music
live reviews
ROCK
Oasis Glasgow: SECC, Mon 8 Dec *‘k**
'This next one's for Billy Bremner,’ says a sincere-looking Noel Gallagher, before ripping into the first chords of 'Live Forever’. It's a nice touch and the capaCity crowd in Hall 4 of Glasgow’s S.E.C.C. clearly apprecrate the sentiment.
Twenty-four hours earlier, it was a very different picture. You know the story by now - someone threw a bottle, Oa5is threw a tantrum and full- scale chaos ensued. Tonight, however, it's all about mutual kissing and making up.
The Biggest Band In The World emerge from the biggest red telephone box in the world in light—hearted mood, clearly keen to bury the previous night’s drama All five band members scurry across the stage in mock fear, heads and bodies shielded by arms and — in Liam's case — a blanket. ’We don't want no trouble!’ pleads the younger Gallagher sarcastically.
With the ice broken, it‘s showtime. Loud cheers greet the opening salvo, but not as loud as the cheers Liam gets for taking his shades off, nor ~ it has to be said ~ as loud as the one he gets for smacking his mic from its stand or putting his tambourine on his head.
'Supersonic', 'Some Might Say' and 'Roll With lt’ fall in quick succession,
Oasis: not quite as mad for it as the night before
with Noel ending the latter under a spotlight, eyes shut, guitar held aloft. 'D'You Know What I Mean?’ is next, growling slowly but effectively into life, followed by a mighty, mighty ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger'.
’C’mon fat arse!’ shouts Liam to no one in particular before a fine, spine- tingling ‘Wonderwall’ concludes the set.
‘I could go on all night,' Liam continues as the band emerge for a three-song encore, which is clearly their way of making up for their hasty exit the night before. Although the audience is tiring, Liam is becoming inCreasingly b0isterous. ’Champagne Supernova' and a fierce 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' prove all’s well that ends well. (Jim Byers)
ROCK Paul Weller
Glasgow: Barrowland, Wed IO Dec air it at
The pub next door to Barrowland is teeming with feathercuts and freshly- starched Fred Perrys. Must be a Wellah gig then. And on account of the number of cable-knit Jumpers floating around among the hard core of Paisley pattern, it must be a Wellah gig Circa 1997.
46 THE LIST 19 Dec 1997—8 Jan 1998
The first half-hour chugs along in unremarkable mode with too many numbers of the Friday Street variety strung together, and there's not enough atmosphere to bring the Weller-monster out of its lair.
It seems our feathered friend is JUSI warming up though, Fears of a mid-gig Eric Clapton metamorphosis are quickly vanqmshed as the all-familiar Weller growl rises to a roar through the SOLind of far Superior tracks from Stanley Road and Wild Wood.
Sweat pouring from his brow and still-sinewy frame wrapped over his guitar, the changing man wrenches sweetly discordant soul from his guts and distills it over a filter of tar and broken glass. The songwriting may have gone astray, but put this man on a stage With a microphone and he‘ll never fail y0u. No doubt about it, Weller's a gigging man
Not so much of gigging man that he doesn't need a seat half way through though. Hopefully, this is not a Sign of things to come, With a Val Doonican- style rocking chair being the next step. Hell for leather rock 'n' roll it ain't.
Thankfully his modliness ditches the seat and saves the best tunes till last, firing through his audience With an intensity that defies those who say he's gone to sleep.
That Weller has grown older With his audience, and strayed ever-closer to the middle of a street that's more Sunday than Friday is Without doubt. Dadrock it may be, but if my dad rocked like this, I'd buy his records (Ellie Carr)
JAZZ Midnight Blue Edinburgh: Cafe Graffiti, Fridays Jr air air
Midnight Blue is the newest addition to Cafe Graffiti's weekend roster, and follows the pattern of the highly successful Lizzard Lounge (Saturdays), alternating the DJ With a live band, Colin Steele’s Groove Merchants. While Lizzard Lounge tends to serve up its Jazz With a Latin or funk bias, Midnight Blue is currently locked into a powerful 605 soul- Jazz groove of the kind once played by the likes of Cannonball Adderley or Horace Silver.
The band follow that classic model, With Steele’s trumpet and Russell COWieson’s tenor sax blowmg over a rhythm section led by David Milligan’s down and dirty electric piano. Their pungent, well greased, rhythmic grooves are jUSI right, and the solomg is strong and direct rather than over-complex. The music was a little less compelling when they were joined by Soubie Coleman, a soulful singer With a liking for classic 60s songs, even if she can't always remember the words. The band also play at Kulu’s Jazz Joint at The Honeycomb on Wednesdays, while Graffiti have a couple of New Year speCials lined up — see Jazz listings for details. (Kenny Mathieson)
ROCK Black Grape
Glasgow: Barrowland, Sat 6 Dec it air air at: Broadly speaking, Black Grape shows come in two distinct varieties, easily differentiated by the trained eye. The first - the common or garden, Greater Spotted Grape Show — is identifiable by a head-tucked-into-chest stance, a distinctive but generally unintelligible call; and a lack of bodily movement which, unless studied With the aid of time-lapse photography, verges on the absolutely motionless. Whilst being a delightful, heart-warming Visitor to the concert venues of Britain, this little fellow can make for a somewhat commonplace spectacle
Somewhat confusingly, his cousin — the Lesser Spotted Black Grape Show, an infrequent Visitor to these shores - displays exactly the same set of traits and markings The only way to identify the LSBGS is to look out for the Sly Rydergrin, a small curve below the beak, easily spotted whenever the head is lifted to ingest the small amounts of marijuana and beer which make up a Grape Show's staple diet, The Rydergrin, a beautiful little example of nature's artistry, seems to appear only in reaction to a particularly tight display of plumage, especiain in the feathering around its keyboard and rhythm sections When one of these chaps chooses to alight upon your Windowsill, you Will feel truly blessed indeed, (Damien Love)
TRIBUTE The Bootleg Beatles Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh, 14 Dec
*www One of the longest-running tribute bands, and stunningly acCurate in their portrayal, the Bootlegs have an impressive range of talents that doesn't stop at being able to sing and play in character at the same time Inventive little touches like 'George' playing the ornate keyboard break in 'ln My Life' on gUitar, for instance, count for a lot too. This was essentially the same set they played last time they croised through town (well, they are kind of restricted as far as new material goes), but there's a compelling quality to hearing the later studio creations performed live that persists after the novelty value has worn off. Interesting, too, to see how such a respectable-looking crowd behaves after a couple of drinks I can’t have been the only punter maddened by the incessant, eardrum-piercing Whistling that a section of the audience kept up through even the quietest moments, Try that in The I Barrowland, pal, and it's more than the WI eye you’d get
(Alastair Mabbott)
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