live
BOOK NOW Embrace We help out with your forward planning When Embrace blasted onto the music scene in 1997 with 'All You Good Good People', great things were predicted for the five-piece from Leeds. Three years on, and they’re still about, albeit with a far lower profile, churning out anthemic indie epics for a loyal and introspective fan base.
Back on the road with their biggest tour to date, having already sold out nights at the Barrowland, Norwich USA and Brixton Academy, the band have their summer festival experience to fall back on. As guitarist Rick McNamara states, ‘it was amazing - it’s definitely been an eye-opener, and we feel a lot more confident now doing the tour.’
McNamara believes that playing to a packed and highly appreciative tent in deepest darkest Kinross in July was one of the highlights of his career. 'Security kept telling us to keep the sound levels down, and we couldn't hear anything above the noise of the crowd. I've never played so many burn notes in my life! But yeah, T in the Park was probably the best gig we’ve ever played.’
At the risk of verging on unambitious, McNamara is quite content with the direction the band is taking. Recalling a trip to Thailand earlier this year, he says: ’we were number one over there and our songs were on the radio all the time. It was a massive head-fuck. We couldn't live with that all the time - you wouldn’t want to.’
This is a band who won't be phased by success. Feet firmly on the ground and ears keenly tuned into the music, they are like the wise old men of Britpop, and still striving for a ‘vision’ for their third album. And as McNamara says succinctly: ‘lt’s the music we're interested in; everything else is just window dressing'. Refreshing if nothing else.
(Maureen Ellis)
I Embrace play Barrow/and, Glasgow, 5 8 72 Nov. Tickets are still available for the second date, for more details see below
ROCK JJ72 The Venue, Edinburgh, Fri 13 Oct * it
Hype-ractive teens JJ72
You have to feel a little sorry for JJ72. OK, they‘re y0ung, good-looking and have the indie world at their feet, but
Ticket information
Tickets for most medium/large concerts can be bought from the following:
Virgin, Buchanan Galleries. 332 4400 Credit card bookings from:
Ticket Link: 287 5511.
Way Ahead: 339 8383.
Virgin Princes Street, 220 3234. Ripping Records South Bridge. 226 7010.
Assembly Rooms George Street. 220 4349
Way Ahead 0141 339 8383
I Hefner and Life Without Buildings G2. Glasvow. 3 .\'o\'.
I The Who and Joe Strummer Sl~1(‘(‘. Glasgow. 3 8c 5 .\'o\‘.
I Embrace Barrowland. Glasgow. 5 .\'o\; I Gabrielle Clyde .»\uditoritim. Glasgow. 6 .\'o\'.
I Therapy? Cthouse. (ilasL’ow. 7 .\'o\'. I Big Beat Boutique tour teat. Dirty Beatniks Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 7 .\'o\'. I Doves Arches. Glasgow. 8 Nov.
I Sona Fariq Cathotise. Glasgow. 8 Not. I The Selecter Liquid Room. Edinburgh. l() .\'o\'.
I Jill Scott Venue. Edinburgh. l2 .\'o\‘.
I Embrace Barrowland. Glasgow. l2 .\'o\‘.
I Low Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 13 .\'o\'. I Levellers Barrowlar‘td. Glasgow, 13
Nov. I Low Arches. Glasgow. [4 .\'o\'. I Queens Of The Stone Age
Barrowland. Glasgow, to .\'o\'.
in the Current fickle climate of short- termism in British goitar music, you wonder if they're Just the angsty flavour of the week, and next week they’ll be bargain binning it down Woolworths way.
The Dublin trio’s cheeky little faces have been popping up all over the music press over the last few months, and it’s certainly clear from this showmg that the band have been snapped up and hyped early, the reSult is a one-paced, short set which is lacking in dynamics and variety.
There’s no denying that JJ72 have some talent. Singer Mark Greaney's mice is qurte something to behold, being able to squeal falsetto one moment and rasp Out Kurt Cobain- style the next. But musically, and more speCifically melodically, the ten songs they play are actually fairly turgid re- hashes of stuff that's been done (and is
Embrace are intent on making a show of it
I Lo-Fidelity Allstars Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 17 Nov.
I Earthline No 9, Skin Dread and Liberty 37 Calhotise. Glasgow. 17 .\'o\'. I Roachford ()ld lirtiitinarkct. Glasgow. 1‘) .\'o\‘.
I HIM. ('athouse. Glasgow, I‘) .\'o\'. I UFO Barrowland. Glasgow. 22 .\'o\'. I The Fall Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 25 .\'o\'.
