MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
1
.Im
um- THE BDD BADLEYS
liing Tut’s Wah Wah llut, Glasgow, 20 As one of the few dissenting voices regarding The Boo Badleys’ apparently monumental last LP, ‘Ciant Steps’, I must be one of the very few in tonight’s audience who is not anticipating, nay demanding, a revelation on a par with the raising of Lazarus. (They do the playing of ‘Lazarus’ instead). A mere pop concert will suffice. I leave feeling pleasantly sated. I got my pop concert, fragmented though it was.
A distended dubby intro tape illustrates The Boos’ new-found ‘eclecticism’. What a load of cobblers. Having a trumpeter to embellish the ranks does not constitute a revolution in sound (that would make The Faith Brothers latterday messiahs). The Boo Badleys play exemplary indie music - noisy, effects-riddled guitars, skittering drinns, reedy vocals and the odd nice tune. It’s just that they throw the occasional incongruous element into the mix to keep themselves amused. And the band know this. Let’s not crucify them for failing to deliver what their admirers claim for them.
‘I symphonic movements.
if;
COLIN USHER
They saunter on, unassuming, and three of them sport shiny pates. Martin’s still refusing to drag a comb through his thatch; Tim’s still declining to don their besuited uniform. Sice starts his familiar awkward Iurching, looking like Alexei Saer at an apprentice headbanging masterclass. Such elephantine presence, and yet they produce , something as wry and pretty as ‘Wishing I Was Skinny’, or ‘Lazy Day’, joyous pop blasting on all cylinders. That’s girl’s music, that is.
All told, there are only a few real . moments in the set. ‘Buffalo Bill’ (still ; one of their best, despite stiff 1 competition in a back catalogue they ' hardly touch tonight) is gently 3 sublime, then towering and : tumultuous. And ‘l’ve Lost The Reason’
is not so much a song, more a jump- cut arrangement of miraculous
i The Boo lladleys are like a loom ice
2 lolly - you’ll happily lick it all, but you
2 do have your favourite flavour. Nline’s
. Martin’s liquid honey wah-wah guitar. (Fiona Shepherd)
a (99 332d ass) a
IHJAH V A'INO IIO:I NIdS V NI OVEIH IIIJHI. .LIId
SHARON SHANNON AND HER BAND
. : some of whom had expressed doubts
1 readily agreed afterwards that you i 1 Mar; Dee Dee ; Bridgewater. 25 Mar; ; Candy Dulfer. 4 May; 2 McCoy Tyner. 20 Mav.
l Concert Hall, 23 Jan. Bounding off an expectations-busting inaugural Celtic Connections season to a packed house and the most vociferous applause I’ve heard all fortnight, the 24-year-old, Clare-born accordion marvel and her band delivered another of the dealing, fluid performances which have won her devoted fans around the world.
The cornerstone of the four-plece’s sound is, of course, the rich, bright, dense tones Shannon squeezes out of her instrument, the magically expressive quality of her playing, with the upper register in particular displaying a striking, fluty sweetness. The arrangements, incorporating
Glasgow Boya
fiddle/viola, guitar and electric double-bass, were without exception
tight as a drum, whether bowling
~ along in a set of jigs or adding
1 delicate, empathetic shadings in a
1 slow air, but somehow, simultaneously, I expansive enough to allow for lots of
witty syncopation and imaginative 1
; melodic variations. l was with several i
1 people who’d never seen her before, 1
1 about an all-instrumental set, but they .
1 don’t need a singer when you’ve a 1 player of Shannon’s lyricism.
The one discordant note of the evening — and this is said in sympathy rather than criticism — is that despite her now considerable experience on the live circuit (including, early on, an eighteen-month tour with the Waterboys) Shannon remains painfully shy in front of an audience. She obviously loves playing - you can hear it in her sound and see it on her face, in the frequent delighted grins she exchanges with the rest of the band during the tunes, but when she has to speak to the audience between numbers, however briefly, you can see g her actually shaking with nerves; even 1 ‘thanks very much, here’s the next one’ appears to cost her a 1 considerable effort; it almost makes , you feel bad for being there. But if she 1 keeps playing like this, she’ll have to _ get used to us being there. (Sue Wilson)
Concerts listed are those at maior venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going of press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLANO (226 4679) Cocteau Twins. 11 Feb; The Mission. 12 Feb: M
5 People. 22 Feb; Therapy'.’. 25 Feb; Marillion. 26 Feb:
Stiff Little Fingers. 17 Mar; Soul Asylum. 19 Mar; The Wonder Stuff. 24 Mar; The Beautiful South. 15 Apr.
