 'trippin'', enjoying the inner space sensation that the music was unlocking. On stage the band were laying down magnificent rhythms and soundscapes and each was adding their own element to the overall mix. It was really a joy to experience and I was delighted to hear one of my personal favs from the band's repertoire, the sublime Down By The Sea a highlight from Dos. I was experiencing a difficult choice! Do I shut my eyes and 'go with the flow' or keep them open and take in the visual dimension of pix-elation /  swirling colours / fluid formations floating across the band.

Nash Whalen

Then, after a quick recess the band returned to play a one song encore and left the stage again to a resounding ovation which was was well earned and well deserved. These four guys have developed an incomparable sound which has evolved over the years to the stage were in 2013 they have reached a new high in the form of the album Back To Land. I felt that there was a discernible sway and mellowness in the folk in front of me as we quietly queued to descend the stairs to the street level below after the gig, as if we had been spell bound and mesmerised by a deep inner force triggered by the fantastic fluid sounds we had just witnessed, which indeed, and in truth, we had. Just another night out in Glasgow, but, oh, what a night! 

Check out These Shadows here.....

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

Back To Land