Conor Orberst & Dawes @ O2 ABC Academy, Sauchiehall St, Glasgow - Monday 21 July 2014

And so it was off to the O2 ABC Academy once again. This venue is turning out to be a regular 'haunt' for me which is not a bad thing as the acoustics are better than some venues in town. Conor Oberst and his pals Dawes had chosen to visit our fair city on 'Fair Monday' which is the holiday Monday of the historical 'fair fortnight' period here in Glasgow. In former times the lads would have been lucky to muster half a dozen punters to attend, however, times have changed (as predicted by Mr Zimmerman back in '64) and  the 'Fair' is no longer the time when all Glaswegians take their two week holiday and head off to Blackpool, Arran, Millport et al! 

Climbing the narrow, dingy old staircase up to the venue we passed numerous posters advertising coming events and I was reminded just how well served we are here for bands. Indeed, this was to be my second of three gigs this week! We got into the hall at about 7:10 and set up camp at the barrier in front of the main bar. This affords a reasonably elevated view of the stage and avoids the crush of the main area, a bonus at my age! At 19:30 Dawes ambled on stage and blasted off with the pumpin', poundin' rhythm of From A Window Seat and the gig was off and running. 

Dawes are one of my current favourite bands and I was lucky enough to catch them twice over one weekend last year (you can find the reviews on my blog). Taylor Goldsmith (looking a great deal less hirsute than last time he was in town!) is a great guitarist in my view and his voice is strong and resonant. The rest of the band have evolved into a tight, smooth rocking machine and tonight they played six songs from their back catalogue of three albums plus a new song. I felt that their stint as Conor's 'house band' has improved their sound as they have added 'space' to their work. This allows for more intricate and interesting solos and each of the lads used their particular 'space' to great effect. I particularly enjoyed the organ / piano work by Tay Strathairn on From The Right Angle and (brother) Griffin Goldsmith's drumming on Fire Away. Meanwhile Wylie Gelber played some solid, fine bass all the time looking nonchalant and laid back. At the end of my review from 2 Sept last year I said, and I quote "Something tells me that the next time I see Dawes it will be in a much bigger venue...." (they were in Broadcast) and lo, here they are again in front of 1,000 or so excited folk in the 1,362 capacity venue. Even the PA going on the blink three tunes in didn't trip the band up as Taylor pick out a fine electric guitar solo whilst the technicians sorted things out. Cool! 

There are so many great Dawes songs but naturally as the support act (at this point) we weren't going to get to hear them all, however, I was delighted to hear a new song Right On Time and it was up there with their other work. I was also extremely chuffed when they struck up the slow chugging, organ swirling intro to Time Spent In Los Angeles. And so, after an exhilarating 45 minutes, the lads signed off with a great version of From The Right Angle from last year's Stories Don't End album. This song starts off with a thoughtful lyric:

"You found me on the other side of a looser's wining streak....."

From where I was standing there were no losers and we were all on a wining streak. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the set and I sensed that Dawes had taken on board a few new converts. Wonderful stuff lads, and here's to your next visit.

Dawes - A Little Bit Of Everything

and for those without Flash player

After a pretty quick turn around Conor Orberst and his 'house band' bounded on to the stage and set off part two of the show with rousing versions of tracks one and two from the latest album Upside Down Mountain - Time forgot & Zigzagging Toward The Light. Given the rather 'thick and sonorous' acoustics in the hall the lyrics were difficult to make out and so the sentiment of these songs was rather lost, however, we were here to have a blast and, two songs in, the audience was hooked. 

My introduction to the musical world of Conor Orberst, a 34 year old native of Omaha, Nebraska, was back in 2002 when I came across his Christmas album and I have been interested in his oeuvre ever since. However, this was my first time seeing him live and it was to prove to be a cracker! I have also been enjoying his latest album, which many consider to be his most accessible and accomplished (although I would rate it alongside his eponymous album of 2008) of the 20 or so he has released over the years. Like Ryan Adams, Orberst has been very prolific, if not always hitting the mark, however, Upside Down Mountain hits the spot and performed on the back of the Dawes sound the songs were more raucous, raunchy, riotous and rambunctious! Indeed Hit The Switch from 2005's Digital Ash In A Digital Urn is relatively quite slow burner on album but tonight Taylor and Conor went head to head to create a wonderful guitar trash section which laid the song out in a new light. The two performed more guitar magic on Danny Callahan and the uptempo, jingly (somewhat reminiscent of Shiny Happy People era REM) Bowl Of Oranges.

During the night, Conor moved form acoustic guitar to electric and then to keyboards on If The Brakeman Turns My Way and Lover I Don't Have To Love and his and Tay's 'duets' were a joy to hear. Tay really helped to fill out the organ & piano parts leaving Conor free to concentrate on the guitar and his vocals. I also really enjoyed the fabulous Hammond organ and acoustic guitar interplay between these two at the start of I Got The Reason # 2, sublime!

Then at around 22:13 the band left the stage leaving Conor and Taylor to play some damn fine acoustic and electric guitar on 2005's Lua the opener and single from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. The two lads also sang some fine harmonies on this one. There then followed a (mercifully) short break after Conor and Taylor left the stage and the full band returned after about three minutes to perform a rousing three song encore.

