ROCK " MOTORHEAD Barrowland, Glasgow, Fri 18 May.
The groupies are getting older I’m sure of it . . .
Here’s a handy tip if you ever find yourself talking to rock ‘n’ roll legend Lemmy. It’s probably best not to mention the subject of, gulp, ‘Ace Of Spades’. Motorhead’s one proper hit single and a pub jukebox stalwart through the years, ‘Ace Of Spades’ has become synonymous with the band, and Lemmy’s
sick of it.
‘I did go through a phase where I didn’t want to play it,’ growls the man himself, on the phone from his LA apartment, ‘but I always did ‘cos you owe it to your public, don’t you? I mean if I go and see Little Richard, I wanna hear fucking ‘Long Tall Sally’ or I’m gonna be seriously pissed off.’
Not that he’s really bothered about the song’s longevity. ‘I can’t complain,’ he rasps. ‘Luckily it’s a decent song, so I don’t have to get upset having to sing it every night. But if it was a shit song,
imagine that.’
So the Motorhead gig coming up at Barrowland will feature ‘Ace Of Spades’, but whatever you do, don’t shout for it. ‘People come to see us and they’re just waiting for ‘Ace Of Spades’ at the end,’ says Lemmy with obvious disgust. ‘These people are Motorhead fans, but they’re fans of a Motorhead that’s been dead for, fuck I don’t know, fifteen years now. We’re making records just as good if not better now. The music’s definitely harder and faster.’
Which is maybe one reason why the band were nominated for a Grammy Award last year. Not that Lemmy gives a toss about that. ‘What the fuck, I don’t care,’ he says, ‘but it’s one in the eye for all the critics. Not bad for a bunch of old cunts who can’t play any more, is it?’
Having lived in LA for eleven years, Lemmy strikes a curious figure in the Californian sunshine, with his spectacularly unhealthy lifestyle, dragged-through-a-metal-hedge look and gravelly English accent. His band are similarly out of place in the modern world of nu-metal, and that’s just how
Lemmy likes it.
‘Nu-metal? What’s new about it? Nothing. We were on the Ozzfest two years ago with Limp Bizkit, and it was fucking dull stuff. They just sound like the fucking Grateful Dead with a hip hop beat
behind it.’
As the interview winds up, Lemmy asks if I’m coming to the gig. Too fucking right I reply. ‘Good,’ he laughs, ‘we’ll show you what real rock ‘n’ roll sounds like.’ (Doug Johnstone)
CLASSICAL
CAPPELLA NOVA Glasgow Cathedral, Fri 11 May and Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, Sun 13 May.
The shockingly popular Cappella Nova
It's late summer. 1513. and Scotland has an arrm to be proud of. But before James !V and his 60.000 mern men went off to battle at Flodden. the music of the day was part and parcel of
their preparations. In a musical tribute to this vrvrd Renaissance king, vocal ensemble Cappella Nova have put together a 'typical. historical Scottish prograriime' according to riianager Rebecca Tavener. 'lt's very upbeat. confident and iriagnificent.' she says. describing the mix of Scotland's own Robert Can/er. whose six-part Mass provrdes the framework. alongside plainsong. Josguin Des Pres and Robert Fayifax.
The choice of music reflects the position that Scotland found itseli in Within a European (liirrt2risi<>ri at this particular pOint in ltlSl()l‘,. Henry VIII was in France. but that didn't stop him waging tragic war against his sister's husband ilvlargaret Tudor. at age thirteen. had married James N ten years l)l'€\’lOLlSl‘:..r '\"\.’e're deing SOII‘C of the music that Margaret irrag. have carried in her baggage.‘ says Rebecca Tavener. ‘There's a Magnificat bi. Fahnzix. who was English but greatly adll‘llCCl in
Scotland. and pieces that are representatioris from the Pope and the King of France. It's really a little look at the political and cultural map of Europe during the Renaissance.~
Early music h; s seen a surge of interest in recent years. partly due to the hiin calibre of groups such as Cappella Nova and its teirtale babes offshoot. Canty. Plainsong has a special appeal and the Jairies IV l)l'()§}l'£tll‘.lll(} includes that for the Feast of St Michael. ‘lt's both mystical and rr‘ilitar1,_' sags Rebecca Taxener. and as St Michael is the patron saint of Scottish and French kings. it seerrred particularl, appropriatef
Exen though Cappella Nora has specialised in earn, ll‘LlESEC s:nce its inception, its current popularit, is a rr‘§.sten. to tnerr‘. '\.‘.i’e'r‘e still recoxering frorr‘ the shock of two complete sell-out rir'rigjreirr‘rr=(:s.' says Taxener. ‘There seeir‘s to be an insatiable appetite for ancient ll‘LlSIC just now. but it's great that ' e're in derr‘andf Carol Main;
Music
MUSE Barrowland. Glasgow. Thu 24 May.
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./-1.'.'~':. ' THE LIST 51