REVIEW MUSIC
t Flowered
s-
The Tunnel. (ilasgovv, 3Sepr
The Tunnel should be the ideal venue for tonight's line-up. a charged meeting of rock theatrics and dance stance. btit as the meandering masses troop in oil. the pavements the atmosphere is one of lethargy . not anticipation.
Straight into the thick ot this blanket of apathy come saidflorence. belated additions to the bill because art interested London Records want to see how they 'II cope in the Tunnel environment.
All along. \aidl’lor'cncos saving grace has been Attitude. Captain America aside. no other West of Scotland up-and-comers hav e the embellishingw it ol this Bellsltill brigade but tonight even that prop fails them and the ongoing mystery that four lads fresh out of their teens and hrimful of enthusiasm should want to re-create the turgid soundscapes ot mid-711sprogressive rockers ( Yes. Pink I’ond. IiI.P. take your pick) thickens by the second.
Soul I’amily Sensation make a tedious mid- evening proposition. Their set is cntirelv perfunctoryzeven ‘! Don't liven Know lfl Should Call You Baby' drowns in its own sense of professionalism.
Distressingly enough. Andy Weatherall's pre-headliner DJing slot is the most inspired piece of playlisting all night. Or we assume it's Weatherall v the hairy in the DJ's box spends most of his time hunched anonymously over his turntables. Flowered L'p go largely unrecognised too while they mince around the bar area. but once onstage their peculiar elevation beyond the realms of Everyday People is complete. It's misplaced adulation though — this band have made a career out of being ordinary blokes and here they do their level best to wallow in their most mediocre moments. ()nly ‘Silver Pan' with its frenetic jangling hooks and the always-excellent ‘Take It' cut the crap. Doris may still be A Little Bit Partial but my interest is waning. (Fiona Shepherd)
GOODBYE MR MACKENZIE
Oueen‘s Hall, Edinburgh. 1 Sept. Whirling along, Pure Blind Panic are having a whale of a time. Tonight, they‘re The Waterboys meeting The Wonder Stuff outside The PearTree, challenging each other to a square go and beating seven shades of folkpunk shitout of each other.
Soooo. . . it‘sferociously proficient. sweatin exciting, thickly stodgy. Occasionally, they are nimble. Othertimes, the nasal syrup vocals and breakneck strumming begin to irk, veering towards the monotone and the monochrome. Still, it‘s intensely- wrought stuff, and with more melody, less beef. they— and we —would be laughing.
Humourwas never something that figured largely in the Goodbye Mr Mackenzie canon. Maybe that‘s why one of Scotland‘s most consistently
challenging bands are so despised by the arbiters of taste, I don’t think, that are the London music press. This is ROCK writ large and in vaguely tacky 70s lettering, its all-out viscerality not easily reconciled with current trends. Of course, we know THEY‘RE wrong and we’re goddam right.
Funereal drums and blue lights. The Mackenzies start as they don‘t mean to go on. ‘Jezebel' is new, sombre, broody and clingineg mock-operatic in its proportions. Not the band at their most convincing. Things pick up when the speed picks up. ‘Digging A Hole‘ leaps to its feet then grinds to a halt. The crash barrier stagelront is collapsing. Fearing a Pixies-like stushie, the band troop off. Ten minutes later, they return, making up for lost time with the gothic soap of “Now We Are Married’, finding their stride with ‘His Master‘s Voice‘, galloping off with ‘Open YourArms’. It‘s in such huge chorused live epics that Goodbye Mr Mackenzie find their true vocation.
‘Haped three times, raped three times/By the boys from the pub/Sorry, the fire alarm‘s gone off, you’ll have to leave the building.‘ And so it goes, their best song ruined as the evening heads towards fiasco territory.
Finally, ‘BlackerThan Black’ appears. A rip-roaring, donkey-beating, helter skelter better. That good, and the velocitous zenith of a singularly spunky band. Like their career so far, against the odds they pulled it off. (Craig McLean)
V LIVE NINE INCH NAILS
King Tut‘s Wah Wah Hut. Glasgow,
6 Sept.
From the word go, it's clear that Nine Inch Nails‘ Scottish debut is regarded as An Event. Tickets sold like bog roll at the Reading Festival and a large blackboard atthe venue entrance proclaims that this gig is most definitely sold out. Nevertheless, some crusty diehards attempt to wheedle money and/or tickets out of the smug legions with the toresightto invest early. Inside the renovated Tut‘s, anticipation hangs in the air. as overbearing as the humidity.
The spread of punters indicates the breadth of the band‘s appeal; the obligatory NIN T-shirts compare sweat stains with the likes of The Senseless Things, Donington, Nirvana. 1000 Home DJs (yol). Primal Scream and, er, Voice of the Beehive garments. And so it goes with Nine Inch Nails' music. The current single, ‘Head Like A Hole‘, is a testament to their capability in side-stepping the easy pigeonhole. This is not cyberpunk Eurobeat terrorism. This is not heavy funk metal. lt's . . . a bit of both actually.
