ROCK & BLUES MUSIC
ROCK &. BLUES
Dates listed below are tor one-oil shows: see separate section for residencies. Gigs are listed by date. then by city. Dates will be listed. provided that details reach our oltices at least one weelr belore publication. Rock and Blues Listings compiled byAlastair Mabbott and Fiona Shepherd.
FRIDAY 13 Glasgow
I Wet Wet Wet SECC. Finnieston Quay. 248 3000. SOLD OUT. The ‘sold out’ sign neverlies. . .They‘re back. back.back. and they‘re wearing those smug grins again. Loved (once more) by the public. still reviled by the critics. So you can imagine which side of the fence we populate. Now leave us alone to cry into ourlager. . .
I Bleach and Aspidislra King Tut‘s Wah Wah Hut. St Vincent Street. 221 5279. 9pm. £4. In business again after last year‘s acrimonious wrangles with their former manager/label boss. Bleach have made a cracking return with the great (apart from the truly crap rap bit) ‘Shotgun‘ and their debut album Killing 'I‘ime. Like Curve. they have few fresh ideas but plenty attitude and aggression. Perth‘s Aspidistra make like a more ferocious Slowdive — simple chords that build and build to splendid effect.
I The Colour Wheel Nice‘n‘Sleazy. Sauchiehall Street. 333 9637. 8.30pm. £1 . The first ofthree Friday night appearances to promote their Primary EP.
I Glasgow Songwriters Montrose Bar. Carrick Street. 221 7564. 9.30pm. Free. Tonight‘s featured artist is Paul McCormick. supported by three other acts from the Songwriters‘ ranks.
I Nosferatu Traders. Glassford Street. 552 6246. 10pm. Free. Goth band who arrive onstage in a hearse.
I Julie Magoo‘s. Kilmarnock. Juke used to be The Longhorns and boast a sound which traces the familiar route of most Glasgow pop but sounds at times like an AOR version of The Waterboys.
I Cochise Dugout. Cathcart Street. Greenoek. 0475 27918. 9.30pm. £2.50.
Edinburgh
I Gala Concert For Refugees In Scotland Assembly Rooms. George Street. 220 4349. 8pm—1am. £6 (£3.50) A stonking great Edinburgh Peace Festival event. with the emphasis on non-rockist sounds. Taking part are Deaf Heights Cajun Aces. leading electric folksters Avalon. reggae. soul and African specialists Makossa. American singer-songwriter Fjaere Nilssen. blues and R&B merchants Bo Weevil and Neil Robert Herd. with performance poetry from Gentle Rants. I Spitfire and Pure Blind Panic Potterrow Student Union. Potterrow. 650 2656. Students and guests only. Recently presented a stark contrast to the headliners‘ hesitant mesmeric pop on the Lush tour with their incisive 60$~drenehed guitar offensive. leather-laden looks and snotty attitude. Sounds like it could be a recipe for disaster but Spitfire pull it off simply by kicking into gear and not braking till their set screams to a close.
I The llyenas Preservation Ha11.Vietoria Street, 226 3816. £1 after 9pm.
I Coral Negoeiants. Lothian Street. 225 6313. 9.30pm. Free.
I The Crew Trader Vic‘s. Victoria Street. 225 3326. 9.30pm. Free.
I Wanted Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341 . 9.30pm. Free.
SATURDAY 14
Glasgow
I Spitfire and Mindllalte King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. St Vincent Street. 2215279. 9pm. £4. See Fri 13.
I The Colour Wheel and The Godless Strathclyde University Union. John Street. 552 1895. 9pm. £3. Students and guests. The Colour Wheel have been drafted in to headline following The Forget-Me-Nots cancellation. The Godless may be better known to you under their old name A Boy Called Bob— three fearsome-looking individuals who dish out Very Nice Beatley pop where you might expect death metal.
I The Hummingbirds and Hank Apollo. Renfrew Court. 332 6231. 9pm. Free. Ex-Del Amitri man Brian Tolland and co create some placid pop moments.
I Fiaere Nilssen Cathedral House. Cathedral Square. 552 3519. 9pm. Free. Compelling American singer/songwriter. I Murmur Halt Bar. Woodlands Road. 332 1210. 9pm. Free. Named afterthe first REM album (that‘s Murmur. fact fans) and reputedly one of the best exponents of the jingle-jangle-bit-of-soul-bit-of-folk school so omnipresent on the West Coast. I The Road and The Touch Nice'n‘SIeazy. Sauchiehall Street. 333 9637. 8.30pm. £1. I The Slra B Dugs Club Mandela. (‘lyde Hall. Clyde Street. 8pm. £4 (£2). See Clubs.