They kicked off with Cape Canaveral which allowed Griffen to shine as he effortlessly laid down some intricate and delicate drum notes at the bottom of the song. Meanwhile, the long limbed, laconic and laid back Wylie sat this one out and nodded along, the essence of cool! Next up was probably the song of the night for me, the superb Another Travelin' Song again from the Bright Eyes album I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. With its Johnny Cash-esque train track rhythm, it's swinging guitar parts and jaunty melody this is as good an alt-country song as you are likely to hear. However, the lyrics tell a more disturbing story than the jovial tune suggests:

Well I dream of dark on the horizon

I dream a desert where the dead lay down

I dream a prostituted child touching an old man in a fast food crowd

Oh yeah, I dreamt a ship was sinking

There was people screaming all around

And I awoke to my alarm clock

It was a pop song, it was playing loud

The resemblance between Conor and Jeffrey Scott Tweedy of Wilco/Uncle Tupelo fame becomes ever clearer on this song too. However, despite its dark lyrics, it certainly had me bouncing along and it had me hoping that we would get an outing of my all time fav Orberst song I Don't Want To Die (In The Hospital) but sadly it was not to be, however, it was just the ticket to help draw things to a close. 

And as all good thing must, the show was brought to a pounding, pulsating, pulverising crescendo as the lads fired into Roosevelt Room from 2009's Outer South release. There was a wonderful extended 'work out' towards the end of this one as the band let loose, creating some industrial strength noise with an apocalyptic edge to it. Mighty fine stuff indeed and as the dust settled on another cracking night the audience ambled out onto Sauchiehall St, reflecting on a fantastic night and a wonderful double bill. We had listened to the stupendous Dawes, followed by an outstanding performance from the diminutive, but extremely dynamic Conor Oberst. It certainly rang my bell, floated my boat, rocked my tree, ticked my box or whatever the current fatuous expression for having a wonderful time is! Thanks guys, you helped to make an old man feel happy and young again, a no mean feat!

Another Travelin' Song

again, for those without Flash Player

One final point, credit to Dawes for learning all the 'new' material and for backing Mr O so effectively and seamlessly.

SET LIST (DAWES) 19:30 - 20:20

From A Window Seat

Fire Away

(PA problem - Taylor guitar solo)

Most People

Right On Time

When My Time Comes

Time Spent In Los Angeles

From The Right Angle

SET LIST CONOR OBERST (20:50 - 22:40)

Time Forgot

Zigzagging Towards The Light

Moab

Hit The Switch (Bright Eyes)

Old Soul Song (For The New World Order) (Bright Eyes)

Artefact #1

Danny Callahan (Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band)

Hundreds Of Ways 

If The Brakeman Turns My Way (Bright Eyes)

Lover I Don't Have To Love (Bright Eyes)

Firewall (Bright Eyes)

Desert Island Questionnaire

Bowl Of Oranges (Bright Eyes)

Soul Singer In A Session Band (Bright Eyes)

I Got The Reason #2 (Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band)

Lua (Bright Eyes)

ENCORE

Cape Canaveral (Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band)

Another Travelin' Song (Bright Eyes)

Roosevelt Room (Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band)

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ Òran Mór, Glasgow - Saturday 17 May 2014

The petite Erin McKeown, all the way from Fredricksburg, Virginia, walked on stage, plugged her electric guitar in and kicked off her set whilst many of the audience were still chatting and trying to get a drink at the bar at the rear of the venue. However, by halfway through the first song many had hushed and were making their way to the stage to hear her 'stuff'. Looking a little like Imelda May (it was the hair that did it!) Erin powered through her support set and played some fascinating, fuzzed up guitar accompanying her singing and the songs were interesting lyrically. Although a multi-instrumentalist, tonight Erin stuck to her guitar and sang some great songs, I especially liked the one about Judy Garland (one of the many she has written about the lady), The Jailer and the humorous one about American cities Rhode Island Is Famous For You on which she played some cool jazz style guitar! 

Check out Erin's web site @ www.erinmckeown.com and you can download a copy of her album Civics.

Jason and the lads where up next and there was a real feeling of anticipation around us, I for one was psyched up for the show as Òran Mór is one of my favourite Glasgow venues and I hadn't seen Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit before. I was not to be disappointed, let me tell you! Incidentally, the venue's name Òran Mór is Gaelic for 'great melody of life' or 'big song' and so was very appropriate.

On stage tonight we had (from our left to right) Sadler Vaden (guitar), Jimbo Hart (bass), Chad Gamble (drums), Jason Isbell (guitar & vocals) & Derry DeBorja (keyboards). The stage at Òran Mór is small and it helped the band connect and play some fine stuff. They were so tight that one would have struggled to get a rizla paper between them! Throughout the set Sadler played so gratifyingly good solos and backed up Jason's guitar work to wonderful effect. And so, at the end of the opener Flying Over Water there was a well deserved explosion of cheering, hollering and general bonhomie and so the band knew that they were in for a great night too.