When Jane’sAddiction's Lollapalooza cavalcade hit smalltown USA, Nine Inch Nails were one of the first to burn the stage — a terrifying overture to yourworst nightmares and wildest dreams. But tonight there‘s none of the danger we've been led to expect. The moshing multitude might as well be watching Mega City Four for
all the fear and loathing they throw back onto the stage. Good grief, a few people on the sidelines actually appear to be enjoying themselves. To a band who base theirwhole oeuvre on negative energy, this must be frustrating, but the fact is Nine Inch Nails are surprisingly safe, only mildly disturbing attheir most extreme. Frontman Trent Reznor is no more bilious than a basset hound with bunions, daubed randomly with fluorescent paint, a first class graduate from the Jaz Coleman school of pantomime make-up and rent-a-tantrum performance.
lsuspect, I hope, this is an off-night. The sheer brutality of Nine Inch Nails’ records has to translate better than this. (Fiona Shepherd)
I V BOOK NOW
Concerts listed are those at majorvenues. forwhich tickets are on public sale at time ofgoing ofpress.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAND (226 4679) Dinosaur .Jr. 2‘) Sep; Level 42. .3 ()ct; Psychedelic Furs. 4 ()ct; Black Crowes. 8 ()ct: T'Pau. 11 ()ct; Kevin McDermott. 12 Oct; The Cramps. in ()ct; Billy Bragg. ISQct: Stiff Little Fingers. 1‘) ()ct; Carter The L'nstoppable Sex Machine. 2 Nov; James. (1 Nov; Tin Machine. 7 Nov; Fish. ll) Nov; The Farm. 1 Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (332 3123) Chesney Ilawkes. 22 ()ct; Neil Sedaka. 24 ()ct; Iilkie Brooks. 3 Nov;'I'amrny Wynette. 12 Nov.
I GLASGOW SECCISS? (i969) Sting. 23 Nov; Chris Rea. 2‘) Nov; New Kids On The Block. 8 Dec: (iary (ilitter. 23-24 Dec: Simply Red. 27Jan.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Blues Band. 5 Oct; Don .‘vchean. 16
()ct.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (5572591)) Level 42. (i Oct: Alice Cooper. 8 ()ct; Black Crowes. 1()Oct; Extreme. 13 Oct; Lloyd Cole. 18 ()ct; Chesney Hawkes, 21 Oct; Seal. 22 Oct; Elkie Brooks. 2 Nov; Kylie Minogue. 4 Nov; The Moody Blues. 7 Nov; James. 8 Nov; Midge L're. 13 Nov; Lenny Kravitz.l Dec: The Pogues. 2 Dec; Squeeze. 3 Dec: Fish. 31
Dec.
I EDINBURGH QUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) Billy Bragg. 20 ()ct.
I LIVINGSTON FORUM ((131 3576%9)The Shamen. 4—5 ()ct.
JAZZ & FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALLl332 3123) Arthur II. 3 ()ct; Bobby Watson‘s Horizon. lll()el: Eberhard Weber-(iary Boyle Quartet. 21 Nov;
Whistle Stop Jazz Tour. 26 '
Nov. I GLASGOW PAVILION
(332 lS-Ifirl'heChieftains.
21 ()ct.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S
HALL (mix 2019) Arthur
[1.4 Oct; Bobby Watson‘s Horizon. 13 ()ct; Doky
, Brothers.2'7()ct;
I Eberhard Weber-(iary
Extreme Boyle Quartet. 23 Nov.
LIGHT
IGLASGOW CONCERT HALL(332 3123) Daniel ()‘Donnell. l»-3()ct. IGLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Dominic Kirwin. ts‘ ()ct'. Sydney Devine. 2+2fi ()ct '. .loe I..ongtliorne. 3t) ( )ct.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 259(1) .‘ylarti Webb ck .‘ylark Battray. 7 ()ct'. Rebecca Storm. ll()ct; John Dcnver.21l()ct; Iingelbert llumperdinck. 21 Nov.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL(332 312.3 ) Scottish 1-‘iddle()rchestra.2S Sep: Cityof(ilasgovv Phil. 2‘) Sepz'l‘okyo S(). SQct‘. Isaac Stern. I Nov; Leningrad Phil. 21 Nov. I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057' ) The Soldier’s'l'ale. 27 28 Sep; Scottish Iinsemble. l 1 ()ct; (iyorgy Pauk ck Roger Vignoles. 17 ()ct; Borodin String Quartet. 21 Nov; Scottiin linsemble. 22 Nov; Margaret Price tv Graham Johnson. 5 Dec; Anthony Rolt'eJohnson. 23 Jan; Scottish Ensemble. 24Jaanohn Williams. (1 Feb: Scottish Ensemble. 28 Feb; John Lill.12 .‘vlar1Scotish Ensemble. lllApr.
I GLASGOW SECC(557 0969) Jose Carreras. 9 Dec.
I EDINBURGH QUEEN'S HALL (6va 2019) Alleng String Quartet. 7Qct; Evelyn (ilennie. 21 Oct: Beaux Arts Trio. lSNov‘. SongmakersAlmanac. 17 Feb; Brindisi String Quartet. loMar.
I SUBSCRIPTION
SEASONS Public booking
is open for the Winter Seasons featuring the
Royal Scottish Orchestra. the Scottiin Chamber Orchestra. BBC Scottiin Symphony Orchestra and Scottish ()pera. Leaflets
are available from the organisationsconcerned.
or from the venues. ()rcheslras: (ilasgovs International Concert
Hall (332 3123); Cityllall. Cilasgovv (227 5511);
L'sher Hall. Iidinburgh (22S1155);Qucen’sllall. Iidinburgh (obs 2tll‘)). Scottish Opera: Theatre Royal. (ilasgow (33]
1234); Playliouse. I Itdinburgh (55" 2591)).
The List 13 — 26 September 199133