MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
RY CDODER AND DAVID LINDLEY
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. 25 June
It was maybe always unlikely that the return visit from these two most eclectic of musicians would live up to the memory of their earlier appearance in Glasgow. II only because we had been primed on what to expect. So it proved. although for much of the titne they catne damned close.
They brought the family with them on this occasion as well. with percussionist Joachim Cooder playing throughout the set. and singer Roseanne Lindley adding her gutsy. blues- inlluenced voice to beef up the vocal Contributions from around the halfway mark. Seated in a semi- circle on the front of the stage. the musicians tried to bring a relaxed. club- style intimacy to the cavernous auditorium. and maybe lost out a little on concert-style urgency in the process.
For anyone who likes to hear good guitar playing. though. the evening was studded with riches. There was no single dominant stylistic imprint in a set which ranged from rock and roll — Doc Pomus‘s ‘1.ittle Sister‘ and Chuck Berry’s ‘13 Questions‘ — to folk tunes from Ireland (offered by Lindley as a tribute to the late Rory Gallaeher) and Madagascar. the classic. shivering slide guitar of Cooder‘s ‘Vigilante Man' to the Tex-Mex romp of ‘That‘s The Way The Girls Are In Texas‘.
The constant changing of instruments — bouzouki. mandola. banjo and Hawaiian slack-key guitar were among the other featured strings - slowed momentum a little in places. but brought plenty of variety to a long set. Highlights included back-to-back versions of Merle Haggard‘s The Highway is My Home' and Warren Zevon's ‘Play It All Night Long‘ (both given a slight Tex-Mex flavouring). while Roseanne Lindley brought a feisty charm to ‘How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live'. and the Cooder's united on a fine duo version of ‘The Very Thing That Makes You Rich‘ to kick off the encore. (Kenny Mathieson)
WEEZER
l The Garage, Glasgow, 20 June. Give me a high five, brother! Weezer are in the ’hood. Weezer are in The
The Garage’. Are these sentences perehance related? Unlikely. And are Weezer unlikely Top 10 stars? If you
into the charts, yes. When you realise that Weezer are a Beach Boys for the 90$, no.
up with an epoch-making album like
1 Pet Sounds. But just as The Beach Boys were average-looking college
1 types who laughably claimed they’d
- ‘never missed yet with the girls we
I meet’ and who galvanised the
1 American love affair with the leisure
1 lifestyle — sun, surf, sand - so Weezer
? encompass the American leisure
; lifestyle of today — still sun, surf and
l sand. Their wonderful video for ‘Buddy
: Holly’ (superimposing their
, performance onto footage from Happy 1 Days, in case you’ve been asleep for
’ the past two months) might just have
' been a shrewd marketing device, but
‘ it also made the point that Weezer are I muscling in on the good-time rock ’n’
Garage. Weezer have a song called ‘In
forget that some good records make it
Hot that I’m saying Weezer will come
i i
roll tradition with their incredibly fluent sound. So fluent and perfect that at some points it sounds like young Rivers Cuomo is miming along to a backing track.
l
Weezer are occupying the ground where several US musical traditions meet. Behind them hangs their ‘W’ logo composed of bright white lightbulbs. Is this a backhanded tribute to cabaret rock giants Kiss? Could be. Then there’s the geek rock anorak lo-fi shambler they are most often associated with, but Weezer are
really too slick to be bracketed with the underachievers. They have more in; common with The B-52’s — a wacky veneer disguising some ace tunes.
What’s really refreshing about 3 Weezer gig is being treated to the devil-may-care attitude of so many of our US underground favourites without the frustrating tendency of never getting to the point. Basically, Weezer gotta groovy sound and they’re gonna deliver it. (Fiona Shepherd)
JEFF BUCKLEY
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 20 June. With a mere one-and-a-half albums behind him, Jeff Buckley is casting a gargantuan shadow - even if it is only on the back wall of the Queen’s Hall and comes courtesy of an ankle-level spotlight. Until you realise how much work he’s still got to do before he fulfils his potential, it can seem like Jeff’s already a towering colossus. There’s tremendous raw talent here, presence and power. But there are also a lot of opportunities missed, others pursued beyond decent limits and, beneath his easy-going and likeable stage presence, a sense that he’s still looking for the control and hair-fine judgement he needs before he can be truly great.
Which is not to say that he doesn’t have fleeting moments of brilliance. These usually occur in his own songs - anything from the first half of Grace and a few new ones unveiled tonight - though even they sometimes suffer from an overdose of Buckley’s flamboyant self-expression.
He tells us a joke that suggests he’s aware of at least some of the pitfalls of his position. ‘How many Jeff Buckleys does it take to change a lightbulb?’ The answer goes something like ‘Ho problem, Jeff, l’ll fix it, you just sit there. Want some peanuts? A Coke?’