Jason, looking a tad like a young Orson Welles, sang some superb vocals and played some top notch solos on both electric and acoustic guitars. It is no wonder that (for me) he was a seminal member of the Drive-By Truckers (2001-2007) and tonight he was to perform a number of DBT/JI songs which come from that band's most fertile period. Perhaps my favourite on the night was Goddamn Lonely Love on which Jason played out the song with a great guitar solo and the audience went 'bat shit'! Many of the other songs came from Jason's 2013 album Southeastern and credit to the 400 Unit that they were note perfect throughout, well to my ears anyway! 

Talking of the 400 Unit, the name comes the "400 Unit" a former colloquial name of a psychiatric ward in Florence, Alabama. Appropriate? You may think so but I couldn't possibly comment! The band state that their influences include "Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Prince, Led Zeppelin, Free, The Faces, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beatles, Stones, Crowded House, Merle Haggard, Queen, Nirvana, Derek and the Dominos etc", (I've checked out Neutral Milk Hotel and enjoyed them!) so quite an international background and their songs certainly travel well beyond the boundaries of the Southern States. In fact so good are many of the songs that Jason was nominated for best song, best album and best artist of the year for 2014 in the Americana Music Associations honours awards. Yip he is that good and perhaps much credit should also go to Mrs Isbell - Amanda Shires, the Texan singer and violin player who help Jason back onto the 'righteous path'. Behind every great man......

Writing about the song Decoration Day, based on a story about Jason's family members, Nick Rynerson attests that Isbell has "done what a long line of storytellers have done before him: giving us tangible truth in a beautiful, unquantifiable parable". (You can see Nick Rynerson's article about the song @ www.patheos.com....) Certainly the lyrics make one think about the human condition:

It’s Decoration Day 

and I’ve got a family in Mobile Bay 

and they’ve never seen my Daddy’s grave. 

But that don’t bother me, it ain’t marked anyway. 

Cause I got dead brothers in Lauderdale south 

and I got dead brothers in east Tennessee. 

My Daddy got shot right in front of his house 

he had no one to fall on but me. 

In addition to the music we also saw a humorous side to Jason Isbell, for example when he recounted a story about Chet Atkins being praised for the fabulous music his guitar produced to which he retorted on placing the guitar back in a stand "So, how's it doing now?"! And on another occasion thanking us for enjoying the new songs so much, he likened it to the feeling one gets when the neighbours meet the youngest kids, and thinking what if they don't like them? Well no fears on that score, as neighbours - albeit on the other side of a rather large pond - we loved the new kids and we would love him to brings them around again! 

On a musical note, the 5 guys on stage all contributed greatly to a grand night. From Sadler's fine solos on Decoration Day, Heart On A String and some smooth slide guitar on Cover Me Up, to Jimbo Hart's studied playing on the heart rending Elephant and his pounding and pulsating playing on Never Gonna Change, to Chad Gamble's subtle brush work on Stockholm, Travelling Alone & Codeine and his general drumming on the likes of 

Different Days and Derry Deborja's sympathetic keyboards on Relatively Easy, Songs That She Sang In The Shower and his "gypsy typewriter" (accordion) on New South Wales. Then finally, we had Jason Isbell whose singing was especially powerful on Cover Me Up and his guitar playing ranged from delicate on Goddamn Lonely Love to grunge on Never Gonna Change.

I mentioned earlier that I consider Jason Isbell to have been an integral part of the DBTs and tonight he showed just how well he plays guitar and sings superbly written songs. Perhaps the best song of the night was the emotive, moving and desperately sad Elephant from his current album. It is another example of how he is able, like Springsteen, to tell a deep and meaningful story in a few short verses.

She said Andy you crack me up,

Seagrams in a coffee cup,

sharecropper eyes and her hair almost all gone.

When she was drunk she made cancer jokes,

she made up her own doctor's notes,

surrounded by her family, I saw that she was dying alone.

It brings to mind some of the songs on Ryan Adams' Love Is Hell album which deals with the same tragic, personal loss. On a lighter note, Super 8 could have been written by Adams and was a great song to end the show on, being as it is, a great rock n' roll song with a catchy sing-a-long chorus. The audience danced and sang along as the show came to a rocking finale. Indeed, Jason explained that due to the curfew they would forgo the usual leaving stage, wait, return and play an encore part of the show and they blasted straight into Super 8 after the last song I wish to highlight, the wonderful Outfit. This is another autobiographical number and was written for Jason's dad who was a house painter to trade.

You wanna grow up to paint houses like me

With a trailer in my yard till you're 23

You wanna feel old after 42 years

Keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gear

The song is packed full of good advice and gives a nod to John Lennon with the line "Don't tell them you're bigger than Jesus" and advises one "Don't worry about losing your accent, cause a Southern Man tells better jokes"! And so the curtain came down metaphorically on another cracking gig. We had danced and sang. We had laughed and been brought near to tears and as we left the crypt of the former Kelvinside Parish Church, and spilled out onto Great Western Road we had a new musical experience to look back on with joy and delight.

