With GASP and THE GIROBABIES
Ivory Blacks, 28 December 2024
During the #AtoZMusicalTour, there continues to be a number of firsts.
Saturday night was no exception with a first visit to Ivory Blacks. Once inside, I had to ask myself how I’d managed to miss this venue in the past. Alongside quite a few others we’ve found in Glasgow, it’s an ideal setting for small, intimate gigs. It’s definitely on the watch list going forward.
Another first was heading to a gig where the headline act was a rapper. Not just any rapper of course but Loki, or Darren McGarvey to give him his Sunday name. The gig was to launch his new, and probably final album, Not Funded by Creative Scotland.
As the new album has still to hit the streets, it’s difficult to discern all the interwoven stories that Loki performed on the night. Fool me for not picking up the download code that would have given me the chance to listen to the whole album in the comfort of my own space.
What is without doubt though was the ability to rap out over 7,000 words from memory in a set lasting around 70 minutes. The words flew out of the speakers at a rate of knots and, while the general basics of the stories being projected were relatively clear, it is going to take a few listens to the album and a read at the lyric sheets to understand the full extent of angst that drove Loki to produce the record in the first place.
Social commentary when fired at you with the brashness and confidence of Loki can be off putting at times. From the poetic references that I was able to understand in full, there were a few uncomfortable moments where the notion of being a champagne socialist reeked with an embarrassing stench.
On the night, Loki was a man on a mission. A man with an agenda. A man with a story to be told, an album to be bought. 7,000 words in 70 minutes without notes. No mean feat at all.
As a first headlining rap gig, it had everything I’d hoped for. Good backing tracks to feed the rapper with his cues. A good intimate venue. An admiring audience and some soul searching along the way.
The album, along with the lyrics sheet have been ordered. A good read and listen are looked forward to.
Support Act Gasp
A good few years ago I came across Gasp’s video A Girl Called Glasgow. To date it remains my favourite song about my hometown city.
By his own admission Gasp needed a bit of pre-gig training to make the most of his short set. He needn’t have worried though as he rattled through his chosen tracks with a typical Glasgow gallus attitude. An attitude that serves rappers well in an area of music where personal confidence and conviction is endemic.
A Girl Called Glasgow was the obvious highlight. His signature tune, which sounds as fresh today as it did over a decade ago when first pulled together.
Support The Girobabies
A stripped back set was what we were told to expect. A stripped back set is what we received. Some new songs dropped between older, more familiar material. With the new album, Dreams Are Mental, scheduled to be launched in March, the new songs hold up well in comparison to what many watching have become familiar with.
While a stripped back session, the Girobabies remain a tight, unit delivering social commentary in a style that is maybe more in tune to what I’ve been used to and was all the more enjoyable for that on the night.
29 March 2025 is booked in the dairy for the launch of the album and already looking forward to that.
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