Perhaps to break out of that trap of fawning indulgence, or to piss off the punter who yells for his dad’s “Song To The Siren’, he leads his band into two gnarly grunge-outs. They’re shit. And the cage remains unrattled.
At the end, he struggles with ‘Hallelujah’, forgetting the words and visibly straining to put across a song that remains just out of his grasp. But, ' like Tinkerbell, he’s carried through it by the audience, who see a victory not a messy draw. Closing with Chilton’s ‘Kangaroo’ is a risky move, too — the original was so bent out of shape that there’s little for Jeff to do but dick
around with it in slightly different ways.
The thing is that there’s enough evidence that Jeff Buckley will mature into a brilliant performer, and it’s hard to leave here tonight totally disheartened. This man’s shortcomings hold as much promise as most people’s highlights, but it’s going S to be a long — if interesting - slog. ‘ (Alastair Mabbott)
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
BARROWIJIHD (226 4679) f
Terence Trent (I'Arby. 31 Jul; Levellers. 18—19 Sept: Julian Cope. 30 Sept: Pulp. 1 Oct: Big Country. 7 ()ct.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Joan Armatrading. 2 Sept; Simple Minds. 11—13
Iiikit' Brooks. 11) ()CI.
I GLASGOW GARAGE (332 l 120) MT. 14 Jul; The Bathers. 24 Jul.
I GLASGOW KING’S THEATRE (227 5511) Fats Domino. 30 Jtm.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 18-16) RI and Duncan. 24 Jul.
I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) Celine Dion. 27 Oct‘. Gary Glitter. 10 Dec. I IRVINE BEACH (0800 132 097) Oasis. 1-1 Jul.
I STRATHCLYDE COUNTRY PARK (0131 557 6969) T in the Park. 56 AUL’.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Joan Armatrading. 3 Sept; Iilkie Brooks. 8 Oct: Louden Wainwright III. 12 Nov.
I EDINBURGH MURRAYFIELD (557 6969) REM. 27 Jul.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Simple Minds. 2- 5 Sept; Big Country. 7 ()cl'. Bootleg Beatles. 16 Dec.
COUNTRY
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Kenny Rogers. 9 Sept; Don Williams. 27 Sept; Joe Longthorne. 15 ()ct.
I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) Everly Bros. 24 Oct.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Kenny Rogers. 10 Sept; Don Williams. 28 Sept: Joe Longthorne. 21 Oct: Iivcrly Brothers. 25 ()ct.
JAZZ
I GLASGOW CONCERT
Pulp faction: Jarvis and co hit Glasgow 1 Oct
Melly and Ball. 18 Sept;
j Tuck and Patti. 5 Nov.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
HALL (668 2019) H.113
()pening Party. 5 Aug:
Fitzgerald Song Book II.
7 Aug; George RICH-V. 3
Aug; Martin 'l'avlor. 10 Sept; Jethro Tull. 18 Sept: '
Allll. I EDINBURGH ST GILES (668 2019) Dick Ilyman.
F 7 Aug; Five Blind Boys of
Alabama. 11 Aug.
FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 l) Scottish Fiddle Orchestra. 16 Sept; Christy Moore. 12 Oct.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Incantation. 7 Sept; Christy Moore. 15 Oct: Battlefield Band. 22 Oct; Capercaillic. 23 Oct; Boys of the Lough. 26 Nov.
I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL (228 1155) Scottish
1
l’iddle Orchestra. 28 ()ct.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT
HALL (227 5511) Howard Keel. 21 ()ct.
CLASSICAL
i I GLASGOW CONCERT
HALL (227 5511) Scottish International Piano Competition. 17 Sept:
Wadaiko lchiro
Drummers. 2 Oct; ()pera Gain. 5 Oct; Montserrat
Caballe. 6 Oct; St
Petersburgh I’hil. 3—4 Oct. I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
; THEATRE (5296000) 1 Crystal Clear Opera.
22—23 Sept; Lesley
HALL (227 55|l)1’asa(1enz brochure for request
lorm). telephone (0131 225 .5756). fax (0131 226
Roof Orchestra. 7 Sept; Syd Lawrence Orchestra. 20 Sept.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Van Morrison and BBC Big Band. 6 Aug; IilJF Gala Concert. 9 Aug; Lyttelton.
I ‘W' 2 . ‘ L I? way. .u .
Smile along with George Melly, Edinbugh 8 Aug and 18 Sept
Garrett. 1 Oct; Music Theatre London. 25—28 Oct.
I EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 1995 (225 5756) I3 Aug—2 Sept. Tickets for all concerts can be booked from the Festival Box Office. 21 Market Street. Iidinburgh Iii-11 IBW, by postal application (see
7669). textphone (013i 226 5668). or personal apphcann.
I SUBSCRIPTION SEASONS Programme
details and tickets for
RSNO. SCO. BBC SSO and CGI’O 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); Festival Theatre. Edinburgh (529 6000).
42 The List 30 Jun-l3 Jul 1995