He was great as always, the gig was ned free, lots of old friends present and correct, and he played lots of our old faves as well as a couple more rootsy tracks from his new albumn.

Last minute gig decision last night – gotta love living in the heart of town. Without their frontman they were a little less entertaining although their fantastically talented musicianship was still on display. The acoustics and shape of the Arches didin’t help either, it was a much less crisp sound compared to when we saw them at ABC a few years ago

We caught a magnificent set from Chilly Gonzales last night at a very intimate ABC2. He was on brilliant form, relentlessly entertaining yet showing true mastery of his piano. Riffing on rap, minority keys and classic show tunes there were definite echos of Flight of the Choncords, with an overlay of a  more sophisticated musical palette. It was the sort of school night outing that makes living in the city so great.  Next some classical piano – he has hetted our appetites.

We were at the first of three B&S shows prior to Christmas – it has only taken four years to see them in their home town! While we were risking derision from the locals for revealing our taste in twee, nevertheless it was a very enjoyable gig. B&S were extremely polished and although they had perhaps lost some of the quirky intimacy from when we last saw them in Brisbane many years ago (one of the reasons we ended up in Glasgow actually) they certainly know how to put on a show. The set list was focused on Dear Catastrophe Waitress, so perhaps not enough oldies for C’s taste but we managed, and the Barra’s is such a great venue it was hard not to have a good time.

In amongst a crazy weekend (for work not partying unfortunately) we went to Goldfrapp on Friday night for Dr Dave’s birthday. Alison Goldfrapp’s outfits were amazing and the classic tracks were suitably atmospheric, but her new stuff was just the wrong side of pop (the kylie side in you will) for my taste.  All the girls seemed to enjoy themselves although I’m not sure about Dr D…

On the even of Bowlie 2 (which we won’t be attending alas) some more from the archives…

A remarkable restrained Les Savvy Fav played at the screening of the ATP Film in Glasgow last year. As local acts often featue heavily on the ATP roster (and indeed Belle and Sebastian starting the whole process with the original Bowlie weekender) expectations were high. The film was enetertaining but a little limited in its scope I felt, Warren Ellis was definitely the highlight.

With the film as a taster later last year we headed back down to Minehead for 10 Years of ATP. As all the acts had played ATP before there was less of a sense of discovery but some fantastic tunes nevertheless. We didn’t quite manage to tap into an appropriate level of hedonistic attitude either – the 10 hour bus ride sapping our energy for the weekend.

We have had old school friend ‘the Guru’ around to stay this week – it has been a fun few days. On Wednesday evening we popped in to the liquid ship to catch our old friend Jamie Flett play, along with his brother Andy (together they are the sometimes duo Feltt). They were both in sparkling form and their sound really suits the intimacy of the Ship, when they play with a bigger band I feel they lose some of their uniqueness.

Listening to Jamie play reminded me to post on his album launch, now over a year ago – at a busy evening at the Griffin’s Head. The support act torturing a guitar with a hairdryer was interesting but knocked the tone of the evening a little and it never really recovered, the album, and its electro remixed cousin Bright but Cold, that wa sonly distributed on the night are excellent little nuggets well worth a listen.

more than a year ago now!…getting older by the day

for our slightly more significant birthday’s last year cousin Claire & I hosted a masquerade Ceilidh in the ballroom of local bolthole Sloan’s. It was a great night, Chhay made a slection of her amazing cupcakes, there were some fantastic masks and the band were superb – particularly patient with our amateur ceilidh attempts.

Fun gig with our band of the summer. They were patchy in parts especially at the start but had the crowd in the palm of their hand by the end of the set.

monotonix

A couple of comments on gigs we attended at stereo in August.

First up was a bit of a punt on Crystal Stilts with Veronica Falls in support. They were actually a bit crap, quite messy and not as good as their studio work – cool brooklyn kids who weren’t that interested.

A couple of days later, in a vindicated a spur of the moment decision we went to see Israeli punks Monotonix. They were totally mental and it was absolute madness madness with four hairy sweaty guys in speedos traipsing all over the venue, playing on the bar, getting audience members to support their drum kit and stool above their heads while they played! As well as (or perhaps in spite of) their great show they also happened to be good musicians.

monotonix at setreo