 

ªThank you and good nightª

If the video link above doesn't work listen to Elephant here:

Set List

21:00

Flying Over Water

Stockholm
Tour Of Duty 
Decoration Day (Drive-By Truckers cover) 
Goddamn Lonely Love (Drive-By Truckers cover)
Heart On A String (Candi Staton cover)
Different Days
Live Oak
Alabama Pines
Cover Me Up
Relatively Easy
Songs That She Sang In The Shower 
New South Wales
Codeine 
Travelling Alone
Elephant 
Never Gonna Change (Drive-By Truckers cover)
Outfit (Drive-By Truckers cover)

(pretend) Encore 

21:55
Super 8

Drive-By Truckers @ O2 ABC, Glasgow Sunday 11 May 2014

The support act on the night were the 4 piece Heartless Bastards, who also supported the Drive-by Truckers back in 2004 according to vocalist Erika Wennerstrom. They are a garage, rock, grunge band from Cincinnati, Ohio, and they started the night off at around 7:30, running through a short, energetic, pumped up set. I really enjoyed the guitar work by both Erika and Mark Nathan and the extended live work out on several of their songs, particularly Simple Feeling, got the sparse crowd energised. Jesse Ebaugh (bass) and Dave Colvin (drums) kept things pounding along purposefully and many of the audience seemed enthusiastic and appreciative of the set. I also liked the final number, Low Low Low I think, which had a heavy country feel to it and it brought the first part of the gig to a fine ending.

By now the hall was starting to fill up and the age range was as diverse as I have seen for a while, a sure sign that the main event appeals to all comers! Also, and against current trends, the DBTs bounded onto the stage at about 20:40, some twenty minutes earlier than might have been expected. Patterson Hood later advised that their previous gig had had a tight curfew and that explained the eager start, they had a lot to get through after all!

So with a new album to promote, their tenth since 1998's debut Gangstabilly, it was perhaps inevitable that they would kick things off with track one from the current record English Oceans. What was immediately obvious was just how much Jay Gonzalez adds to the live sound. His guitar and keyboard work was fantastic and really augmented the sound, filling out, lifting up, driving on and generally enhancing the sonic experience. When one considers the ability of both Patterson and Mike on guitar, that is a compliment indeed.

The two front men traded songs, each singing lead in turn and occasionally helping out on duets and this is another of the bands real plus points for me. Mike and Patterson have very strong and distinctly different voices and so they can tell very different stories within the same band structure. Another major plus is the 3 three guitar set up which also allows great diversity to emerge in any given song. Indeed in several songs, Hell No, I Ain't Happy, Ronnie & Neil and Grand Canyon as examples, the trading between Mike, Jay and Patterson was mesmeric and awesome. I guess modelling oneself on Lynyrd Skynyrd makes great sense even if you call yourselves "Betamax Guillotine"!

So, for those who are new to the Drive-By Truckers, here is a brief précis: Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley formed the band in 1996 in that hot bed of music ingenuity Athens, Georgia (sometimes called the Liverpool of the South) and home to R.E.M and the B 52's amongst others and a cauldron for Appalachian bluegrass. The two lads had previously been members of Adam's House Cat, and an album called Town Burned Down exists and I would urge you to check it out if possible as you can hear the seeds of what was to blossom in to DBTs. Over the intervening years folk have come and gone and they all added to the band as they built their reputation. I would like to highlight two former members in particular, (formerly husband and wife) singer/songwriter/guitarist Jason Isbell (who will be in Glasgow on 17 May 2014) and bassist and vocalist Shonna Tucker of whom Hood said "her charm and spark will be irreplaceable and her part in our last decade of this band's history is indisputable." I for one will miss her vocal talents as her singing added another glorious dimension to the ensemble (check out her wonderful rendition of the Eddie Hinton song Where's Eddie from the Go-Go Boots album). So that brings us to today's lineup: Patterson Hood – guitar, vocals, bass, banjo, mandolin (1996 – present), Mike Cooley – guitar, vocals, bass, banjo, harmonica (1996 – present), Brad Morgan – drums (1999 – present), Jay Gonzalez – keyboards, guitar, vocals (2008 – present), Matt Patton – bass, vocals (2012 – present) and a damned fine band they make too in my humble opinion!

Next out the traps was When He's Gone on which Jay played some wonderful organ parts and my companion Nadia (a DBTs virgin!) said it reminded her of Neil Young which is not surprising as the great man gets a few name checks in the band's back catalogue, not least star billing on Ronnie & Neil on which Mike played some grand guitar with added "wah wah"!

 (Check out this link to an article about the song:)

I would also like to highlight Jay's keyboard work, both piano and organ, on Drag The Lake Charlie, Primer Coat, 72 (This Highway's Mean) and Marry Me on which he played piano left handed and guitar right!

Another stand out for me was Putting People On The Moon during which Brad, looking like a latter-day Otis Gibbs (if that's possible!), played some mighty fine, steady, stentorian drumming on the extended workout. The song includes the following lyrics:

“Mary Alice got cancer just like everybody here
Seems everyone I know is gettin’ cancer every year
And we can’t afford no insurance, I been 10 years unemployed
So she didn’t get no chemo so our lives they was destroyed
And nothing ever changes, the cemetery gets more full
And now over there in Huntsville, even NASA’s shut down too
Another joker in the White House, said a change was coming ‘round
but I’m still working at the Wal-Mart and Mary Alice in the ground.”

