With QUAD90
30 November, 2024, Stereo, Glasgow
When I first saw this gig being promoted for Port Sulphur, I thought, ‘Hold on, didn’t we go to the album launch in The Wee Red Bar in October?’ Even reviewed the gig here where once again QUAD90 were the support act.
Ahh well, maybe it’s the Glasgow launch then for all those people that don’t want to cross the great divide between both cities.
In truth though, the gigs themselves were very different.
Support act
QUAD90
Amelia Lironi and Naomi Mackay may have dropped dressing in black and wearing shades in the past couple of months, that hint of coolness they displayed in Edinburgh now replaced with a new found confidence as singers with image now secondary to the music.
The set of songs they sang at both gigs may have been similar, but the delivery of each in Glasgow sounded much more professional, they both appeared less nervous and, more importantly, they seemed to enjoy the occasion that bit more.
The songs themselves hark back to the days of disco funk with the backing tracks driven by the experienced musicians playing behind them. There is also a clarity in their voices whether taking the lead vocal or when harmonising as most songs so far rely on.
If they can progress this far in a matter of weeks, then who is to say where they may be a year or two from now. They have the mentors in place to guide them and they have the talent to take themselves to the next level of the musical ladder. Only time and a few more live performances will tell.
Port Sulphur
Like QUAD90, there was a marked difference in the intensity levels of all the Port Sulphur band members on stage at Stereo. Their performance in Edinburgh had been well worth the journey through from Glasgow and a good night was had by all. The performance in Stereo hinted that the Edinburgh gig was merely a rehearsal for the big reveal.
Was there something in the water maybe? Whatever the reason, for a relatively short period of time, Saturday night was turned into a sonic explosion led by the guitars of Douglas Macintyre and the ‘cosmic’ violin expertise of former Scars man Paul Research.
Not to forget the driving beats led by Douglas Hannah (drums), Laughlin Allan (bass) and Samuel Joseph Smith (guitar). Port Sulphur are the sum of all these parts plus the addition of the QUAD90 ladies to provide backing vocals and tambourine claps in all the right places.
Over the years, I’ve attended gigs where the acts were unable to replicate the sounds put down on vinyl from their recording studio output. Other gigs though have seen tracks re-mixed from the studio work into aural works of art that you wish had been put down on the records in the first place.
Port Sulphur didn’t so much re-mix the tracks from Meta Guru as re-energise them without compromising on the basic structures of each. Much of this has to go down to the extraordinary virtuoso work of Paul Research throughout the set. I can’t remember ever being so captivated by the sounds coming from this instrument.
With little stage lighting and mostly dressed in black, the players may have been half hidden from the audience, but what they lacked in visuals they more than made up for in the sound coming through the speakers.
Listening to the album as I write this, I better appreciate all the instruments that have been brought together in composing each track. The foot is still tapping in all the right places. It remains a highly polished work of music. And I can recommend anyone to seeing the band perform the tracks live. You will definitely not be disappointed.
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