MUSIC LIST/ROCK
No new records from the Petrols until the autumn. so this is one of the last chancesto see them before they start recording. One year on. Big Decision is definitely a classic single in my book — so hopefully the next album is more consistent than the last one. I All Nighter Rooftops. 92 Sauchiehall Street. 10.30pm. Still at the planning stage. the idea is to run until 8am witha mixture of bands providing the entertainment. At the moment. Lowlife and Baby's Got A Gun are on the bill. hinting
at the diversity ofthe line-up. ifnothing else.
Edinburgh ;
I The Membranes. Archbishop Kebab. Vatican Shotgun Scare and The Call Girls Calton Studios. Calton Road. 556 7066. l.oud and thrashy indie stalwarts. The Membranes seem to have been around forever. long enough to build up a devoted following. eager to hear ‘Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder' one more time.
I Swamp Trash Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. One of the Capital's most acclaimed groups. and deservedly so. (iood time guaranteed (almost). Keep an eye out for their LP.
I The Natives Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 17(18. £1 after‘)pm.
I Bo‘Weevil Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 2263816. £1 after‘).30pm. Bluesy. I Bich Free Fall Negociants. Lothian Street. 2256313. 9pm. Free.
SATURDAY 23 Glasgow
I Erasure and Zip Barrowland. (iallowgate. 7.30pm. £5. See panels.
I The River Detectives I lalt Bar. Woodlands Road. 9pm. Free. Superb songwriters. who can adapt equally well to the acoustic format in which they can be seen tonight.
I The Membranes l latton Rigg I lotel. llatton Rigg Road. Bellshill. See Fri 22. I Tantara Blade Blackfriars. 36 Bell Street. 9pm. Free. Capable of fine pop songs. Tantara Blade scent to be fallinga little short of expectations in their current format ~ going by demo evidence. Maybe it is time to see them live. though.
I Billy Forbes La Taniere. 15 Fox Street. 3pm. Free.
I All Fall Down La Taniere. 15 Fox Street. 9pm. Free. Residencies.
I The Thieves and Trash Can Sinatras (‘umbcrnauld Theatre. ('umbernauld. 7.30pm. The Thieves have established a big local following for themselves. while the Trash Can Sinatras are certainly worth investigation. Lead vocalist is Frank Reader. brother of Fairground Attraction‘s liddi. and the music is almost like the Smiths meeting Springsteen. without being either depressing or boring.
Edinburgh
I The Groundhogs Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. Yes. those (iroundhogs. Tony McPhee's rockers from days ofyore. trying for a comeback. Anyone out there I got a copy of the LP with the Neal Adams l sleeve'.’ Probably worth a bob by now. I I The Daisy Chain Connection Music Box. 1 |
Victoria Street. 220 1708. l’romisingband. they‘ve come a long haul up the motorway for this gig. so don't let them down.
I Yes Yes Juliette Studen tinion. chiot Row. Lightweight butf n pop. with Blondie and B-52s as strong influences.
I Makossa Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 2263816. £1 after9.30pm. Reggae. I Contraband Negociants. l.othian Street. 2256313.
SUNDAY 24 Glasgow
I The Burden Blues Breakers l .a Taniere. Fox Street. 9pm. Free. Residency.
I The Membranes Daddy Warbucks. 4n West (ieorge Street. See Fri 22.
Edinburgh
I Erasure and Zip Playhouse Theatre. (ireenside Place. 557 2590. 7.30pm. £6.50. £5.50. See panels.
I Cry and Tenesmus Soundcheck Rock Club. Venue. Calton Road. 5573073. 7.30pm. £1.50. More heaviness.
I Eat The Peach Bandwagon. Morrison Street. 8.30pm. Free. Pop.
I The Dan Blocker Experience Preservation l lall. Victoria Street. 2263816. 9pm. £1 after Upm. Country.
I Jean Mundell Mtis‘ic Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. Afternoon. Free.
I Bluelinger Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. £1 after 9pm. Bluesy.
MONDAY 25
Glasgow
I Behind The Glass La Taniere. Fox Street. 9pm. Free.
Edinburgh
I That Petrol Emotion and Great Leap Forward Venue. ('alton Road. 557 3073. See Tues 1‘) and Fri 22.
I Debutante Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free. lleavy rock.
I The Kitchen Devils Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free.
I Where's Bialto? Negociants. l.othian Street. 225 6313. 9pm. Free.
TUESDAY 26 Glasgow
I Rush SliCC. Finnieston. 7.30pm. Nightmares are made of this -— boring musos. who haven‘t a clue about structuring a decent song (listen to the last album for proof) playing at being superstars. lluge stadium. huge prices. and 1 would reckon the only band in the world potentially more boring than (ienesis. (iive the next person you see in a Rush T-shirt an extremely dirty look.
I The Organisation Bar Luxembourg. Pitt Street. 332 1111. 10pm. Free.
1 was impressed by their recent gigat .‘vladisons‘. An energetic fusion of pop. soul. funk and rock which brings out the
I Slave Trade Fixx. Miller Street. 10pm. Free. After much deliberation 1 have come to the conclusion that Slave Trade are pretty much a pretty average Glaswegian pop band in every sense — no more. no less. Some good songs. but their singer's voice gets very grating after a while.
