MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
JAMES KING
Nice ’n‘ Sleazy. Glasgow. 30 March.
There are still those who come over all misty-eyed at mention of The Lone Wolves. the band James King fronted during the
i completely missed their chapter in the annals of those halcyon days for Scottish music. No. my fond memories of James King spring instead from much more recent years — flanked by two guitarists. hip-grinding his way through slow. countryish Stooges covers beneath a portrait of the Queen in a tiny. dark. heaving basement bar. right under the feet of RAF veterans playing draughts. Straight up. When King perfomied. supporting Paul Quinn at Postcard's short-lived Fin de Siecle club. the sheer unexpectedness and unforced intimacy of what he was doing made the whole thing rather wonderful. But then he played with a full band during Sound City and it was all a bit crap.
So here we are. down in a basement again. not knowing quite what to expect but fearing the worst. The support bands seem to have vanished. taking half the audience (ie their mates) with them. and little more than a steady hum ofchatter greets King and band when they step onstage. Things begin to look up when it transpires that along for the ride is Mick Slaven — one of the guitarists from that Fin de Siecle night. currently of Leopards/Independent Group/Best Guitarist in Europe fame. and it‘s his string-busting flood of spitfire electric fragments that drives much of what follows.
Chattering continuing apace. the audience reaction is largely — undeservedly — muted and indifferent. a coruscating central pairing of ‘Fun Patrol‘ and The Stooges‘ ‘No Fun' demanding attention and response. From here on in. it‘s evident that. audience or not. the group are passionately involved in what they‘re doing. King beginning to gesture and point like some ungainly preacher while Slaven judders around. seemingly fighting his guitar for the sound he wants.
Last thoughts on James King? Well. anyone who writes a whisper about Bridgeton has to be some kind of hero. Don't you think? (Damien Love)
early- to mid-80s. Not me.
'\
3 —- ‘ (SE00, Glasgow,1 April. , f‘Symmetry’ is a nice word, and as luck would have it it’s been ten years since; jl first saw Gun play live. Back then, they were Phobia, their songs sucked i and they thought they wanted to be iBon Jovi, Van Halen or some other :Godforsaken American metal act - a I bundle of fivers in the usual place for ' the negatives, lads. ‘Maturity’ is also a nice word, and for Gun it doesn’t mean selling out. Their ‘ _ gig at Glasgow’s SECC is a i homecoming and a half, plenty of § family and old friends around to swell l the deafening singalongs. The loudest i = roars are reserved for the singles, i especially ‘Word Up’. Mark Rankin’s latest incarnation - blonde hair and leather jeans — is almost ; overshadowed by bassist Dante Gizzi, . who reminds me of a Ieering second- . hand car salesman giving up his day - job to play rock ’n’ roll. Gun have played on the same stage I as The Rolling Stones, Simple Minds,
et al, but, though impressions can be misleading, this struck me as being a test - a big gig in front of your home crowd and that supposed Glasgow scepticism about local heroes making
, it big.
And frankly they couldn’t have put a foot wrong if they’d cranked out two hours of Wurzels covers. Unlike a number of Glasgow bands from their generation or older (Heavy Pettin’, for example), the boys from Gun seem to appreciate that the world changes. They’re not the same people I met ten years ago, they’ve got the sense not to take their success for granted and knock about with more than the
; occasional inspired idea.
I understand that Gun had to cancel a couple of potentially important gigs in London because of problems with Rankin’s voice - I’m willing to bet
; dumping London for the home fires
' was worth it. Nice to see some people . still have their feet on the ground.
’ (Alan McCrorie)
' DIK DALE
" Music Box, Edinburgh, 1 April.
Hats off to him, I say. Having computed the attention span of the
' modern-day gig-goer vis-a-vis music of an overwhelmingly instrumental nature, Dick Dale plays for exactly the right length of time. Short enough for us to be haying for more, long enough (with the promise of a lengthy signing/chat session afterwards) for us to feel like we haven’t been
‘ shortchanged.
I There’s something that only trios can
2 manage - the jaw-dropping moments where you wonder how a mere three people can make such a big sound -
and this combo provides those
42 The List 7-20 Apr I995
moments in abundance. Dale manhandles his Strat like it just said something bad about his mother, and lifts a frankly rudimentary style to its highest level. ‘I never play anything the same way twice,’ he boasts, and the lengthy onstage debate about the
. intro to one particular number seem to
bear this out.
To call this ‘surf music’ just isn’t adequate - the connotations of that term are too weedy for as forceful a player as Dale, and it’s misleading besides. Perhaps those who weren’t there can get some measure of the music by considering ‘fley Bo Diddley’, ‘Fever’ and ‘Peter Gunn’, all of which get an airing tonight.
One encore aside, the parting gesture is a version of Hendrix’s ‘Third Stone From The Sun’. ‘Version’ being the operative word, because although the theme is unmistakable, it’s been put through the Dick Dale grinder and totally personalised. Under the circumstances, this seems entirely proper.