This brings me to another thing that attracts me to this band, the lyrics. They are often thought provoking (as above), laugh out loud as in Cartoon Gold or Get Downtown, or just telling stories about weird and wonderful folks as in When Walter Went Crazy or Drag The Lake Charlie.

Meanwhile, Matt Patton keep the beat rocking along as he worked up a sweat pounding out rhythms on his bass. I really enjoyed his playing on Uncle Frank and Grand Canyon and his playing and backing vocals on Hell No, I Ain't Happy added an extra dimension to the song which also included three great guitar solos from Jay, Patterson and Mike.

There was also a rather surreal moment during Girls Who Smoke when the lighting crew shone lights on the oversized glitter ball suspended above our heads sending shards of light out amongst the audience picking out a shaved head here, a grey haired old gezzer there and numerous bouncin' an boppin' folk all having a great time.

Then The guys took us back to the early days with Ronnie & Neil, 72 (This Highway's Mean) and 18 Wheels Of Love which Patterson dedicated to his wife Rebecca and his Mum (for Mother's Day) and her man Chester, a DBTs fan. This nostalgic episode extended into the encore when the band played three more older tunes including Let There Be Rock during which Patterson sang that he never saw the Clash, but he did see the Replacements and R.E.M! Then coming full circle they closed with the last song from the current album Grand Canyon. This turned into a lengthy mesmerising number and at one point Jay and Patterson were sitting on the stage trading guitar licks and rasping guitar necks over each other! As the instrumental part of the song became mantra-esque Patterson took his leave, followed shortly thereafter by Mike leaving the rest of the guys to play out the song. Then Jay set his guitar up to produce fuzzed up feed back and he too left the stage allowing Brad and Matt to pound out an accompanying beat. We were groovin', movin', ecstatic and exhilarated as Matt took his bow and headed off stage right leaving Brad to hold the beat under a blaze of light, then finally he too, left us as Jay's guitar continued to feed back and the lights went down on a wonderful night of great lyrics, wonderful singing, fantastic guitar playing, fabulous keyboards, energetic bass and beat perfect drumming. The audiences were delighted and we all trudged out onto Sauchiehall Street eagerly discussing the personal highlights from a memorable gig. One that will surely be a year highlight.

Cheers lads, and haste ye back.

20:40
Shit Shots Count
When He's Gone
Gravity's Gone
Drag The Lake Charlie
Primer Coat
My Sweet Annette
Uncle Frank
Putting People On The Moon
Made Up English Oceans
Girls Who Smoke
Hearing Jimmy Loud
Ronnie & Neil
72 (This Highway's Mean)
18 Wheels Of Love
Marry Me
Hell No, I Ain't Happy
22:02

Encore
22:09
3 Dimes Down
Let There Be Rock
Zip City
Grand Canyon

22:35

The John Butler Trio @ O2 Academy, Eglinton Street, Glasgow. Saturday 26 April 2014

I first heard The John Butler Trio in my local about 3 years ago and have enjoyed much of their music since. I have been especially interested in John's guitar technique and his ability to play the instrument has clear resonances of the late, great Jimi Hendrix.

And so it was with much anticipation that, on a balmy, late spring evening, we approached the venue, passed through the ever increasing ranks of security and found ourselves a good vantage point to take in the show. If you have read my previous blogs, you may recall that the venue is a former 'picture hall' which still possesses some of it's former grandeur and has become a regular on the live music circuit in Glasgow. The downstairs section was filling up and a real buzz was evident long before the band appeared at 21:00.

The various bars were doing a grand trade as the audience geared up and fuelled up for a great night ahead.  So before we get to the main course, here is a little entrée:

The John Butler Trio is an Australian roots, blues, funk, rock, folk and jam band led by virtuoso guitarist and vocalist John Butler (born in L. A. County in California). They formed in Fremantle, Australia on 27 December 1998 and have produced six studio albums and released three live albums to date. The trio has been big in Australia for the past decade, however, it seems that at long last the rest of the world is catching up, particularly fuelled on by the live shows and tonight was to be no exception.

From the outset John Butler bamboozled and perplexed us on Revolution from 2010s April Uprising album as he drew out the sound of strings and electric guitar from his acoustic instrument!  The other two band members Byron Luiters (bass, keyboards & vocals) and Grant Gerathy (drums, percussion & vocals) were an integral part of the sound. Byron pumped out a solid grounding over which Grant and John wove their blend of magical, musical tapestry. Grant, who hails from Byron Bay, New South Wales (a magical place where I have had the pleasure of watching the sun rise!) previously played with Byron in Ray Mann Three before they teamed up with JB. Serendipity, surely!

 

 

Looking like an antipodean version of Mathew Houck (Phosphorescent), JB stood as the left hand book end, with Byron Luiters the right, to Grant Gerathy stationed in the back and middle of the stage. JB was surrounded by a plethora of gadgets which enabled him to make his banjo sound like an acoustic guitar, his acoustic guitar sound like his electric guitar and his electric guitar sound like, well, his electric guitar on speed at times! There is a feeling of the master class to some of his playing, I don't mean that in a negative way, but I found myself often trying to work out how he achieved certain sounds, rather than just wallowing in it and groovin'.

