MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
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V LIVE PUBLIC ENEMY
Barrowland, Glasgow, 5 Sept. Outside, the ruthless whistle seller is preying on insecuritiest‘They’ll be asking lor whistles on stage - don’t be the odd one out.’
Inside, white noise, white lights, white heat, 95 per cent while audience - not what you might have expected,
' but then PE are all about inter-racial
' understanding these days. It doesn’t
stop them cranking out their
tried-and-true rap attack to create the
. desired eilect. Hands In the air, teet olt
g the ground/everybody shares/in the
1 hardcore sound (oops, sorry).
The stage, though barerthan
% expected, is packed with personality.
The Security at the First World
( bodyguard/dancers amhle around
i sheepishly, theiriamous routines
restrained due to a wet stage (awww).
! Terminator X, DJ at legend, seems a mite distracted at times, though
ice-smooth at others, two-deck
blending with conlident ease.
Chuck D, at course, delivers the ‘hard rhymes’ with lire, only showing his lull ‘ talent when liberated lrom the studio
1'.
and allowed to stretch. When the beat stops, too, he has plenty to say, tiring oil about the Royals and the struggle between government and religion. It’s only when he ventures an opinion on the Irish situation that you start to wonder how well-inlormed he is, and become aware oi all these people punching the air applauding every word. It reminds you at. . . well, let’s iust trust he’s on the side at the angels. Finally, Flavor Flav, complete with clock, shellsuit and top hat. He slides around the damp stage, a gold-toothed scarecrow, entertainment personilied. He’s the last to go, sticking around lor ‘Cold Lamping . . .’ and saying all the while that Glasgow’s the best place since sliced bread. You believe him, too. Whatever the higher issues, PE are
v !(3321846)RonnieBrown. 7Nov
Concerts listed are those at maiorvenues, tor which tickets are on public sale at time oi going to press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAND (226 4679) Pop Will Eat ltseIf. 2 Oct; Mudhoney. 9 Oct;The Saw Doctors. 12 Oct; Quireboys. 13 Oct; Shamen.15—I6 Oct; The Orb. 19 Oct; Magnum. 26 Oct; Julian Cope. 28 Oct; Inspiral Carpets. 4 Nov; Faith No More. 3 Dec: Ned's Atomic Dustbin. 5 Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT
; HALL (227 551 1) Smokey
Robinson . 9 Nov.
I GLASGOW PAVILION
; (332 1846) Voice ofDr
Hook. 16Nov.
; I GLASGOW SECC (031
557 6969) Metallica. 27 Oct; Cliff Richard. 29-31 Oct; George Benson. 1 Nov; Tom Jones. 2 Nov;
2 Status Ouo. 5 Dec; Jason
Donovan. 6 Dec; Gary
1 Glitter. 23—24 Dec.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE
" (5572590) k.d. lang.28
Sept; Thunder. 2 Oct; Crosby. Stills & Nash. 6
OctzTemptationst‘hree
Degrees. 27 Oct; Robert
' Cray& 13.3. King. 16
Nov; The Cure. 20 Nov.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S
HALL (668 2019) Inspiral
Carpets.3 Nov;Jimmy
still the best at what they do. Exhausted
at the end, there’s terror as they do another song, then another. . . an encore, aargh . . . Nobody could ieel
‘ cheated, especially it they survived.
(Gavin Inglis)
, war war war
I Castle Esplanade, Edinburgh, 5 Sept. 2 I’ll give the Wets the benetit ol the doubt and look on the playing at a Spinal Tap intro tape as an ironic nod ' towards the lasers, the onstage - explosions and the histrionic guitar .v solos to lollow. I’ll even believe Marti , Pellow’s three-piece tartan suit is tongue-in-cheek deterence to the surroundings. What’s harderto take is the interminable (and inevitable) version ol ‘Goodnight Glrl’ that brings proceedings to a halt; pure pantomine ' as Pellow splits up the audience tor a round ot mass competitive singing. at course, the mainly pubescent crowd loves it. And there's the rub. For all the talk ot the band having moved away trom their initial teen audience, the screams don’t seem any more muted irom where I’m sitting. The Wets, whetherthey like it or not, are a pop band, and in that context they are very handy with a seemingly endless supply ol top-notch singles. Taken in isolation, ‘Sweet Surrender’, ‘Angel Eyes’, ‘Make It Tonight’ and ‘Lip Service’ are seamless in their sophistication, irresistible in their ‘ hook-drenched melodies. Trot them out one alter the other, however, and
i their swetnss starts losing its
. appeal. Dreadlul versions ol ‘Jammin’ ' and ‘Walking in Memphis’ simply add ; totheirustration.
