I would consider myself one of the lucky ones. First album was a way back in 1973 with Billion Dollar Babies, while not long after that, relatively speaking, I could be seen jogging up the Apollo stairs to watch Roxy Music in their prime. Running up was likely to be met by a strongly disapproving bouncer, which was never a good idea.
Since then, the albums have mounted up, whether vinyl, tape or CD and, while the live gigs haven’t managed to keep pace with the collection, the live appearance of many of the acts I’ve taken on to the shelves have given me many a memory to savour.
As June saunters into July, Bronagh and me will be heading first to the Queens Park Recreational Ground to give its full title on Saturday and Sunday to watch a host of bands as part of Big City 2024 on Saturday, followed by a further visit to the city of The Charlatans. We then get a night off on Monday before heading to the hallowed venue we call The Barrowland Ballroom to see LCD Soundsytem.
Apart from headlining Big City 2024, Mogwai have curated all the support acts across two tents on the day. Slowdive, Nadine Shah, Beak>, Michael Rother, Kathryn Joseph, Bdrmm, Free Love, Goat Girl, Cloth, Elisabeth Elektra, Sacred Paws. A few have already been ‘caught’ live at some point in the past, for some though it’ll be a first-time watch.
No doubt some will find more favour than others, but that’s what makes music such a wonderful art form. It’s all in the ear, and sometimes eye, of the beholder.
On Sunday, The Charlatans will be more than ably supported by Callum Beattie, Swim School and Big Day.
We’ll be breaking new ground going to see LCD Soundsystem on Tuesday night, the third and final night of his sold-out gigs in Glasgow.
What is striking about all three headline acts is their longevity in the music business.
Mogwai’s debut album, Mogwai Young Team even although Ten Rapid could be argued was released earlier in 1997 while The Charlatans released Some Friendly in 1990 and LCD Soundsystem broke out with their eponymous album in 2005.
Throughout these years many have came along to take the plaudits and awards while building a substantial fanbase. Yet their starlight shone bright for only a short burst in time. A couple of albums, a couple of tours, before ‘musical differences’ and/or a failure to create a platform to build upon saw them disappear from trace. Maybe not helped by a music press too quick to dismiss them as a spent force before they themselves moved on to the next big thing.
Mogwai’s rise has been steady developing their industrial sound around a mix of shoegaze and post-rock. Heavily slanted towards instrumental tracks, they generate a wall of sound that reverberates around the venues and have steadily amassed a following both at home and abroad.
The Charlatans remain one of the most successful and inspirational indie dance bands to emerge from the UK. Fronted by Tim Burgess they are renowned for songs driven by the Hammond organ playing first by Rob Collins who died in a car crash as the band were making a major impact and now Tony Rogers.
LCD Soundsystem are the unknown quantity as we approach the long weekend. Their albums are slick, cohesive and tap into many genres. Will their music stand up to the live performance? Three sold out gigs at The Barrowland would suggest quite a few believe they will.
And so, what will the weekend bring? We’ll let you know in our next posts. Meanwhile, here’s a sample playlist from our three headliners. I’m sure if any of the tracks in the playlist make it into the setlist each night they will come across better than the vinyl substitutes and I reckon thousands may just agree with me too!
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