Radhika & Future Pilot AKA, The Secret Goldfish, The Leopards, QUAD90, The Bluebells and Port Sulphur
Mono, 12 December
The Creeping Bent Organisation
Let’s put the record straight at the outset. Unlike many of those who arrived at Mono to remember all the good times that were created over the past thirty years or so with acts associated with The Creeping Bent Organisation, I’m a relatively late newcomer to one or two of the acts and special guest stars who populated the stage at Mono.
The night though was a celebration of the past thirty years. Thirty years in which Douglas MacIntyre has built, maintained and developed a label that resonates across the Scottish indie family.
7.45 – Radhika & Future Pilot AKA
8.15 – The Secret Goldfish
8.45 – The Leopards
9.15 – QUAD90
9.45 – The Bluebells
10.15 – Port Sulphur
The plan for the night was quite simple, six acts offered time to build and/or cement their reputation across three hours, each limited to around a twenty minute or so set. The young, the not so young, the well kent and the hidden gems that somehow seemed to pass me by over the years.
It all kicked off with Radhika & Future Pilot AKA. Radhika offered a glimpse of the new Scottish talent coming through, aided and abetted by her dad Sushil, Future Pilot AKA /The Soup Dragons on bass, the ubiquitous Mr Douglas MacIntyre on electric guitar duties and, as a final farewell, they invited onto the stage, Radhika’s mum on backing vocals. A family affair, which bore many of the hallmarks of what could be termed Scottish indie music over the past three decades. No frills execution of the instruments, melodic singing with an obvious joy by the lead players to be in the lineup on such an auspicious occasion.
The Secret Goldfish were up next with the other half of the talented family, Katy Lironi, wife of Douglas, proving she is as adept at singing as Douglas is on guitar. Having seen her and the band play a few times this year, it would appear that she is quite happy to see the final curtain fall on The Creeping Bent Organisation. For all that though, each successive gig the band have played has saw them gel together as a cohesive unit. The vocals are sharper; the band have tightened up as a unit and the selected songs on the shortened setlist touch at the very heart of all that has been good about what they do.
The Leopards were speaking to me for the first time at this gig and their lyrics and musicianship struck all the right notes for me. Lively, energetic, staccato guitar, short, sharp, no nonsense playing. All the hallmarks of the music coming out of Scotland in that period of the eighties and nineties. Some mainstream hits along the way but dig a little under the surface of the music scene of the time and you will find numerous gems to listen to and enjoy.
As indicated earlier, it was a period of time when music wasn’t to the forefront of my mind and looking back, there is some regret that I couldn’t have been as active in going to watch bands play live as I do now.
From the past to the future, with a little help from the experienced backing band as they say, QUAD90 have been making a splash for themselves these past couple of years. Like The Secret Goldfish and the later headliners Port Sulphur, I’ve been following their career over the past couple of years, and every time I see them, they seem to be more polished, more confident than the last. During that time, they’ve released their debut album, a tidy mix of disco/funk beats and guitar driven backing. Like all the acts on the night, there is little space for any frills, just straightforward playing of the tracks they have recorded and the warm applause as they finished was well merited.
Since The Creeping Bent Organisation kicked off three decades ago there has been some significant changes and challenges as to how musical acts build their audience. From streaming services to Tik Tok or YouTube, from lucky breaks to so called TV talent shows, it seems harder for genuine quality acts to make it through the mass of competition. The young ladies of QUAD90 have the talent. They have the backing of experience behind them. Do they just need a lucky break in the coming year to build on the progress achieved to date?
The Bluebells needed no introduction. Confidence abounds within their ranks. They have the repertoire that shouts to you, ‘we know what you like and here is another song that we recorded earlier’. Sometime earlier meant a few decades ago, however it was to that time frame that the crowd were hoping to hear and they weren’t let down, though there was plenty of time to play a couple of more recent track that radio DJs, with the notable exception of Billy Sloan, hadn’t, as yet, picked up on.
The Bluebells have that happy knack of playing feel good songs and, for their limited time on stage, there is no doubt that everyone watching was in fine fettle.
And so, to the conclusion of the live acts. Port Sulphur. Yet another band with the footprint of Douglas MacIntyre etched all over it. Instrumentals feature prominently in their albums to date and their guitar driven sound ebbs and flows across Mono as they kick into their set.
However, this is as much a time for nostalgia as any other and, joined by QUAD90, then Monica Queen and finally Katy Lironi, the evening ends with as uplifting a feeling as would be had at any other time during the past thirty years.
For the audience, the perfect ending to a musical extravaganza that ran to time without any hitches. It highlighted Scottish music – where it came from, how it developed and how it is helping to nurture the future.
I wonder if Douglas has any regrets. Like Frank SInantra, I’m sure they’re too few to mention. Thanks for all you’ve done and continue to do through the Frets Concert series.
