The latest gig on our A to Z Musical Tour was ……
Well not so much a gig as a one day festival curated by Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite. And what a wonderful job he did in bringing together a group of acts who all showed the breadth and depth there is in music today.
Mogwai
How do you describe Mogwai to someone who doesn’t know the first thing about them?
Well, for a start, they are, in the main, a band who play instrumental songs. There have been times when a microphone has been threatened by a verse or two, however that’s likely to be the exception.
The instrumentals themselves come in varying shades of ‘sound’. The songs are built on the strong foundation of guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. Nothing out of the ordinary there you might assume.
But…… What sets Mogwai apart is how the songs ebb and flow with loud, sometimes very loud, periods of scintillating musicianship before being taken down a few notches to near silence and then erupting like a volcano to pierce the atmosphere, and ears, as each member of the band assaults the airwaves with their own instrument.
There was a rugged awakening on Saturday night. A combination of their own body of work stretching all the way back to 1997, with a realisation that they had helped pull off one of the best one-day festivals of recent times.
Mogwai ended the day with the classic Mogwai Fear Satan. I strongly suspect that as Saturday slipped into Sunday, maybe it should have been renamed for one night only, Satan Fears Mogwai.
Slowdive
This was our second gig of the year watching and listening to Slowdive, after their own headline show in February at The Barrowlands.
Under the tent at Queens Park, they once again showed how influential they were, and remain so, as part of the shoegaze genre. Never a band to disappoint, they effortlessly played crowd pleasers from their back catalogue that had us all swaying and nodding in tandem to the sounds emanating from the vast speakers.
In this blog, the term soundscape, has been used more than a few times to describe some of the music created by the acts we have seen and Slowdive are a band who create walls of sound bigger, better and louder than many of their contemporaries.
I think we can tick this session off as another massive success on the day.
Nadine Shah
If you had asked me six months ago what did I know about Nadine Shah I might have been able to tell you I had one of her albums and it had a nice cover. She might even have a nice voice. Mmmm not very convincing.
Here we are at the end of June though, and three times she’s been playing in front of us, first as support to Depeche Mode, then headlining a small intimate gig at SWG3 and finally, on this particular Saturday, pretty near the top of the bill for Big City 2024.
In such a few short months, the confidence can be seen oozing out of her and her impressive band. This is not just a singer with a pretty looking album cover, this is someone with a voice, a story, emotion, passion and a sense of humanity that few could touch on the day.
Nobody who witnessed her set could be left in any doubt that her songs were tinged with more than a little bit of her own life story. That she dances from one side of the stage to another, never missing a beat, once senses that it won’t be too long before Nadine is the headline act she fully deserves to be.
Beak>
It’s maybe a sign that the death of the weekly editions of the NME, Sounds and even Melody Maker are leaving a mark on us auldies.
Where once before I might have picked up something about the bands coming through today, with wall to wall digitisation of music, you can’t be expected to know what’s on the up across the music styles you might favour.
Beak> were a gamble in truth. With other acts playing in the second tent, there was a question mark of where to head to next.
However, the music gods were obviously gesturing for me to give them a go and, if there was to be a musical religion, then I might just get baptised after this showing.
It would be fair to say they have a wee bit of the politic about them and their songs and mid song banter were all the better for it too.
With Mogwai curating the festival, it’s not too surprising that the band play what could be termed psychedelic rock with the bass prominently pounding throughout the set.
Add keyboards/synths, some lead guitar thrown into the mix with a steady, some might even say manic drum beat, and it all adds weight to the argument that this is a band that have cut some fine tunes along the way.
As the session ended we were reminded by the band that they’d be back in Glasgow soon at St. Lukes.
Before the roadies even had time to move the drum kit offstage, tickets were purchased online and we can look forward to an in-depth tasting of what the band have to offer.
Yeah, the internet eh? Had to be good for something.
Michael Rother
The biggest disappointment of the Michael Rother set was finding out later that he’d recently appeared at the QMU which might, we can only hope not though, mean he won’t be back in this neck of the woods in the near future.
If you like Krautrock, then this was the set for you. Behind a darkened table onstage, no doubt resplendent with techie gizmos, Michael and his cohorts melted away the Saturday clouds with a sonic beat that made you cry out for more as his set time came to an end.
In the early seventies, Michael was a key member of Neu! and an early incarnation of Kraftwerk, and on the re-release of the trio of seminal Neu! albums has found an appreciative new audience like myself and others, many of whom had taken up position in the main tent to hear the band play.
For the final track Stuart Braithwaite had even sneaked onstage to play with the band to his obvious delight as well as the crowd.
Another positive ti be deposited in the bank of music.
Kathryn Joseph
There was a distinct disparity between the songs that Kathryn sang and her inter song chat.
The songs obviously held deep meaning for her and the renditions were beautiful while intense at the same time.
Yet in the gaps, she showed a carefree side that lifted the crowd each time. No nerves. A typical Scottish ‘who gives a ….’ attitude.
A short, dignified set that set the tone for the others appearing in the main tent and definitely someone we hope to see more often if this is the standard we can expect.
Elisabeth Elektra
First time watcher. Enjoying your work.
Maybe the standard of phrase that comes easily in this internet world where everybody has a view and the views are aimed fairly and squarely at the recipient.
In this case, it was the first time we had seen Elisabeth Electra and her backing band and, as early sets at a festival go, it was a pretty good introduction to her music. it possibly helps, or maybe even hinders, that you have the key curator of the festival Stuart Braithwaite strumming away on guitar in the corner. Either way the songs were enjoyable and Elisabeth has a presence about her that could lead to bigger and better things.
Anyway, in summary. First time watcher. Enjoyed your work.
Sacred Paws
I’d seen Sacred Paws before several years ago and on the basis of their set that day went out and bought their latest release at that time. In truth, I was a bit disappointed in the album as it seemed to have lost the dynamism the band displayed on stage.
As the opening act, I had these doubts again as I stood waiting for them to come on and play. Yet again though, they have a feelgood factor onstage that evokes fun and enjoyment and their music isn’t bad either.
The set was a mix of the old and the very new and each was met with more than generous applause and cheers from the ever growing audience.
There’s nothing better than seeing people who don’t take themselves too seriously. It would be nice though if somehow they get the success their music and attitude deserves. I just hope whoever is in charged of producing their next batch of songs can keep as much of the live vibe in the mix.
All comments welcome so that we can improve what we are publishing!