MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
LONG FIN KILLIE/REIO
Nice 'n‘ Sleazy. Glasgow. 12 Nov.
Experimentation is fine by me. but when you encounter a bunch of musicians who‘ve
forgotten to tether their exploratory impulses to some tangible ideas. you know you‘ve been Reid- ed.
Great music in whatever form taps into emotions — even Kraftwerk at their most icin Teutonic do that. but Reid don't or. worse. won't. There‘s something wilful about their extempore minimalist jazz-flecked outpourings that really grates. Like. lfthis . . . review (were to). Dege-nerate. lnto wildlyinappropriatepunctu ation. They seem desperate to be square pegs in round holes. puncturing the beatific ‘womb room’ atmosphere created by the Sonora DJs with - how long was it? Ten minutes? Fifteen? A millennium? of freeform tedium.
There are redeeming qualities. like the occasional burst of electricity and some lovely glacier~cool keyboards. but if you ever find yourself stroking your chin and discussing Stockhausen in their company. don't say you hadn’t been warned.
Long Fin Killie. homecoming kings (even though they‘re from Dundee). make a disappointing start with some directionless veggiepunk blathering but soon enough they hit their idiosyncratic stride and by the time they play the single ‘Lamberton Lamplighter' which sounds like The Wedding Present with a clue and the electrical storm that is 'Boyracer‘. apprehensions have evaporated.
Singer Luke Sutherland. well-loved round these parts since his days in Penn. is a possessed dervish creating frantic rhapsodies in screeching violin and falsetto vocals while his bandmates keep a grip on proceedings.
The Fins succeed where Reid fail. in using some non-‘rock' instruments along with the usual guitar/bass/drums set-up and twisting the mandolin and violin away from cheesy folk arrangements to something far more unexpected and stirring. There‘s still a feeling that they‘re dabbling in
‘compositions‘ rather than songs and they haven't evolved much in the past two years. but you‘ve got to elicit that air of ambivalence when you‘re an eight-legged maverick groove machine. ain‘tcha‘.’ L (Fiona Shepherd)
mm- THE JESUS LIZAHD
2 Garage, Glasgow, 10 Nov.
There’s this little bloke ambles on
; stage behind the roadies a few
1 minutes before the band comes on to
‘ sit a few beers on the drum riser.
i Comical little geezer, with hair that
doesn’t sit right. looks a bit like an
3 uncle of mine. Occasionally, he’s been
, known to strip bollock naked, save for
his cowboy boots, bend over with
cheeks parted and launch himself
backwards off stage into the flailing
f arms of the crowd, to emerge
drenched in sweat, blood and pus,
1 snarling, ‘Do ya think you’d like to
have a blockbuster up your ass? Do
you think you’d like that? Do ya,
: motherfucker?’ But, hey — that’s
‘ uncles for you. Sorry. It’s hard, though,
to reconcile the beer-carrying reality of The Jesus Lizard’s David Yow (for ’tis he) with the snaggle-toothed beast
T of performing legend, especially when
the band proper emerge and he
drawls, ‘Hey, how ya doin’?’ just like a
. real person.
That, though, is the last glimpse of
normality. As the band start to grind out the first number, Yow flips forward onto the waiting arms of the crowd before he’s even sung a note — so that when he does start singing it’s from a vertical upside-down position as he’s passed through the pit. Back on stage, Yow now more resembles Jerry Lee Lewis - not the young firebrand but the old, wiry, mad and cantankerous bastard. It’s something about his eyes.
Unfortunately, all this performance- art, audience participation stuff tends to attract that strain of inbred retards known as stage-divers — though some amusement can be gained from trying to decide whether it’s the aggressive leg-swinging kind or the pasty ginger- footed type that is the sadder. Call it a draw. The music? Razorwire slide guitar and Sledgehammer bass around growling vocals, dark and funny, like being chained in the cellar by your parents. Good concert. Oh yeah, nearly forgot: The Birthday Party, Iggy Stooge. (Damien love)
1mm- THE ALMIGHTY
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 15 October
: Metal concerts are God’s gift to journalists: the entire experience is
rich in bizarre sights, sounds and smells. Actually, seeing the band is only a small part of the evening. The
I real entertainment is to be found in
' the bar watching beer guts bust out of
: T-shirts while their owners swap stories about throbbin’ hogs, why
' Donington was crap this year, the aesthetic merits of assorted ‘birds’ and where the best place is to buy
3 Guns H’ Hoses underpants.
Vocalist Ricky kicks off the show
with a few warm words of welcome —
1 ‘Just wake the fuck up, Edinburgh’ —
i and then it’s deep breaths, heads down and mosh time. The air quickly fills with stage-diving suicide bombers
1 and the audience even catches most
'; of them, although a flying brace of
particularly corpulent hairy arses
; prompts the crowd to part in fear and
leave the would-be body surfers to plummet earthwards. Curiously, no
1 such mishaps occur with the female
‘. divers, who are met by a sea of willing
i hands.