 

The audience in front of me certainly were propelled along by the music which in turns was pseudo reggae, hard rock, Celtic and bluesy. It is no surprise to discover that the band's musical influences include: Black Sabbath, Bob Marley, Paul Kelly, The Meters, De LA Soul, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Jimi Hendrix, Beastie Boys and Jane’s Addiction to note but a few. I was bowled along by it all, however, some of the songs were given extended workouts without adding much to the overall merit of the song in my humble opinion.

On a positive note, I really enjoyed Grant's laid back, country, rail road rhythm drumming on Spring To Come the opener from the current album Flesh And Blood; Byron's thrumming, strumming double bass playing on Better Than from 2007's album Grand National and JB's mock reggae and extended psychedelic guitar blazing on Blame It On Me the longest track from the current album.

However, the highlight really had to be John's solo acoustic section where he (predictably?) played a staggering version of Ocean from 1998's John Butler. The original is a 12 minute 28 second masterpiece and was the first song of his that I heard and so I was doubly pleased to hear it played live, sublime! This piece has tinges of Raga within it, the Indian classical music which literally means "colour, hue" but also "beauty, melody" which describe the tune perfectly. Incidentally, I suspect that playing this tune takes some major powers of concentration and focus and it was the first time that I have seen the style of playing (since Hendrix) where much of the work is done by the 'left' hand on the neck of the guitar, and the body provides the percussion. (John Gomm is a fine exponent of the style as well).

There was one more highlight for me and that was the drum beat intro to Devil Woman, another from the current album, and it really got the audience dancing along to the staccato guitar cords and mantra-esque chanted chorus.

At around 22:30 the band left the stage after the funky Zebra and, following a short interval, they returned to perform a 15 minute, 2 song encore starting the second part of the show with the second track from the latest album and culminating with 2007's Funky Tonight. These three songs stoked the audience into a swirling, grooving, vibrating mass and finally, after some 90 minutes, the band left the stage to rapturous applause. Another throng of happy, satiated music fans shuffled out of the O2 Academy and onto Eglington Street and the warmth of a late spring night in Glasgow.

 

 

Set List

21:00

Revolution

Used To Get High
Cold Wind
I'd Do Anything (Soldier's Lament)
Spring To Come
Only One
Hoe Down
Better Than
Blame It On Me
Pickapart
Ocean (Solo)
Don't Wanna See Your Face
Devil Woman
How You Sleep At Night
Zebra

22:30

Encore

Livin' In The City

Funky Tonight

10:50



 

Sons of Bill @ Stereo, Renfrew Lane, Sunday 9 March 2014

The heavens had opened on the journey to the gig and it was "chuckin' it down" in my parlance, a veritable downpour which for Glasgow in early March was nothing unusual. However, James Wilson, the lead singer for the Sons of Bill either hadn't noticed or was just so pleased to be in Glasgow that he made no mention of it when he said that the band were delighted to be in our fair city!

But before we get to the main act, a quick mention of the ever impressive support act, The Wynntown Marshals. In fact on this occasion the Wynntowns were more than a mere support, they were largely instrumental in getting the Wilson brothers up to Scotland and so a double thanks lads, much appreciated! The guys set off their relatively short set with a great rendition of thier current album opener Driveaway, their nod towards the mighty The Hold Steady. There then followed great versions of Canada, There Was A Time, Low Country Comedown and All That I Want to name a few. These songs and the band's ability to bring them alive have all grown since I first heard them back in early May 2013 in Oran Mor. As I mentioned in a previous blog about the Wynntowns, they are all great musicians who have a superb feel for country rock and I still can't believe that these guys are 'home grown'! However, I would like to make special mention of Iain Sloan's fine guitar work and Ritchie Nobel's keyboard playing which I think is really starting to define their sound. Murdo McLeod's Tide brought the set to an end and it was as fine a piece of country rock as you are likely to hear, starting as it does with slow guitar and keyboard notes, then building into a smooth swooning musical passage before finally crashing into a band workout during which everyone added magnificently to the mix. There are also some great chanting vocals towards the end of the song which was very reminiscent of Turn It Up by The Sons of Bill, but more of that later. It certainly left me wanting more and I hope one day to get to hear the sublime Snowflake performed live as well!

The stage was then set for The Sons of Bill (literally!) and the five lads launched into Lost In The Cosmos. It is perhaps no surprise that these two bands gelled when they met on a European tour and have remained friends as they have the same musical set up and musical ethos: drums, bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and keyboards. In the case of the SoB these roles are played by Todd Wellons, Seth Green, Sam Wilson, James Wilson and Abe Wilson respectively. The band (named in tribute to the trios Dad) hail from Charlottesville, Viginia which from a west of Scotland perspective sounds just so right! 

