MUSIC REVIEW MUSIC
The
Playhouse, Edinburgh. 10 Oct.
The Black Crowes debut album. Shake Your Money Maker. suggested there was still life in the tired R&B beast and that a love ofearly 70s rock music didn't necessarily relegate a band to mere retrogression. However. on the strength of tonight‘s offering. The Black Crowes are no more the saviours of rock and roll than any band that plays a Preservation Hall residency. Dirty great guitar riffs are all well and good but as the basis ofan entire set they inevitably become somewhat wearisome. As a spectacle. the band are also lacking— the no-nonsense approach means visuals of any kind (unless you count a couple of joss sticks either side of the stage) are deemed unnecessary. Lead singer Chris Robinson thus becomes the focal point. but after observing his between song vocabulary. consisting almost entirely of various combinations of ‘pissed‘ and ‘pussy‘. and the fact he was in dire need of a decent meal. there was little else of interest.
It isn‘t entirely the band's fault. The sound is terrible. reducing the guitars to a quagmire of noise punctuated (all too rarely) by excellent Hammond organ flourishes. The crowd. too. are less than fervent. only really coming alive once they hear the ‘l lard To llandle' single. There are exceptions. ofeourse. One punter seems to have decided his purpose in life was to heckle Robinson. who takes the law into his own hands and leaps four rows into the auditorium. landing. no doubt. on the offending heckler's unprotected head. Before long. he is joined by most
The show had to goon. however. and we are treated to the rest ofthe set rather than a full-blown riot. Now I know which I'd have preferred. (James Haliburton)
V LIVE
of the band and road crew.
V LIVE
f ANGELIOUE KIDJO
Oueen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 16 Oct. Small but perfectly formed is the phrase which springs to mind while watching the diminutive human dynamo that is Angelique Kidjo. Born in Benin, West Africa, now based in Paris, Kidjo concocts a slick, highly potent mix of African styles like makossa and zouk, liberally spiced with funk, soul and reggae, a hard electric edge complementing the driving choppy drumming drawn from the music of her home country. And she’s some performer— not much ever live foot tall, by my reckoning, shaven-headed and sparking with energy as she struts her stuff like the proverbial whirling dervish, sometimes leaping off the stage to join in with the audience, most of whom have been up on their feet since the first couple of songs.
Though seemingly unperturbed by the somewhat sparse crowd, she’s
. keen for those of us who are there to
' have a good time, demanding (and
receiving) confirmation that we’re doing just that in her heavily accented
' English, getting us to sing the bassline . of a slower, sparer, chant-like number, ' providing the springboard for her
powerful, resonant voice to take off and soar. And then, as the irresistible, rapid-fire chattering of the bongos starts up once more, she’s off again and so are we.
Kidjo's is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan sound, astuter crafted — the hard, percussion-driven dance rhythms overlaid with African melodies and vocal styles would sound equally at home in the clubs as they did in this ‘World Music' setting. I’d have quite liked a few more numbers where the band took a back seat to her stirring vocal range, demonstrated best in the throat-catching a cappella number she belted out for the first encore, but that’s
a minor personal quibble. This young ' woman could go far. (Sue Wilson)
i ' nome
Exhibition Centre, lngliston, Fri 18. The devil in me thought that Hoxette (‘Joyrlde’, remember?) would be hard ’ pushed to fill the tap-room of the Dog 1 and Ferret, never mind lngliston. Incredibly, lam wrong, and the throng of Gene lookalikes in Hagar The = Horrible T-shirts- and their boyfriends ‘ - are well pleased by tonight‘s bizarre entertainment. 2 Glass Tiger are ‘Canada’s top rock act’. Not a very promising start, really. They had a 1986 hit with ‘Oon’t Forget Me’, which they probably played (nine
times), but nobody seemed to notice.
A Much huffing and puffing about ‘lurve’ atop flaccid muse-rock, and,
thankfully, they’re off. Can’t be many
: ‘rock acts’ in Canada, methinks.
A massive wait follows, while Gazza
and her man get restless. Lights down.
Enter. . . a nervous piper in full regalia who, amid a squall of feedback, plays ‘Flower of Scotland’ unaccompanied. Cue bedlam. Only soft drinks are on sale now, and the Gascoignes love every minute.
Enter Sweden’s second most famous rock act. Watching Hoxette is like having had sex— a minute in, you know you're wasting your time, but you hang in there anyway just in case the earth moves accidentally. And, of course, it doesn’t. lt‘s Peters and Lee in sequins and leather; she does a ham striptease and he plays harmonica over impotent pap unaided by the aircraft-hangar venue and muddy sound mix. lt’s somnambulent soft-rock— a reviewer’s dream; all the songs sound the same and they all sound like ‘Joyride’. It’s a mess of arrogant posturing (she's Hazel O’Connor circa ‘Breaking Glass’) and second-hand Euro-pop; only ‘Dangerous' and the passable ‘Fading Like A Flower’ stand out. A fat Goth and his bottle-blonde floozie; they make Glass Tiger look sexy.
