MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
Arena. Glasgow. 3 Oct. A biting Glasgow wind and near-freezing temperatures have created a motivation problem for many gig-goers this Monday evening. at least judging by the meagre turnout at Adorable’s album-promoting Glasgow gig. It is. however. one of four indie gigs this evening. and in a city teeming with sozzled freshers. who can be blamed for avoiding the centre?
So. a disappointingly underpopulated Arena is this evening’s setting. but the gathered few are vociferous. and as the band emerge amidst blue and white lights a welcome rings out that would befit a much larger crowd. ‘Feed Me’ launches the set. with Adorable playing unusually safe after a disastrous Edinburgh show the previous night. The bassist keeps his back to the crowd (perhaps imagining a larger turnout?) while singer Piotr barely even bothers to pose. But. pleased with the crowd's reaction. they maintain the early pace with ‘Vendetta’. the first single release from their recent album.
After a little guitar trouble. which is somehow blamed on Glasgow. the tone mellows briefly for ‘A To Fade ln’. picking swiftly up again as the band hammer out ‘ldol’ and a soul-searching rendition of ‘Road Movie‘. The crowd are now swaying enthusiastically, and even the bass player cracks a smile. Piotr poses. and as the familiar strains of ‘Kangaroo Court’ end he falls dramatically to his knees causing barely- concealed concern in the band, but. unharmed. he slowly stands as they slide into the haunting chords of ‘Summerside’.
‘Homeboy' rounds off the set as Piotr nonchalantly evades the grabbing hands of front- row followers to make a cool exit. Cries for more begin almost instantly. the audience obviously anticipating the near- mandatory first encore. but the band. wary after the previous night’s reception. lurk backstage and the pleas are answered by the sound of Deee-Lite as the lights go up. A somewhat disappointing early finish to a gig that promised much more. (Viki Sullivan)
mm- | £11111- ADORABLE
PAUL OUINN: CHEAP FLIGHTS
Glasgow Film Theatre, 12 0ct.
The entrance sums it up - a mirror-ball suspended from scaffolding, throwing shifting lights over two chalk figures outlined in death on the pavement - cheap glamour overthe suggestion of recent violence.
In the foyer, teenage hooker Jodie Foster sashays past gleaming chrome and red motorcycles, parked by the ticket booth on a carpet of dollar bills. Brando and Warhol squint down from the walls alongside slogans which, nevertheless, proclaim ‘The Death of Postmodernism’.
‘Cowboy liesonating’, the Postcard event staged around the Independent Group last October, had snippets of the ‘Midnight Cowboy’ theme and huge slides of Barbara Stanwyck in leather chaps and Kirk Douglas with lassoos. It was one of the best concerts of the decade. Tonight, the . ante is upped and the group perlonn ‘ while real movies run behind and upon § them, images informing the music and : vice versa.
é Another mirror-ball spins above the
g auditorium, the lights dim and ‘lln
1 Chien Andalou’ flickers to life behind i the empty stage. Bowie used this as
support on his ‘Station’ tour and
1 tonight the function is similar - the eyeball-slicing still pulls gasps from an audience 70 years after being filmed. An empty highway stretching to the horizon fills the screen. A small black speck appears in the distance,
and by the time you realise it’s a motorcycle gang, they’re upon you, Brando’s shades looming. The Independent Group are onstage, knocking out a rockabilly roadhouse 1 racket, turning into ‘Stupid Thing’ as g the film switches to ‘The Loveless’ - a ; debauched ‘Wild Dne’ tribute - and Paul Duinn steps from the wings. 1 Like all good films noir, what follows E is slick and stylised, a masterpiece of timing and design - especially on the intense Travis Bickle massacre tie-in I
for ‘Passing Thought’ - with a truly disturbed, longing, violent and frail human heart beating beneath. ‘ Unfortunately, like many noirs, it has i an implausibly happy ending. Ouinn duetting with Jane Marie 0’Brien on an insipid throwaway. But we won’t remember that. We’ll remember the good bits, the sick, dark bits. (Damien
Love)
mm- THE cnnueenmss
Barrowland, Glasgow, 13 Dctober. The Cranberries produce lush singles with melodies most bands would die for, but a few of those who optimistically handed over their cash for a ticket to tonight’s show purely on the strength of ‘Linger’ and its successors might have regretted it by the end.
The Cranberries have a stage set that would do Terence Conran proud - sickly pastel shades and a pot of dried 1 flowers on each set of speakers — and Guy Chadwick’s new band, The Madonnas, as support. It seems as though Chadwick’s previous outfit, The House 01 Love, have been reincarnated as The Cranberries.
They have only two types of song to speak of. There’s the lament, a brooding smooch that succeeds in drawing couples into deeper and deeper embraces, and the rawk, a peculiar kind of pseudo-grunge that
grinds on relentlessly. The 2000- a strong crowd reacts to this continuousl demi-distortion strumming and pounding by going doolally, but, not ‘ having heard the current album, I was i unprepared for a lank and disappointing 70 minutes. ller band providing precious little of y the support she needs, Dolores is left 3 to sparkle alone. Floaty vocals (like a 1
mongrelisation of Morrissey and the wee lassie from the St Winifred’s school choir) are her stock-in-trade, as is all the work. once she was a shrinking violet: now, she could pass as Slnead D’Connor’s li’l sis’, such is her angst-ridden stage attitude. But it’s all futile. The Cranberries seem to have taken up the ‘whatever you say, say nothing interesting’ niche vacated ‘ by Deacon Blue. If Dolores isn’t provided with kindred free spirits within the band, they could well end up the same way. (Philip Dorward)
V BOOK NOW
Concerts listed are those at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going to press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAND (226 4679) Counting Crows. 6 Nov; Elvis Costello. 15—16 Nov; Brand New Heavies. 17 Nov; Paul Weller. 30 Nov; Oasis. 7 Dec; Primal Scream. 9—10 Dec; Suede. 15 Dec; Saw Doctors. 17 Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Solid Silver 70s. 7 Nov; Brenda Lee. 9 Nov; The Beat Goes ()n. 10 Nov; lris Dement. 12 Nov; Tom Jones. 17 Nov; David Essex. 22 Nov; Legendary Ladies of Soul. 1 Dec; Bootleg Beatles. 12 Dec. I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Concert They Never Gave. 21 Oct; Dennis Locorriere. 14 Nov.