; I ouscow concern
HALL(227 5511)Chuck Berry. 18 Feb; Solid
Silver 70s. 20 Feb; Solid
Silver 60s. 31 Mar.
I GLASGOW PAVILION
(332 1846) Tori Amos. 27 Feb; T-Rexasty. 2 Mar;
' Blues Brothers Tribute.
9~l 1 Mar; Queen Tribute. 13 Mar.
. I GLASGOW SECC (248
9999) Motown Road
Show. 14 Apr. I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590)
l Lou Rawls. 5 Mar; Blues
Brothers Tribute. 12—13 Mar; Deacon Blue. 22
‘ Apr. I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
HALL (668 2019) Suede. 12 Feb; Tori Amos. 28
Feb. I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL(228 1155) Chuck Berry. 16 Feb; Solid Silver 70s. 19 Feb.
JAZZ
I GLASGOW CITY HALL
(227 5511) Carol Kidd. 16
Feb; Danish Radio Big Band. 10 Mar.
1 I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) In the Mood. 18 Mar.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590)
Lou Rawls. 5 Mar.
' I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
HALL (668 2019) Michel Petrucciani. 11 Feb; Carol
Kidd. 18 Feb; Tommy Smith. 4 Mar; Danish
Radio Big Band. II Mat". Cauld Blast Orchestra. 18
I EDINBURGH usurn‘ HALL (228 1155) In the Mood. l7 Mar.
FOLK
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Foster and Allen. 7 Apr.
V BOOK NOW
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Dougie Macl.ean. l6-l7 Feb: The Rankin Family. 25 Feb; Cauld Blast Orchestra. l8 Mar.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511)]ohn Denver. 15 Mar; Don
Williams. 22 Mar;
1; Dominic Kirwan. 8 May; Shirley Bassey. 19 Sept.
I GLASGOW PAVILION
j (332 l8~l6)]oe
Longthome. 23—26 Mar.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CITY HALL
(227 551 l ) Mozart Requiem. 20 Mar.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Gilbert and Sullivan Story. 27 Feb; Julian Lloyd Webber. 10 Mar; Moscow SSO. 14 Mar; Bolshoi Opera in Concert. 13—14 Apr: BPO Wind Out. 21 Apr; Choral Spectacular. 5 Jun.
I GLASGOW RSAMO (332 5057) BTSE. 11 Feb; Cappella Nova. 12 Feb; Moving On 94. 18 Feb: Chamber Group ol‘ Scotland. 20 Feb; SUC&O. 25 Feb; AWO. 3 Mar; Hebrides. 6 Mar; SliMC. 11 Mar; GWB. 12 Mar". SUWB. 13 Mar; ACO. 17 Mar: Leda Trio. 18 Mar; Soundstrata. 18 Mar: GCO. 19 Mar; Paragon. 20 Mar; ROL Prizewinners. 28 Marl Medici Qrt. 30—31 Mar; BTSE. 15 Apr.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Steven Osbourne. 15 Feb; King‘s Consort. 19 Feb; liSO. 20 Feb; Chamber Group of Scotland. 21 Feb; SCO Chamber Fins. 27 Feb; Paragon. 1 Mar; Hebrides. 7 Mar; Fndellion Qt. 21 Mar; Paragon. 22 Mar; l-ICA'l‘. 30 Mar; BTSE. 17 Apr; l‘CAT. 28 Apr; Kings Consort. 7 May; Meadows CO. 15 May.
I EOINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) FIRCU. 7
May.
I SUBSCRIPTION SEASONS Programme details and tickets for RSNO. SCO. BBC 880 and CGPO concerts are available from Ticketcentre. Glasgow (227 5511); Usher Hall. Edinburgh (228 1155);
‘ Queen‘s Hall. Edinburgh (668 2019). Tickets for
Scottish Opera from
Theatre Royal. Glasgow
(332 9000); King‘s Theatre. Edinburgh (229 1201).
Therapy? #1
IO The List 28 January—10 February l994