In the car park, Gazza says it’s the best concert she's seen since Shakin’
. Stevens. You connect the dots on that I one. (PaulWHullah)
; v BOOK now
' Concerts listed are those at
‘ major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going of press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARRDWLAND (226 4679) Fish. 10Nov; Tesla. l4 Nov;The Farm. 1 Dec; Squeeze. 2 Dec; Ramones. 4 Dec: My Bloody Valentine. 12 Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL(227 551 l)Tammy Wynette. 12 Nov; Buddy Guy, 24 Nov; Nanci Griffith. 2 Dec; Deacon Blue. 30—31 Dec.
I GLASGOW SECC (557 6969) Sting. 23 Nov; Chris Rea, 29 Nov; Status Quo. 30 Nov: New Kids On The Block. 8 Dec; Gary Glitter. 23—24 Dec; Simply Red. 27 Jan; Eric Clapton. 3 Mar; Cliff Richard, 29—31 Oct.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHDUSE (557 2590) James. 9 Nov: Midge L're. 13 Nov; Skid Row. 14 Nov; Chuck Berry. 20 Nov; Buddy Guy. 23 Nov; The Cult. 24 Nov; Lenny Kravitz. 1 Dec; The Pogues. 2 Dec; Squeeze. 3 Dec; Bonnie Raitt. 4 Dec; Paul Young. 8 Dec; Fish. 31 Dec.
I EDINBURGH QUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) Bootleg Beatles. 2 Dec: Gong Maison. 4 Dec.
JAZZ & FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511)Mardi Gras. 8 Nov; Eberhard Weber—Gary Boyle Quartet. 21 Nov; Whistle Stop Jazz Tour. 26 Nov; Chick Corea Elektric Band. 26 Mar; Sonny Rollins. 21 Apr.
I GLASGOW THEATRE ROYAL(332 9000) Carol Kidd, 27 Dec.
I EDINBURGH DUEEN'S I‘IALL (668 2019) Steve \Mlliamson. 8 Nov; Rumillajta. 13 Nov; Peanuts llucko. 15 Nov; Davy Spillane. 20 Nov; Sheila Jordan. 22 Nov; Eberhard Weber—Gary Boyle Quartet. 23 Nov; Brian Kellock Boptet. 29; Chick Lyall Norwegian Quartet. 61)ec; Dick Gaughan. 10 Dec: Andy Sheppard. 13 Dec: Clarsach Concert. 15 Dec: Jazz Ball. 20 Dec.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW PAVILION (3321846)]oe Longthorne. 14—17 Nov. I EDINBURGH PLAYHDUSE (557 2590) Engelbert llumperdinck. 21 Nov.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Stockholm Phil. 17 Nov; Leningrad Phil. 21 Nov. I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) Musica Antiqua Cologne. 8 Nov: John Currie Singers. 10Nov; Wind Band. 14 Nov; Leda Piano Trio. 15 Nov; Soundstrata. 16Nov;
RSO—RSAMD
Centenary. 19 Nov;
j Borodin String Quartet. 21 Nov;Scottish
Ensemble. 22 Nov: Hebrides Ensemble. 24
Nov; SCO Brass. 29 Nov; Glasgow Chamber ()rchestra. 1 Dec;
Margaret Price 6’: Graham
. Johnson. 5 Dec; SEMC. 6
Dec; SL'MC. 18 Dec; Junior Concert. 21 Dec; Anthony Rolfe Johnson. 23Jan: Scottish Ensemble. 24Jan’. SCO Brass. 25 Jaianohn Williams. 6 Feb; Scottish Ensemble. 28 Feszohn Lill. l2 Mar;Scotish Ensemble. 10Apr: SCO Brass. 11 Apr.
I GLASGOW SECC(557 6969) Jose Carreras. 9 Dec.
I EDINBURGH DUEEN'S HALL (6682019) BirminghamCMG. 11 Nov; Edinburgh SO. 16 Nov; Beaux Arts Trio. 18
3 Nov; Scottish Ensemble.
24 Nov: Hebrides Ensemble. 25 Nov; SCO Brass. 28 Nov; Scottish Sinfonia. 1 Dec: SEMC.5 Dec; Meadows CO. 7 Dec; George MacKay Brown Concert. 8 Dec;
: Cappella Nova. 21 Dec;
Scottish Ensemble. 26 Jan; ECAT—SSPCA Charity Concert. 2 Feb; Songmakers Almanac. 17 Feb; Scottish Ensemble. 1 Mar: Brindisi String Quartet. l6Mar;Orkest de \"olharding. 25 Mar; Scottish Ensemble. 12 Apr; Evelyn Glennie &
AnnaStei rer. 29A r.
I EDINBU GH USHER HALL (228 1 155) Messiah (Sick Kid's Appeal). 7 Dec; Messiah (ERCU). 2 Jan; Verdi‘s Requiem (ERCL'). 9 May.
I SUBSCRIPTION SEASONS Programme details and tickets for the Royal Scottish Orchestra. the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. and the City of Glasgow Philharmonic Orchestra are available from Ticketcentre. Glasgow (2275511); Usherllall. Edinburgh (228 l 155); Queen‘s Hall. Edinburgh (668 2019). Tickets for Scottish ()pera from Theatre Royal. Glasgow (332 9000); Playhouse. Edinburgh (557 2590).
34 The List 25 October— 7 November 1991