3 I GLASGOW SECC (248
9999) Joe Cocker. 3 Dec;
Cliff Richard. 4~6 Dec; . Status Quo. 7 Dec; Gary Glitter. 8 Dec; Dina
Carroll. 10 Dec; M People. 12 Dec; Eric
Clapton. 15 Feb; Wet Wet Wet. 18 Jul.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (5296000) Penguin Cafe Orchestra. 6 Nov; Sixties Show. 13
Dec; Michel Petrucciani. 21 Jan.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Terry Lightfoot. 22 Nov; Glenn Miller Orch. 24 Nov.
I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) Trilok Gurtu. 4 Mar.
FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Ralph McTell. 19 Nov; Celtic Connections. 5—22 Jan.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL(2281155) Edinburgh Highland Reel and Strathspey Society. 26 Nov.
LIGHT
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (5296000) Sydney Devine. 12 Nov. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Simon
3 May. 20 Nov; Daniel
O‘Donnell. 6—8. 10—11
Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT
HALL (227 5511) Dominic Kirwan. 20 Nov; Michael 81111.28—29 Nov; Al
' Martino. 6 Apr; Honky
Tonk Ladies. 11 Apr.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Sydney
Devine. 16-19 Nov.
' CLASSICAL
Nov; Rocky Horror Show. 2 I 22—26 Nov; The ; Cranberries. 8 Jan.
5 I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
: HALL (668 2019) Ned's Atomic Dustbin. 10 Nov;
indigo Girls. 18 Nov; Nick Lowe. 4 Dec; Carter. 9 Dec.
I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL (228 1155) Brenda Lee. 7 Nov; Solid Silver
70s. 10 Nov;The
Almighty. 14 Nov; Randy Newman. 15 Nov; Eternal. 30 Nov; Legendary Ladies of Soul. 3 Dec; Bootleg Beatles. 13 Dec.
I EDINBURGH INGLISTON SHOWGROUND (557 6969) Roxette. 15 Nov.
JAZZ
I EDINBURGH DUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Guy Barker Quintet. 4 Nov;
Tam White’s Eco-Drive
Band. 25 Nov; Carol Kidd Trio. 1 Dec; Craig McMurdo. 16 Dec; Michel Petrucciani. 20 Jan; Humphrey Lyttelton. 3 Feb; Eberhard Weber.
Feb; Suzanne Bonnar. 24 Feb; Trilok Gurtu. 3 Mar;
Wayne Krantz. 10 Mar. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Chris
' Barber. 19 Dec.
I GLASGOW CITY HALL (227 5511) Phil Bancroft’s Big Shebang. 16 Nov; Tam White’s Eco-Drive
Band. 24 Nov; Carol Kidd
Trio. 1 Dec; Russell Cowieson Quintet. 4 Dec;
I Nigel Clark Quintet. 10
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Bernard D‘Ascoli. 14 Nov; Borromeo Qrt. 18 Nov; Emma Johnson. 6 Dec; Cancer Fund Concerts. 10. 16 Dec; Messiah, 11 Dec; BBC $50. 20 Dec.
I GLASGOW RSAMD (332
5057) Carlos Bonell. 4 . Nov; Jewish Music Day. 6 ' Nov; Academy Orchestra.
10 Nov; King‘s Consort. 11 Nov; Elena Shishko. 18 Nov; Curlew River.
' 24—25 Nov; Academy , CO. 26 Nov; Paragon
Ensemble. 27 Nov, 29 Jan. 26 Feb; Wind Orchestra. 1 Dec;
Glasgow CO, 4 Dec; Michael Collins. 9 Dec. I GLASGOW TRAMWAY
(227 5511) BBC $30. 10 Nov; ECAT. 11 Nov; Chamber Group of Scotland. 12 Nov; BBC
$50. 13 Nov; RSNO. 27
Nov. I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
; THEATRE (529 6000) Lithuanian NPO. 30 Oct;
Vienna Boys Choir. 27
; Nov; Scottish Opera. 29 Nov—10 Dec; Messiah. ll Dec.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
HALL (668 2019) Maxwell Davies Birthday Concert.
6 Nov; Lindsay Quartet.
. ‘ . ) 14 Nov; Ralph 10 Feb. Courtney Pine. 17 Kirshbuum. l5. 17 Nov;
The Mega Concert. 22 Nov; Lyell Cresswell Birthday Concert. 30 Nov; Mitsuko Uchida. 5 Dec; BTSE. 15 Dec.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) St Margaret’s School. 5 Dec; George Heriot's School. 20 Dec; Malcolm Sargeant Cancer Fund Concert. 21 Dec.
38 The List 21 October—3 November 1994