I Billy Rankin La 'l‘aniere. Fox Street. ()pm. Free. Residency rsee 19th.
I Bobby Wishart l lalt Bar. Woodlands Road. 9pm. Free. Residency.
Edinburgh
I Billy Jones and The Big Picture Venue.
BAD
TACKHEAD
TAO j
" ' .GA-RYCLAIL" 41:1?
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WP H
meeting with the group that would become known both as Tackhead and Fats Comet: Keith Le Blanc, Skip McDonald and Doug Wimbish. Without realising it, virtually everyone has
heard Tackhead. They were the Sugarhill house band, and played on nearly all the label's hits, most memorably Grandmaster Flash's ‘The Message’. Sherwood noted with interest that they were also involved in more left-field projects and invited them to work with him. While retaining his superb feel for reggae, Sherwood’s more recent music with his various collaborators is less easily defined. It's more funk-influenced, certainly, and he tends to call it ‘head damage tunes', a term which applies well to Mark Stewart and The Maffia‘s music: ruthless, apocalyptic, scarey, but always aimed at the dancetloor.
Tracks by various permutations of the assemblage are occasionally played on night-time radio, but it‘s only when there's a dancetloor, as when Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System (with Mark Stewart in tow) visited Iastyear for an evening of serious head damage tunes, that the approach makes most sense. Miss it not. (Mab)
The Edinburgh Venue plays host on Friday 15 to an awesome assembly of talent when Mark Stewart and The Maffia are joined by Tackhead and Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. This sole Scottish date is a rare chance to see the Tackhead live group (augmented by advanced electronics almost impossible to find in this country), taking time off from profitable New York session work for a short British tour of ‘experimental' dance music.
The man on the mixing desk, catalyst and Iynchpin around which the whole stable revolves, is former reggae DJ Adrian Sherwood, whose work with Prince Far-I and the burgeoning roster of his own Dn-U Sounds label (not to mention last year’s superb Lee Perry album) established him as Britain‘s most innovative reggae producer. He now applies the skills he acquired in I years of mixing dub to 1 constantly-evolving music forms with a 1 shifting pool of musicians that come I
together to make up not only Tackhead and Mark Stewart’s Mania, but also African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate, é Singers and Players, Fats Cornet and l more.
A trip to New York resulted in a
best in singer lan Paton's wonderful voice.
(‘alton Road. 557 3073. Billy makesa mega-rare appearance with his backing band in a celebration often years of performing. The first decade's alwaysthe worst. Bill.
I The Tex Fillet Five Oddfellows. Forrest Road. 2211 1816. 8pm. Free. See Mon 18. I The Peristalsis Brothers Negociants. l.othian Street. 225 6313. 9pm. Free. Fifties sounds.
I Black Market Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free.
I Swing Shift Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 9pm. Free.
Falkirk
I Lowlife. Thieves, Styng-Bites (TBC). Clubhouse. Coasters Arena, Falkirk, 0324 24101/2
WEDNESDAY 27
Glasgow
I The Jesus and Mary Chain Barrowland. (iallowgate. 7.30pm. £5 Promising a noisier approach than at their last Barrowland show seven months ago. See (iuest List.
I Blue Ruin Fixx. 86 Miller Street. lllpm. Free. Promising band. with a very obvious Aztec Camera and Lloyd Cole influence. No bad thing: once it is ironed out they could be a very potent pop band.
I Naifan llalt Bar. Woodlands Road. 332 1210.1)pm. Free. As always. . .
Edinburgh
I Tam White Negociants. Lothian Street. 2256313. 9pm. Free. See Wed 20. ' I The Preacher's Daughter Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708.
l
THURSDAY 28
Glasgow
I The Railway Children and Something Happens Fury Murrys. Maxwell Street. 10.30pm. A double bill of Branson's latest tax loss signings. neither of which warrant immediate attention. Something Happens. like every other Irish band have been compared with UZ. but fall a long wav behind many of their compatriots(eg 'l'he llothouse Flowers. Cry Before Dawn. Asian) in the talent stakes. The Railway Children may do a good line in fttncral'soundtracks. judging by the tape 1 received. And just to prove how much money Mr Branson has at the moment. we are treated to two identical versions ofthe same songon the tape. Mmm . . .
I It Bites Rooftops. 92 Sauchiehall Street. 332 5883. 10.30pm. ldon‘t know what we (ilaswegians have done to offend the said Mr Branson. but sending usThe Railway Children. Something l lappens and 1t Bites on the one night should ensure a mass evacuation. What's on in lidinburgh anvway'.’
I Bough and Ready La Taniere. Fox Street. 9pm. Free. Well. they aren't on Virgin. if that goes for anything.
Edinburgh
I John Denver Playhouse Theatre. (ireenside Place. 557 2590. 8pm. £10.50. £9.50, £8.50. Wholesome early Seventies‘ idol of dubious fame as the singer ofsuch songs as ‘Leaving on a Jet Planc‘ . ‘Annie's Song' and other memorable highpoints of that decade.
I Grey By The Gun Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 9.30pm. Free. High energy rock band from Aberdeen.
I The Dan Blocker Experience Negociants. l.othian Street. 225 6313. 9pm. Free. Country.
I The Block Brothers Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9pm. Free. Residency.
36 The List 15 — 28 April 1988