The tans love every over-the-top minute of it. Pellow plays etlortlessy to his audience, who lind even the slightesttwltch in the pelvic department simply too much to cope with. Every onstage utterance, no matter how inane, is treated with the same reverence. It’s a pity, because it the Wets played it straight rather than camping up the stadium dramatics, maybe then they would lind themselves
I making more at an impression on the
l
post-teen music tans they claim to be seeking. (James Haliburton)
Rogers, 20 Nov.
JAZZ
I GLASGOW CITY HALL (227 551 I ) Craig
: McMurdo.80ct; Dave Brubeck. 15 Oct; Macco
Parker. 21 Oct;Tommy Smith Sextet. 29 Oct: NigelClark. 1 Nov; Roy
llargrovc. 5 Nov; John
Scofield. 14 Nov; Jimmy Rogers. 19 Nov; Chick Lyall. 21 Nov;Tam
White.3Dec;Kidd& Famc.10Dec;Tommy 3 Smith. 21 Jan: Lyttelton &
f; Bilk.4Feb;Kevin , MacKenzie,6Feb;Michel ' . Petrucciani. 13_Fcb: Don
Cherry, 25 Feb; Melanie
O'Reilly. 1] Mar;Tom
Bancroft Orchestra. 20
Mar; Rebirth Brass Band, 25 Mar.
I GLASGOW MITCHELL THEATRE (227 5511) Fat Sam‘s Band. 22 Oct;Terry Lightfoot. 23 Oct; Ronnie Scott. 24 Oct.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) Macco
7 Parker, 23 Oct; Tommy
Smith Sextet. 30 Oct; Roy Hargrove, 6 Nov; John Scofield, 13 Nov; Jimmy Rogers, 20 Nov; Kidd & Fame, 11 Dec; Lyttelton & Bilk, 5 Feb; Michel Petrucciani. 12 Feb; Don Cherry. 26 Feb; Cauld Blast Orchestra. 5 Mar; Tom Bancroft Orchestra. 19 Mar; Rebirth Brass Band, 26 Mar.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1 155) Dave Brubeck, 14 Oct.
FOLK
. I GLASGOW PAVILION
i I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S
HALL (668 2019) Wild
- Cigarillos, 26 Sept; Portobello Ceilidh Band.
I 3 Oct; Avalon, 15 Oct;
. Wolfstone, 22 Oct.
E LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Eartha i Kitt, 12 on. I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Philomena Begley, 27 Sept; Dominic Kirwin. 10 Oct; Joe Longthorne. 21-24 Oct; Charley Pride. 12-13 Nov. I GLASGOW SECC (031 , 557 6969) Shirley Bassey. ' 2 Dec. I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590) RAF Bands. 31 Oct; Magic ofthe Musicals, 18 Nov.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Pinchas Zuckerman. 29 Sept; Moscow Radio SO. 30 Sept; Osaka Phil. 20 Oct; ECCO. 11 Nov; Oslo Phil, 12 Nov; Tokyo Quartet. 29 Nov; Rostal & Schaefer. 1 Dec; Shura Cherkassky. 2 Dec; Polish CO.1Feb;J0hn Williams, 10 Feb; Vienna SO, 4 Mar; Philharmonia, 22 Mar; Itzhak Perlman. 20 Apr; St Petersburg Phil. 1] May. I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) BBC $30. 25 Sept; SCO Brass. 9 Oct. 6 Dec. 12 Mar. I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) Leda Piano Trio. 30 Sept; Ronan O'Hora. 60ct; Lothian Music Ensemble. 7 Oct; SCO Brass. 10 Oct, 5 Dec. 13 Mar; Paragon Ensemble. 12 Oct; ECAT. 13 Oct; Edinburgh Concert Opera. 18 Oct; Lindsay String Quartet. 19 Oct; BBC $50. 24 Oct; Scottish Ensemble. 25 Oct. 6 Dec. 14 Feb. 25 Apr; Hebrides Ensemble. 26 Oct; Scottish Chamber Choir. 31 Oct; Artur Pizarro. 30 Nov; Britten Quartet. 15 Feb; Nash Ensemble. 22 Mar. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) ERCU Messiah, 2Jan; ERCU
Eli)ah,3Apr. l ISUBSCRIPTION
SEASONS Programme
details and tickets for Royal Scottish Orchestra. Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra. and
City ofGlasgow Philharmonic Orchestra are available from Ticketcentre, Glasgow (227 5511); Usher Hall. Edinburgh (228 1 155): Queen's Hall. Edinburgh (668 2019). Tickets for Scottish Opera from Theatre Royal. Glasgow (332 9000); King‘s Theatre. Edinburgh (229 1201 ).
SO The List 11 — 24 September 1992