CUT'N'PASTE FUN'N'GAMES
THE GO! TEAM
Smirnoff Electric Cabaret at Mansfield Traquair, Edinburgh, Fri 20 Apr
If you’re looking for a gig with a difference, here it is. Human beatboxer? Check. Hula hoop artist? Check. Burlesque dancers? Check. ‘Giant balloon man’ (whatever that is)? Check. Right, let’s also get Lemon Jelly to DJ and The Go! Team to headline, then let’s stick ‘em all in an extraordinary 19th century building known as Edinburgh’s Sistine Chapel, OK?
So the people at Smirnoff bring their successful Electric Cabaret nights to Scotland, specifically in this case to the remarkable venue of Mansfield Traquair, for a night of the weird and the wonderful. And who better to headline than The Go! Team, the effervescent Brighton-based outfit who blend cheerleading with pop, hip hop with indie and dance
music with general rabble-rousing? None better, that’s who.
‘We’re always doing something a little bit different,’ says the band’s unstoppable singer and chanting ringleader Ninja, in a statement which could apply just as easily to the whole evening. ‘We’re not just pop, we’re not just dance, we’re not an indie band either, we don’t fit into any box, and on stage we’re showing that as well. We’re just having fun on stage, we’re not trying to impress anyone.’
But they do impress. Their Mercury-nominated debut, Thunder, Lightning Strike, was a breath of fresh air, and while the follow-up isn’t due till Autumn, they’ll be using this show to try out new stuff.
‘Scotland gives us such a great response every time, so we’re going to test out some new songs from the album. We wouldn’t have done it anywhere else.’ (Doug Johnstone)
PSYCH GOSPEL SPIRITUALIZED ELECTRIC MAINLINES
Carling Academy, Glasgow, Mon 23 Apr
'Edinburgh was the best show I‘ve ever done.‘ said Jason Pierce. the heart and s0ul of Spiritualized. in Word magazine recently. 'People stood up to clap. Ten minutes later they were still clapping. The band were crying. l was crying.‘ That was him talking about the only other Scottish date of the Spiritualized Electric Mainlines project to date. at Ediiil'nirgh's Queen's Hall last year. It all s0unds kinda transcendental. which is really no Surprise when you consider Pierce's CV.
Pierce was. of course. one third of Spacemen 3 in the 808. one of the most underrated bands ever and also the indirect inventors of post- rock. They came. they released some stunning. classic records with titles like The Perfect Prescription and Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To. then. as might have been fOreshadowed. he and Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember split amidst chemical recriminations.
Fortunately some Spacemen 3 classics are promised at this acoustic comeorchestral re-iniagining. along with many of Pierce's Spiritualired standards. Shoe-horned into a dark room at the end of the Bi’itpop corridor in the late 908. Spiritualized thrived. largely thanks to the magnificent Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space. Perhaps. though. Spiritualized's monolithic but inward— looking sound was never meant for the mass market. Far better. perhaps. to hear it in a situation like this. stripped bare before the faithful.
Oh. and one new development. Pierce spent three weeks in hospital With pneumonia in 2005. and nearly died. Twice. So if ever there was a gig to take a hanky to . .
. (David Pollock)
INDIE ROCK COLD WAR KIDS QMU, Glasgow, Thu 26 Apr
While many of us are quite rightly enthralled by the diversity of the current musical climate and all the breathtaking new bands it has to offer. Cold War Kids. despite being very much part of this climate. seemingly couldn't care less. The List catches up with frontman Nathan Willett in the middle of a US tour with Tokyo Police Club. He explains why most modern acts leave him unmoved.
‘We are exposed to a lot of contemporary music by default of being in it. but the people we all listen to and who inspire us are the greats like Bob Dylan. Johnny Cash. Billie Holiday and Tom Waits.‘ he says in his charming Californian drawl. 'We want to be like them,’ he adds. ‘lvfake music that is timeless: important now and also in 20 years from now.’
These are grand aspirations indeed but ones that have been long fermenting in the minds of this Fullerton act; four close friends who formed the band in 2004. deserting careers as substitute teachers. designers and. erm. pix/a makers to follow their dream.
‘There is an unspoken understanding between us of what we want to be about musiczilly.‘ says Willett. 'l‘ve always wanted to do this but never guessed I'd be able to do it at this level so this is all pretty amazing.‘ With a hugely successful debut album in the form of Robbers 8. Cowards and tickets for their UK tOur selling fast it w0uld seem that this quartet are already one of 2007's triumphs. but they have no plans to sit back and relax any time soon. ‘We want to be constantly collaborating with people and pushing our sound to new levels.’ says Willett. ‘For this set of gigs we're planning a mix of poetiy. music and some real surprises. Rock bands get in such a routine that it's important for our sanity to keep doing things that challenge us and make us iiiiconifortable.'
(Camilla Pia)
1;)? 96 Apr 200/ THE LIST 61