MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
V LIVE
THEE HYPNDTICS/ AUNTIE nose
.By some conspiracy of
mishaps- unreliable public transport. mutter. mutter. just plain old not leaving the house in time— Auntie Rose are all but winding up their set by the time I arrive. so an impression derived over five minutes is the best I can offer. Heavy but not metallic. showmanship for the sake of it and not very convincing with it. an embellishing trombone which seemed weird but welcome at the time. and the general feelingthat we‘re dealing with a band in search of an identity. and that's yer lot. Merely a sketch. because 24 hours on. next to nothing oftheir performance has stuck.
No such identity crisis with Thee Hypnotics. They know their parameters — 60s garage/ psychedelia — and stick to them like leeches to cement. King ofthe rumbling bass. not to mention the narcissistic pout. lank locks and trashy riff, they‘re hopelessly transparent but compelling at thesame time. A love affair with history and a craving for ‘authenticity‘ are perilous lines to be walking. but when you‘re hit by a wall of primal energy like ‘All Night Long‘ or the last single ‘Shakedown‘ you realise why they chose their period. Pheww! Vibeology.
Too often though they take themselves way too seriously — making a meal out of 'Justice ln Freedom"s slim pickings, to take the most brazen example— and it‘stben, when the exaggerated posturing becomes earnest posturing that stultification sets in. Like. we dig Iggy too. butwe‘ve also heard J ane‘s Addiction. you know? Try out the 90s lads— itwon’t kill you. or if it does. at least you‘ll die educated. (Fiona Shepherd)
Thee Hypnotics a! King Tut's, Glasgow, 221ml.
V LIVE
DAWSON/WHIRLING PIG DERVISH/BADGEWEARER
Apollo, Glasgow, 16 Jan.
Glasgow's Gruti Wit records have, after an 18-month hiatus, succeeded in coordinating a selection of releases. I’ll run that past you again in the event oi mass disbeliel- Gruti Wit have coordinated a business operation. Dl course, we’ll only believe it when the Dawson and Badgewearer LPs and WPD single hit the office but given that Grult Wit is essentially a one-man, no-money concern the very tact that we can talk about things like ‘another Dawson album’ at all is cause enough for celebration. Hence tonight’s trlple-craniumed assault and battery.
Badgewearer open. Clearly in the presence of promoters who believe in saving the best till iirst. Nought much has changed except that drummer Ross has somewhat inadvisedly opted to shed skinhead chic and now sports a cutesy-wutesy curly crop a la prime-time Shirley Temple. Otherwise, Dave is still pulling ridiculous Toby Jug laces and Tony still makes bass-playing look like the most teeth-clenching, digit-bloodying exercise in all creation.
Next, Whirling Pig Dervish who are at least as silly as their name but sport delinabie songs to parry Badgewearer’s cut-and-thrust approach. They now have only one renegade Bash Street Kid (should he be allowed in here? he looks a triile underage) in their line-up, where there were two beiore. Tonight they gad
about endearingly, performing a version oi ‘John Wayne ls Dig Leggy’ which is so garbage it’s inspired. Still just look like live mates Having A Lari though.
Dawson at least command some authority. Dnly they could make wearing a teacosy atop matted dreads look like an astute fashion statement. Jer grunts bug-eyed vililication, his shopping list, or whatever, overthe usual mesh oi the taut, the twangy and the thrashy. Everyone gets down in the accepted fashion and that's it. I salute Dawson and their ilk with typical ambivalence -thoms in the side oi sell-satisfied muso drivel, who could become poison-tipped iavelins were it not tor the, shall we say, economy of imagination on otter. (Fiona Shepherd)
Ally from Dawson
V LIVE DARLINGHEART
Negociants, Edinburgh, 25 Jan. The first thing you notice about this new Klrkcaldy threesome is their size. A uniiorm live foot tour, they look trapped by the Saturday night Negociants crush, with their only extra weapon a reluctant drummer who appears to have been recruited irom the audience. They enter the tray ieariul, but determined to be noticed.
Immediately, they sound good and look good. Clark, bassist, stands resolutely punching out nice sharp passages, mostly without the help of his eyes. Cameron, on guitar, produces
tierce harmony, leet lixed but body twitching. The two of them achieve something many bands here don’t— they actively co-operate, and the effect is potent.