Sam Wilson

Sam, looking like a morphing of Mike Mills and a young Warren Zevon, got things off to a great start by playing some accomplished pedal steel guitar to augment the sound then he stepped up to take over lead guitar duties, a task that I considered he undertook magnificanetly. As the night played out the rest of the band all showed why these guys are held in such esteem. Each band member contributed some fine vocal harmonies, instrumentation and some mighty fine melodies. They are a relatively young band with 3 albums to their credit and are about to release No 4 Love & Logic. They formed in 2006 when the three Wilson boys teamed up and started playing some of James' songs and the rest, as they say is their story! Also, they have some really fine songs in their catalogue with a couple of strong stand outs, both of which were played on the night: Santa Ana Winds and Virginia Calling, both real anthems in the making which bring to mind Springsteen and Tom Petty, yeah, they are that good!. 

Taking on the role of lead vocalist, James looks the part with his rugged good looks and deep voice which give the band an instant and identifiable sound and vision. Also the three brothers are able to create some truely fine harmonies which were very evident during Roll On Jordan and Santa Ana Winds which includes the killer lines:

There ain't no skatin' by, we're all gonna die

No matter what the plastic surgeon told you.

Sam played some great guitar parts and some of his solos were top notch. I was blown away by the solo at the end of Turn It Up which, as I mentioned before, also has a chanting segment and it echoed the Wynntown Marshals Tide to great effect. Sam's playing on Virginia Calling and Siren Song were also a joy to behold. And over on the other side of the stage Abe sat studiously playing some great piano solos on Turn It Up, The Tree and Roll On Jordan. Architecture's loss was to be our gain as Abe had been studying the profession prior to joining his brothers in the band. 

James Wilson & Seth Green

Meanwhile Todd Wellons and Seth Green played sound, clipped, pumping drum and bass and I really enjoyed Todd's playing on Road To Canaan, I thought that the shaker and brush work added greatly to the song. These two also laid down some powerful, pounding, pulsating beats to push Landslide and Bad Dancer along. In addition the pair tied down great slow bass notes and rim shots on the wonderful Joey's Arm. Exhilarating stuff! 

Then the band served up a great finale with Virginia Calling followed by Santa Ana Winds, two songs that really capture the essence of their sound for me. Great vocals, thoughtful & cerebral lyrics, sublime harmonies, wonderful guitar and keyboards and all underscored by a solid, strong, stentorian bottom end. 

Todd Wellons

Santa Ana Winds, the first track from 2012's album Sirens and written by Abe starts with William Faulkner speaking lines from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: "When the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, even then there will still be one more sound: that of man's puny, inexhaustible voice, still talking." Then bam the song starts and the beat pounds out.

After these two anthems, which I can just picture being sung in stadium venues in years to come, we were left wanting more and the guys obliged with a two song encore. James and Abe returned to the stage and were about to start on a preferred choice when a persistent voice from the audience got them to change their minds and play Broken Bottles from 2009's One Town Away album. It was an inspired request as it allowed Abe to lay down a great keyboard solo and James sang the soulful lyrics beautifully:

Hank Williams might have been a love-sick drinker

but bein a love sick-drunk doesn't make you Hank

Abe Wilson

Then to wind things up the band returned and they performed another of Abe's songs, the cracking Last Call At Eschaton which is a great song to end a show on. The slow military-esque drum rolls started off the song as James sang the refrain, "Just remember that the twilight looks a whole lot like the dawn," as the rest of the guys joined in to pound out another wonderful slab of country rock pointing out that you can't look behind you if your back is against the wall! All I can add is that I will look back on this gig as one of those great serendipitous events when two bands reaching a cohesive plateau performed some damned fine music which kept the audience exhilerated, excited, entranced and entertained for a few wonderful hours. Thanks for a cracking night and haste ye back!

Seriously, what's not to like!

SET LIST:

Lost In Cosmos
Siren Song
The Tree
Bad Dancer
Turn It Up
Joey's Arm
Landslide
Brand New Paradigm
Road To Canaan
Roll On Jordan
Never Saw it Coming
Virginia Calling
Santa Ana Winds

ENCORE:
Broken Bottles
Last Call At Eschaton

Deer Tick @ Broadcast, Sauchiehall St, Glasgow. Saturday 18 January 2014

And so we head back to the pub Broadcast on Sauchiehall Street for the first review of the year. I have actually seen five other bands so far but sadly, as this is a hobby, I haven't been able to spare them the due care and attention that they deserve. 

On arrival we availed ourselves of the pub's great burgers and the ground floor bar area was buzzin' as we say, nae, hotchin'! A girl next to us was able to buy a ticket off another attendee which was a sure sign of a sell out and so it was to prove with standing room only and several late comers having to 'enjoy' the show from the stairs which descend to the basement venue.

Having eaten, we managed to get 'up, close and personal' with the support act, a punky, punchy, plucky trio from London by the name of Great Cynics. On stage we had Bob on drums, Giles on lead guitar / vocals and Iona (from Devon) on bass guitar / vocals. Their sound is indie punk / rock and on occasions I could hear the late Poly Styrene from X-Ray Spex in Iona's vocals. The band's influences include The Replacements, The Get Up Kids, The Lemonheads and fellow 'Londoner' Billy Bragg. I was interested to note that both Giles and Iona favoured the low slung rock guitar stance as popularised by many of the 'dinosaur' bands so detested by the original punk movement!

