I I
I
A L E Z E E K L L E R
MUSIC | Live reviews
ROCK KINGS OF LEON Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, Thu 15 Aug ●●●●●
After rumours of inter-band tension and tales of diva behaviour backstage, Kings of Leon cancelled a string of US dates in 2011. They announced a six-month hiatus and as time rolled on people started to wonder if KoL had imploded under the weight of public scrutiny. After all, with a band made up of three brothers and one cousin, there’s no feud like a family feud. Two years later and we have a new album on the way (Mechanical Bull will be released in late September) and a set of high profile festival headline shows (including the inaugural Glasgow Summer Sessions out at Bellahouston Park). After a perfectly pleasant but fairly average set
of by the numbers indie from the Courteeners (only ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ really hits), it’s a strangely sombre entrance for Kings of Leon as bells toll and dry ice bathes the stage. If there are any underlying tensions they hide it well. The band seem refreshed and revitalised. Their country rock once again takes on an effortless swagger as they launch into ‘The Bucket’, cutting through the drizzly Glasgow night, every word sung back by the jubilant throng. Then they bring on the heartbreak with ‘Notion’. They may have lost some of the feral power of their debut UK shows but they’ve replaced it with slick stagecraft. They’re now so at home playing concerts of this size, they seem comfortable on stage, and there’s a looseness that gives their southern rock a louche, raw edge. Matthew Followill even picks out chords with his teeth on a shimmering ‘Closer’. Before their break they sometimes appeared complacent, as if they were going through the motions. Tonight they appear reinvigorated. The first new track of the night, the upbeat stomp of ‘Supersoaker’, just adds to the feeling of a recharged KoL.
Admittedly there is a bit of a lull after ‘Fans’ but a sublime, hard rocking ‘Molly’s Chambers’ (from debut album Youth & Young Manhood) kicks things into high gear. ‘Be Somebody’ and ‘On Call’ are perfect festival fodder while never ignoring their Nashville roots, and an epic plaintive ‘Knocked Up’ soars.
Caleb Followill’s vocals have a wonderful
gravelly quality that suits this new relaxed state, there’s even a spark of rarely seen humour as he playfully admonishes the crowd. Tonight’s gig showcases a re-energised Followill clan expertly playing off one another; from Jared’s looping bass to Nathan’s weighty drumming style while Matthew proves again and again his skill with a series of wonderful riffs (especially on the aforementioned ‘Knocked Up’). (Henry Northmore)
70 THE LIST 22 Aug–19 Sep 2013
MOTOWN HITS MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Wed 7 Aug ●●●●●
Imagine one giant ballroom, rainbow lighting, dry ice and a giant disco ball – it's a fitting setting for, as her personal compère puts it, the ‘First Lady of Motown Soul’. Detroit’s Martha Reeves looked every inch the part in purple sequins, tambourine in hand, thanking Edinburgh for letting her perform. It’s hard to believe she’s over seventy, as her incredible voice and vivacious energy make for a typically sparkling performance. The setlist contains buoyant versions of crowd- pleasing hits; ‘Nowhere to Run’, ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Jimmy Mack’, the latter with a comic story on how she’s still looking for a man in a three-piece suit. The crowd is lovingly regaled with tales of the golden age of Motown and her legendary life; one poignant moment involves a song about her son hating his Navy uniform. A beautiful rendition of ‘No One There’, a track from Reeves’ Black Magic album, is also a highlight. At the end, the predictable but always satisfying power hit ‘Dancing in the Street’ was sweetened further by Martha shimmying through her medley of Motown hits. (Jo Bell)
WRONG-POP FAREWELL SUPER ADVENTURE CLUB Broadcast, Glasgow, Tue 8 Aug ●●●●● It’s hot in the city, hotter still in this subterranean sweatbox. Your sympathies then, for the poor git in the rubber horse mask expressing, via the medium of equine dance, an onslaught of giddy, brain- melting wrongpop. The behoofed Bez is Dr Horse, shape-throwing mascot of Super Adventure Club, Glasgow’s most deliriously imaginative trio. Theirs is a dazzling and addictive post-Cardiacs melange of tangleweed riffs, impossible time changes, frenetic tempos, shouty bits and intermittent bubblegum melodies. Yet despite the technical overload and furious complexity, tunes such as ‘Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle’ are warm and approachable – sweaty devotees yell back every lyric and lurch in perfect synch to every labyrinthine diversion. With drummer Waz off to study in Hong Kong for a year, this is the last SAC outing for a small eternity. Perhaps ever. So there’s a real sense of celebration, tinged with sadness and drunkenness. But tonight also sees the launch of new album Straight from the Stick – sold in innovative form; a drumstick, download code and crudely drawn genitals. Bet Thom Yorke wishes he’d thought of that. (Matt Evans)
D O O W T S E W T R A U T S
SURF-POP THE B-52S ABC, Glasgow, Mon 12 Aug ●●●●● ROCK BROKEN RECORDS Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, Thu 8 Aug ●●●●●
’First we were punks, then we helped create New Wave,’ declared Fred Schneider, matter of factly, ‘but this is a punk song.’ The full range of the Georgia outfit’s 30-plus year career was explored here, but judging by crowd volume, it was the dayglo late-80s pop goliaths everyone was here to see. Despite Schneider’s understandably bitchy grievance about ‘some rag in England’ revealing that ‘we’ve gotten older since the 1980s’, they appeared little changed, with slick-quiffed Schneider looking bright in a lurid green T-shirt and fellow singer Kate Pierson sporting the brightest red hair. Best of all, their voices are still there, especially Pierson and Cindy Wilson’s big, raw 80s power hollers. There was the vigorously uplifting ‘Roam’, of course, the mighty ‘Love Shack’ and the buzzsaw horror rock of the finale ‘Rock Lobster’. There were plenty of other good bits too, including the surf grind of ‘Private Idaho’, the strangely Postcard Records-sounding ‘Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland’ and lesser-known hit ‘Whammy Kiss’, but for most in the room familiarity seemed to be the key. (David Pollock)
As Edinburgh’s Broken Records take to the stage, the temperature goes up a notch (literally) with the intimate venue reaching capacity. The guys plough through a setlist that contains new material from their up-and-coming third studio album and more familiar songs. The crowd, which contains The 10:04s drummer, Paul Haddow (who’s name was used for the mini- festival, Haddow on the Fringe, which this gig was part of), appear to take to the new material. However, they are in their element by the time more recognisable songs such as ‘A Darkness Rises Up’ and ‘You Know You’re Not Dead’ were sung. Throughout, violin and trumpet work perfectly in complementing the other instruments and vocals of this rock n roll band, as well as helping them to keep their Scottish identity. Broken Records know how to put on a show – as proved when the crowd let out a collective groan as they announced it was time for their last song of the night, ‘All Else Can Just Wait’. (Matt Ward) ■ See facebook.com/brokenrecords for updates.