I Thin Lizzy Barrowland. Glasgow. 25 .\'o\'.
I Gong Rentrew Ferry. Glasgow. 25 Nos. I People Under The Stairs Arches. Glasgow. 26 .\'o\'.
I Gong Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 26 Nov.
I Terrorvision Venue. Edinburgh. 27 .\'o\'.
I AC/DC SECC. Glasgow. 2 Dee.
I Craig David Barrowlantl. Glasgow. 3 Dec.
I M Ruin Garage. Glasgow. 3 Dec.
I Willard Grant Conspiracy Attic. Edinburgh. 4 Dec.
I At The Drive In Arches. Glasgow. 4 Dee.
I The Alarm 2000 Garage. Glasgow. 4 Dee.
I Billy Bragg And The Blokes Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 5 Doe.
I Richard Ashcroft Barrow land. Glasgow. 8 6; 9 Dee.
I Beautiful South SECL'. Glasgow. 8 Dec.
I Green Day SECL'. Glasgow. 8 Dec. I Amen (‘athotise Glasgow. 1() Dee. I Duran Duran Sli(‘(‘. Glasgow. It) Dee. I Levellers Barrowland. Glasgow, [3 Dee.
I David Gray (‘orn Exchange. Edinburgh. l4 Dec.
I Saw Doctors Barrowlands. Glasgow. 15 Dec.
still being done) a million times before. Songs like 'Snow' and 'Desertion’ from their eponymoos debut album are pretty interchangeable lvlanics-style dullards and, despite Greaney’s best efforts, are more or less dev0id of any actual emotion or feeling,
It’s not all doom and gloom though, With one or two signs that if the band are given time to themselves to develop, they might start coming up With something more original. Recent Single ’Oxygen' is the biggest song of the night, With the band actually managing to IHJQCL a little of themselves into their performance for once.
But of coorse one song’s not enough, and you can only hope that they’ll be given time by the press (unlikely) and their label (snowball in hell’s chance) to work on and create the:r own SOund (Doug Johnstone)
live MUSIC
LOCAL LIVE
Delgados/Clearlake Garage, Glasgow, Sat 14 Oct.
It’s fair to say Clearlake aren’t here to offend. Frontman Jason Pegg’s overbearineg apologetic and twee- seeking nature might suggest they have the sensibilities of a postcode, but they do possess two bodyswerves of discord in 'Winterlight’ and ’Don't Let The Cold In’. Who knows how the band can actually manage to play them?
Until recently, the Delgados had attracted a ubiqunous quota of admiration, but rarely adulation. However, The Great Eastern album has deserVingly put them on that higher echelon, and even though the Glasgow crowd are somewhat heSitant (self-consoous?) to Sing along, they do at least mouth the lyrics. Multiplied by a string section who look more like a local football team’s subs bench, the soonds are even more richly optimistic, and characteristically executed With sublime certitude. ’Thirteen Gliding Principles’ feels like the greatest headache in the world, While ’Aye Today’ and ’No Danger' offer incontestably glorious tides of eloquence and splendour. They even turn the pages of history to play their first ever single, ’Monica Webster', a delightfully insubstantial pop song, implicitly serVing as a reminder of Just how grandiose the band’s evolution has been. Album of the year? Probably. Gig of the year? Almost definitely. Tonight, the Delgados played like gods; anyone who was present should the happy. (Jason Cranwelll
Suburbia
King Tut’s, Glasgow, Thu 12 Oct.
Watching Suburbia is like being sent
back screaming to 1996, On first listen
to the Singer’s wail of 'She calls me on
the phone' you COuld JUSI imagine
Steve Lamacq adjusting his hearing-aid wondering how he ended up at a
Longpigs gig fronted by E from Eels'
body double. ’ivlother, Please', on the
other hand, is eqowalent to Suburbia
making a date With pre-’Kid Eh?’
Radiohead and finding that James have
turned up instead, The song’s echo of
’She’s A Star’ woold make Tim Booth
spin arms-a-go-go in his grave, but
oddly he hasn't died as goickly as his
mu5ic has. Original, Suburbia are not;
but, hey, at least they don’t s0und like
Oasis, (Jason Cranwell) ‘ l l
STAR RATINGS ' ‘ S
it ~~ A: i- * Unmissable
s s a. v. Very good
it it it Worth a shot I t * Below average I s You've been warned
i9 Oct-2 \loz' 2000 THE LIST 47