Great Cynics

The guys rattled through their set and played some fine grooves which, judging by those at the front of the ever thickening crowd, was appreciated and went down extremely well. I thought Bob's drumming was particularly engaging and there were one or two songs on which he played some great propelling beats. In a small band like this, each band member has to carry their fair share of the load and to my ears there were no slackers on show. The bass and guitar solos segued well and together, diminutive Iona and lofty Giles laid down some fine foot shaking, hip groovin', head boppin' tunes. Stand out tracks for me were Back To Hackney (great pumping drums and bass) and Queen Of The Anarchists with its simple sing-a-long and slow-flow tempo chorus. 

The basement of Broadcast is small, the stage tight and so the band did well to pound out their interpretation of solid rocking punk keeping us buoyed up for the main act. As a devotee and survivor of the mid to late seventies I thoroughly enjoyed the set.

Head to the band's Facebook page to order a copy of their current CD Like I Belong. Incidentally and in keeping with another of punk's tenants, the longest song of the 13 on the album is only 4:01 long, with only one other making it beyond 3:00.

Check out the band singing Back To Hackney here.....

John McCauley

Deer Tick came on stage at about 21:00 and John Joseph McCauley sat at the piano with his guitar in his lap and he and Robert Crowell began The Rock with some low fi tinkled playing on the keyboards. Then the rest of the band crashed into the song and the show was off and running. 

Robert Crowell

This bunch of five guys, who come from Providence, Rhode Island, spent the next hour or so playing their brand of rock, tinged with the essence of folk, country and blues to great effect and the songs, mainly from the current album Negativity, were laid down thick and fast. The journey was a veritable roller coaster, at times we were regaled with lovely lilting keyboard solos as in Just Friends and The Dream's in The Ditch and at other times we were pulverised with hypnotic, frenetic, pumping guitar salvos as in Main Street, Mirror Walls and Let's All Go To The Bar.

John McCauley, who has a gravelly, gritty voice on record, sounded even more hoarse on the night and he attributed it to sleep deprivation. As Graeme Virtue stated in his Guardian review of the the band's Manchester gig two nights later John's voice sounded "even raspier than usual, a traumatised croak that adds a lived-in, caustic edge to Deer Tick's ramshackle racket", indeed! I would add that it is this quality of voice that first attracted me to the band and I would go so far as to suggest that it is one of the aspects of Deer Tick that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries. I would bracket John's singing along side that of Taylor Goldsmith from my other favourite current band - Dawes!

Another song that I really enjoyed on the night was Mr Sticks and I was zoned out listening to John and Ian O'Neil trading guitar licks whilst Robert added some cool, laid back, mesmerising organ notes. Sublime! 

Ian O'Neil

As I said, the gig was a sell out and I have no doubt that the next time these guys wheel their wagon back into town we will be together again in a larger venue. Unfortunately, on the night I was unable to see much of either Dennis Ryan (drums) or Christopher Ryan (bass) as they were set well back (Dennis) and off to the right (Christopher) of the stage from where I had carved out a slot for myself in the front row. However, I was still able to enjoy their respective contributions and between them they kept the beat rollicking along helping to fill out the sound of guitars and keyboards.

Vanessa Carlton

I was really pleased that the band played two of my favourite Deer Tick songs. The aforementioned Let's All Go To The Bar which is a 'stonking' sing-a-long drinking song in the style of the fabulous Ramones and the slow, sultry duet In Our Time for which the new Mrs McCauley (Vanessa Carlton) appeared on stage. I was put in mind of some of the duets sung by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, Vanessa sounding much more like Emmylou than John did Ingram Cecil Connor III! Someone in the audience shouted out that the newly weds should kiss and they duly obliged, an occurrence that was apparently repeated in Manchester! Not a bad way to spend ones honeymoon, eh!

Christopher Ryan

And so, after 12 songs there was a short interlude then John returned to the stage and sang solo a short rendition of The Beatles Octopus's Garden whilst playing drums! He then took up his guitar again and performed Smith Hill from 2010's Born On Flag Day album after which the others came back on stage to run through several more songs before finally leaving us wanting more! And Oh Boy did we want more! 

Dennis Ryan

Many of the Deer Tick songs use superb brass instrumentation, especially those from Negativity and I was concerned as to how they would sound stripped of what after all is an integral part of the recorded sound. I needn't have feared as the lads filled out the sound and much credit should go to Robbie for his wonderful (at times faint and at times thunderous, deft in place and stentorian in others) keyboard playing. So thanks for stopping by Deer Tick and haste ye back, cheers. 

Check out Deer Tick singing In Our Time here.....

Set List (21:00)

The Rock
The Dream's In The Ditch
Just Friends
Oh Boy (Buddy Holly cover)
Let's All Go To The Bar
Mr Sticks
Twenty Miles
In Our Time (with Vanessa Carlton)
Thyme
The Curtain
Miss K.
These Old Shoes

Encore (21:40)

Octopus's Garden (Beatles cover)
Smith Hill
Ashamed
Main Street
Mirror Walls

(22:05)