I The Basement Traders. Glassford Street. 552 6246. 10pm. Free.
I Slam Richard's Basement. West Regent Street. 221 ()1 16. 9pm. Free.
I Red House Blackfriars. Bell Street. 552 5924. 9.30pm. Free.
I Boogalusa Dttgoul. Cathcart Street. Greenoek. 0475 27918. 9.30pm. £2.50. Dundee cajun band.
I Bassola Walk Tudor Lodge Hotel. Burnbank Road. Hamilton. 0698 457277. 8pm. £1.
Edinburgh
I The Joyriders and Cheesegraler Lord Darnley. West Port. 229 4341 . Hi-octane rock from both bands. The Joyriders being a must-see if they haven‘t crossed your path before. Not long until the release of their first raucous single on Avalanche.
I The Pearllishers and The Light Wee Red Bar. Edinburgh College of Art. Lauriston Place. 229 931 1. Astheir last EP. Hurt. showed. The Pearlfishers can turn in some polished mid-Atlantic-sounding songs when the occasion demands. Unfortunately for them. their sound and influences seem to have kept them in Deacon Blue‘s shadow. but they might slip out from there. An instrumental on Hurt built around a classical-style guitar piece and a version of Robert Burns‘s ‘Ca'The Yowes To The Knowes‘ on the acoustic Wooden wire cassette show they‘re not afraid to diversify. Glaswegian rock band The Light. despite a favourable reception in their home city. have significant breakthroughs still to make.
I Big George And The Business Marco's. Grove Street. 228 2141. Gritty blues-rock just the way you like it. Probably.
I Avalon Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. £1 after 9pm. Folk rock. I Shibboleth Platform One. Rutland Street. 225 2433. 9pm. Free. Pleasant rocky songs given melodic interest by violin.
I Bluelinger D‘Arcy's. Waverley Market. 1—4pm. Free. Two sets in one day from Edinburgh’s hardest-working 50s- and 605-style rock‘n'roll band.
I Bluellnger Tickled Trout. Lanark Road. 443 9991. 9pm. Free. See above.
I Rab Howitt Lord Darnley. West Port. 2294341. 3.30pm. Free. Blues.
I Black Cat Bones Negoeiants. Lothian Street. 225 6313. 9.30pm. Free.
I The Blaze Falters Finsbury Park. South
I |
St Andrew Street. 556 1020.
I Live music Trader Vic‘s. Victoria Street. 225 3326. 9.30pm. Free.
I Live music Abbey. South Clerk Street. 667 3023. C&W to ballads.
SUNDAY 15 Glasgow
I Tom Petty And The Heanbrealters SECC. Finnieston Quay. 248 3000. 7.30pm. £16. £14 plus booking fee. Tickets from Just The Ticket. Virgin. Union Street. 226 4679. and Virgin. Princes Street. Edinburgh. 031 220 0925. and by post
from TOCTA. PO Box 180. Edinburgh. A bit of a chequered back catalogue from our Tom. ranging from quite surprising and idiosyncratic AOR to all-too-frequcnt turgid country-rock. Basically. this could be special or it could lead to mass attention fatigue in the audience and spawn much Rip Van Winkle beard-growing boredom. I Mega City Four and Midway Still Queen Margaret Union. University Gardens. 339
9784. £5.30 plus booking fee. Tickets from I
Just The Ticket. Virgin. Union Street. 226 4679. Farnsborough‘s (look it up on the map) most effective testament tothe ethics of solid hard work. Ages in the construction but Mega City Four now have an unshakable. faithful following. garnered through years of tireless gigging. They recently followed musical cousins Ned‘s Atomic Dustbin and The Senseless Things into the charts. but are even poppier. having more in common with the godfathers of it all The Wonder Stuff. Support Midway Still sport guitars with harder edges. but still boast some zinging melodies. and could be terrific if they were to cut out the purposeless. patience-testing shambling about between songs.
I Be Be Peniston Tunnel. Mitchell Street. 204 1000. 11pm. £5. A great voice sadly lacking material to really get its teeth into. as anyone who is familiar with her recent ‘Love Thang‘ soul/dance hit will recognise.