38 The List 18 November—l December 1994
The band are having as much fun as
the audience without resorting to rock
god posturing which makes a pleasant change. Or at least they seem to be enjoying themselves - it’s just a bit difficult to tell through the clenched teeth and bulging veins. The lead guitarist has a superb line in gurning,
so much so that it looks like someone had booked their fingers into his
nipple rings before leaping off the stage. However, sacrifices must be
made in the name of grindcore and ' ripped nipples seem a small price to
pay for total noise terror. The Almighty adhere to the view that the harder and the faster you play the easier it is to lose yourself in the maelstrom and wig out. You know what? They’re right. . (Jonathan Trew)
V BOOK NOW
Concerts listed are those at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going to press.
i ROCK
I GLASGOW
BARRDWLAND (226 4679) ()asis. 7 Dec; Primal Scream. 9—10 Dec; The Cult. 13 Dec; Suede. 15 Dec; Saw Doctors. 16 Dec; Love and Money. 23 Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Runrig. 8-9 Dec: Bootleg Beatles. 12 Dec; Solid Silver 70s. 15 Feb.
I GLASGOW OLD FRUITMARKET (227 5511) Big New Year Bash. 39—.“ Dec.
I GLASGOW PLAZA (031 557 6969) Thunder. 5 Dec.
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 Dee: M People. 12 Dec; Fric Clapton. 15 Feb.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) The Cranberries. 8 Jan.
I EDINBURGH MURRAYFIELD (557 6969) RliM. 27 Jul.
I EDINBURGH DUEEN’S I’IALL (668 2019) Nick Lowe. 4 Dec: Carter I‘SM. 9 Dec: Roachltn'd. 14 Dec.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Legendary Ladies of Soul. 3 Dec: Bootleg Beatles. l31)ec;Runrig. 17 Dec.
JAZZ
I EDINBURGH DUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Craig MthtrtIo. 161)ec'. Michel Petrucciani. 20 Jan: Humphrey l.ytte1ton. 3 Feb: liberhard Weber. 10 Feb; Courtney Pine. 17 Feb; Suzanne Bonnar. 24 Feb: 'l'rilok Gurtu. 3 Mar; Wayne Krantz. 10 Mar. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Chris Barber. 19 Dec.
I GLASGOW CITY HALL (227 5511) Russell (i‘owieson Quintet. 4 Dec; Nigel Clark Quintet. 10 Dec; Michel Petrucciani. 2| Jan; FH 15. 22 Jan; Humphrey I.ytte|ton. 4 Feb; liberhard Weber. 9 Feb; Courtney Pine. 16 Feb; Fraser Spiers. 19 Feb; Suzanne Bonar. 25 Feb.
I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) Trilok Gurtu. 4 Mar.
FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 1) Celtic Connections. 5—22 Jan. I EDINBURGH UUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Christmas with the Clarsach. 18 Dec.
LIGHT
I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL (228 1155) Daniel
I O'Donnell. 6-8. 10—11
1 Dec.
1 I ousoow concern
‘ HALL (227 5511) West
; find Gala Evening. 5 Mar; 1 AI Martino. 5 Apr; Honky ‘ Tonk Ladies. 11 Apr.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CITY HALL
‘ (227 5511) BBC S80. 26
Jan. 23 Feb. 9 Mar. 6 Apr.
I GLASGOW CONCERT
HALL (227 5511) Emma Johnson. 6 Dec; Cancer Fund Concerts. 10. 16 Dec; Messiah. 11 Dec; Phoenix Choir. 13— 14 Dec; BBC SS(). 20 Dec: John Williams. 24 Jan: Novosibirsk Philharmonic. 12 Feb: Leif ()ve Andsnes. 22 Feb; Maria Iiwing. 7 Mar; Stuttgart Philharmonic. 28 Mar; Joshua Bell. 2 Apr: Melos Fnsemble. 4 May: lvo Pogorelich. 2 Jun: Cecilia Bartoli. 7 Jun'. Ravi Shankar. 2 Jul; Jessye Norman. 6 Jul. I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) Glasgow CQ. 4 Dec; Michael Collins. 9 Dec; Carol Concert. 13—14 Dec; Peter Seivewright. 16 Dec; BTSIi. 16 Dec; Junior Concerts. 17 Dee; Christmas Concert. 19 Dec; Chamber Group of Scotland. 15 Jan: Paragon Iinsemble. 29 Jan. 26 Feb. I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Scottish Opera. 29 Nov— 10 Dec; Messiah. 11
Dec. I EDINBURGH UUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Mitsuko Uchida. 5 Dec; Hebrides linsemble. 6 Dec: Gina McCormack. 7 Dec: Concert ()pera. 10 Dec; Meadows C(). 11 Dee: Chamber Group of Scotland. 12 Dec. 16 Jan. 6 Mar; St Mary‘s Choir. 13 Dec; B'I‘Sli. 15 Dec; Cappella Nova. 17 Dec; Jubilo. 18 Dec; Messiah. 21 Dec; Contemporary Violin. 11 Jan; Brindisi Quartet. 23 Jan; Tommy Smith and Murray Mcl.achlan. 4 Feb; FCAT Concert. 6 Feb; Balanescu Quartet. 17 Feb; BTSli. 23 Feb; Vellinger Quartet. 13 Mar; BTSIi. 20 Apr. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL(228 1155) St Margaret's School. 5 Dec: Frederica von Stade. 14 Dec; George Heriol's School. 20 Dec; Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund Concert. 21 Dec; liRCU Messiah. 2 Jan; ERCU. 13 May. I SUBSCRIPTION SEASONS Programme details and tickets for RSNQ. SCQ. BBC SS() and CGPQ concerts are available from Ticketcentre. Glasgow
(227 5511); Usher Hall. Edinburgh (228 1155); Queen's Hall. Fdinburgh (668 2019). Tickets for Scottish ()pera from
Theatre Royal. Glasgow
(332 9000); Festival Theatre. Edinburgh (529
i 6000).