Jimi made a famous utterance on that song about never hearing surf music again - legend has it that he was referring to Dale’s 1968 retirement. On this showing, he was right. Surf is history. What we’re hearing now has been dubbed Dick Rock and it is - to borrow a term used by the man himself this evening — thoroughly bitchen stuff. (Alastair Mabbott)
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Concerts listed are those at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going to press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARRDWLAND (226 4679) The Charlatans. 30 Apr;
Hole. l May; Bucketl'ul of
Bands. 7 May: Machinehead. 26 May.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551l)Tanita Tikaram. l6 May; Laurie Anderson. 3 Jun.
I GLASGOW GARAGE (332 l 120) Tindersticks. 23 Apr; Ned's Atomic Dustbin. 26 Apr; Monster Magnet. 28 Apr; James Taylor Qt. 30 Apr; Steve Forbert. 2 May; Monster Magnet. 3 May; Kirsty McColl. 8 May; Lightning Seeds. 9 May; Babes in Toyland. 10 May; Shed Seven. 12 May; Wedding Present. l4 May; Australian Pink Floyd. l8 May; John Mayall. 19 May; Greenhouse. 23 May.
I GLASGOW IBROX STADIUM (227 55l 1) Rod Stewart. 3 Jun.
I GLASGOW KING’S THEATRE (227 55 l l) Fats Domino. 19 May.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 I846) Mark Taylor. 2| Apr; Magical Mystery Tour. 22 Apr; Concert They Never Gave. 22 May.
I GLASGOW PLAZA (0]3l 557 6969) ()ffspring. 26 Apr; Apache Indian. 14 May; Supergrass. 19 May. I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) East 17. 21 May; Page and Plant. 12 Jul; Wet Wet Wet. 20 Jul; Celine Dion. 27 Oct.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Blues Brothers Tribute. 21—22 Apr; Juke Box Giants. 14 May; Concert They Never Gave. 21 May.
I EDINBURGH LYCEUM THEATRE (229 9697) Silencers. 23 Apr.
I EDINBURGH MURRAYFIELD (557 6969) REM. 27 Jul.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590) Thunder. 9 May; Sheryl Crow. ll Jul.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 20l9) Paul Brady. 2 Jun.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL(228 l155) Portishead. 22 May.
COUNTRY
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Mary- Chapin Carpenter. l3—l4 May; Crystal Gayle and Rita Coolidge. 21 May; Don Williams. 27 Sept; Joe Longthorne. l5 Oct. I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) The Mavericks. 30 Apr; Michelle Wright. 2i May. I GLASGOW PLAZA (423 3077) Sean O'Farrell. 25 May.
I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) Everly Bros. 24 Oct.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 l I55) Don Williams. 28 Sept: Joe Longthorne. 21 Oct.
JAZZ
I GLASGOW CITIZENS’ THEATRE (429 0022) Tommy Smith Sextet. 18—19 May.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 l) Syd Lawrence Orchestra. 20 Sept.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Andy Sheppard and John Harle. ll May.
I EDINBURGH QUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Nitin Sawney Trio. 5 May; Blackanized. l2 May; Steve Williamson. 19 May; Tommy Smith Sextet. 2! May; Claire Martin. 26 May.
FOLK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAND (226 4679) The Wolfetones. l3 May. I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551]) Balalaika Folk Group. 15 May; Christ Moore. 12 Oct. I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Christ Moore. 15 Oct. I EDINBURGH QUEEN’S HALL (668 20l9) Paul Brady. 2 Jun; The Dubliners. 6 Jun.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 55] l) Brenda Cochrane. 2] Apr;
West End Gala. 4 Jun.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 l846) Barry Walker. 21 Apr; Chas and Dave. 27 May; Brenda Cochrane. 8—9 Jun.
I GLASGOW PLAZA (423 3077) VF Night Dance. 7 blay.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Klaus Wunderlich. 7 May; Terry Neason. l6 May: Magic of Musicals. 20 May; Val Doonican. 1 Jun.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590) James Last. 4 May.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 55] l) Melos Ensemble. 4 May; Jakolev and Khevelev. 4 May: Vanessa Mae. 24 May; lvo Pogorelich — Cancelled; Cecilia Bartoli. 7 Jun; Ravi Shankar. 2 Jul; Jessye Norman. 6 Jul; St Petersburgh Phil. 3—4 Oct.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) ECO. 23 Apr; Coronation Mass. 10 Apr; Andy Sheppard and John Harle. ll May; Mecklenburgh Opera. 12 May; Gabrieli Consort. 13 May; Crystal Clear Opera. 17 May; Orpheus CO. 23 May; Tallis Scholars. 26 May; Travelling Opera. 25 Jun; The Protecting Veil. 2 Jul.