I Sore Throat and Active Minds Apollo. Renfrew Court. 332 6231 . £2. Sore Throat and Active Minds are just two of the eight bands supposed to be playing this all-day mini-festival organised by the Glasgow Music Collective which will include stalls. videos. etc.
I The Spirit Moves Fixx 11. Miller Street. 221 1568. 9pm. Free. Fairly pompous keyboards and guitars with big-sounding vocals which all comes across a bit early 808.
I Mellow Gingerbread Men Tudor Lodge Hotel. Burnbank Road. 0698457277. 8pm. £1.
Edinburgh
I Wet Wet Wet Playhouse Theatre. Greenside Place. 557 2590. SOLD OUT. See Fri 13.
I The Australian Doors Show Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. Weird scenes inside the goldmine . . . and out popThe Australian Doors Show. soundalikes (if not lookalikes) in the manner of Bjorn Again and doing spectacularly well on the British circuit. These shows apparently create a spooky communal vibe amongst worshipful Morrison-heads. so keep agrip on yourselves. First of three nights.
I Bluelinger D‘Arcy‘s. Waverley Market. 9pm. See Sat 14.
I A Dog Called Floyd Negoeiants. Lothian Street. 225 6313. 9.30pm. Free.
I The Volunteers Ryrie‘s. Haymarket Terrace. 337 7582.
I Live music Subway. Cowgate. 225 6766. I Live music Bertie's. Merchant Street. 225 2002. 10.30pm. Free.
Am.
has never been this big before. and it‘s open to question whether he‘ll ever match the attention he‘s getting at the moment. A11 deserved. as Magic And Loss and the lyric book Between Thought/1nd Expression (which actually reads a lot more convincingly than you might think) show.
/\ I Mega City 4 and Midway Still Calton Studios. Calton Road. 556 7066. See Sun 15. I The Australian Doors Show Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. See Sun 15. I Two Weeks In June Music Box. Victoria Street. 225 2564. 9pm. After nine months preparation. this new Edinburgh band play their debut gig. I Slueloot Negoeiants. Lothian Street. 2256313. 9.30pm. Free. I Live music Bertie‘s. Merchant Street. 225 2002. 10.30pm. Free.
TUESDAY 17
Glasgow
I The Dubliners Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Sauchiehall Street. 6.30pm. £10. £9. Only single seats left. Tickets from the Ticket Centre. Candleriggs. 227 5511. A bit ofa can‘t-fail venture. this. Get anyold bunch of folk-mad musicians together on a stage on St Patrick's Day and you've got it made. Better still when they're as accomplished. infectious and long-serving as The Dubliners. You can taste the Guinness from here.
I Stiff Little Fingers and The UK Subs Barrowland. Gallowgate, 552 4601. 7.30pm. £8.50 plus booking fee. Tickets from Just The Ticket. Virgin. Union Street, 226 4679. Not sure if this is coincidence or design — Ulster's punk veterans and all-round retirement-phobes and a St Patrick‘s Day gig. Anyway. thisis one for those who don‘t wish to get down in the traditional way. How many farewell tours are this lot going to do anyway? Surely the retirement fund is well topped up already?
I Jonathan Bichman Renfrew Ferry. Clyde Place. 429 3766. 7.30pm. £6.50 (£5). Some tickets left from the Ferry. Always a welcome face in Glasgow (just check out the rate ofthose ticket sales). the chirpy Jonathan will probably find himselfplaying to many local musicians on whom he originally exercised agreat influence. Quirky. amusing. touching. warm — if he’s on form. grown men may shed tears tonight.
I Action Swingers and Loveblobs King Tut‘s Wah Wah Hut. St Vincent Street. 221 5279. 9pm. £4. A double bill from Wiija Records (former stable for Silverfish. current home ofTherapy'.’) which promises no respite for the eardrums. Action Swingers are a Stateside gathering of former Pussy Galore/Sonic
Youth members whose eponymous debut
MONDAY 16 '
Edinburgh
I Lou Reed Playhouse Theatre. Greenside -'
Place. 557 2590. SOLD OUT. Lou Reed
album veers from the kind of
i Sabbath-influenced riffing of Nirvana and
Smashing Pumpkins to the offbeat feedback and squeals ofaforementioned
Sonic Youth. Loveblobs. whose debut
mini-album Congealed is out now. are even less subtle and even more grungey. They probably wear their guitars slung down at their knees.
The List 13 - 26 M..;.Lh'i692 33