Most eyes, however, are on vocalist Cora. Black leggings and Docs topped by a white dress that she could wear to an ice-cream-and-ielly party, the poor girl is completely ignored by her microphone. She keeps smiling, adorable in her embarrassment, while the mike is ‘iixed’ and screams leedback. Throughout the set, her voice, pleasantly edged, is just out of reach, deserving to be heard yet drowning in the guitar noise. She vents her trustration on an innocent tambourine.
Darlingheart have attracted a lot of interest, and rightly so; they have the talent to match. For a band who have been together only seven or eight months, they’re unusually mature, using changes of pace and subtle mood swings which aren’t really encouraged by the venue. At their best, they lorm a tight unit which blends naturally.
Too soon, its over. The drummer is away with his pint before the applause has died. Cora wanders across the ‘stage' again; she looks like she would love to do another one, but can’t think what. You get the ieeling that Darlingheart haven’t really got the hang oi this performance thing yet. Playing live, sure, but they don’t act distant or arrogant enough.
They can save that for the SECC. (Gavin Inglis)
V BOOK NOW
1 $3353}?
Concerts listed are those at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time oi going olpress.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARRDWLAND (226 4679) Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 10 Mar: Ride, 12 Mar; Love/Hate. 14 Mar; Stiff
Little Fingers. 17 Mar;
Charlatans. 5 Apr; Levellers. 1 May: Carter. 8 May.
I GLASGOW CELTIC PARK (227 551 1) Prince. 28Jun; Bryan Adams, 11 Jul.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL(227 551 1) Frankie Valli. 8 Mar; Don.
Williams. 12 Mar;Jethro
Tull. 18 Mar: Lisa
i Stansfield. 20 Mar; Drum ! Beat,3Apr.
i
I GLASGOW PAVILION
j (3321846)Cr0wded
House. 29 Feb; Cowboy Junkies. 3 Mar; Philadelphia II. 21 Mar: Gary Numan. 27 Mar.
I GLASGOW SECC(557 6969) Eric Clapton. 3 Mar; Wet Wet Wet. 13 Mar; Tom Petty. 15 Mar; Rush. 15 Apr; Cher.l May; Diana Ross. lOJun:
. Cliff Richard, 29—310ct; : Tom Jones. 2 Nov.
I LIVINGSTON FORUM (557 6969) The Beautiful South. 21 Apr.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHDUSE
(557 2590) Little Village. 23 Feb; Barry White. 7 Mar; Europe. 8 Mar; Jethro Tull, 17 Mar; Erasure. 3—5 Jul.
JAZZ and FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Dubliners, 17 Mar; Danish Radio Big Band. 22 Mar; Chick Corea Elektric Band. 26 Mar;
Dizzy Gillespie Bebop Band. 19 Mar; Katia Labeque & John McLaughlin Trio. 20Jun.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Hooray for Hollywood. 23 Feb: The musicals, 3 May; Jesus Christ Superstar Concert, 4 May.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHDUSE (557 2590) James Last, 4—5 Sep.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 1) Moscow
State Symphony. 2—3
3 Mar; Philharmonia. 23 Mar; Midori, 29 Mar;
Opera Gala. 5 Apr.
I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) Hebrides Ensemble, 16 Feb; Scottish Ensemble. 28 Feb; Jonathan Plowright, 1 Mar; Glasgow CO.8 Mar; John Lill. 12 Mar; Ralph Markham and Kenneth Broadway. 20 Mar; Academy CO. 26 Mar; Junior Orch. 29 Mar; Scottish Ensemble. 10 Apr; SCO Brass. 11
Apr. 2 I GLASGOW SECC (557
6969) Pavarotti, 4 Mar.
Foster and Allen, 30 Mar;
Sonny Rollins. 21 Apr. I EDINBURGH QUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) McCoy Tyner, 14 Feb; Fairport Convention, 18 Feb; Courtney Pine. 28 Feb; Carol Kidd, 6 Mar;John Harle Big Band, 13 Mar; Julian Joseph, 15 Mar; Dubliners, 18 Mar; Danish Radio Big Band, 20 Mar; Ornette Coleman and Prime Time, 27 Apr. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1 155) Jan Garbarek Group. 3 Mar;
I EDINBURGH QUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) Songmakers Almanac, 17 Feb; Scottish Ensemble, 1 Mar; Brindisi String Quartet, 16 Mar; Orkest de Volharding, 25 Mar; Alfred Brendel. l 1 Apr; Scottish Ensemble. 12 Apr; Evelyn Glennie and Anna Steiger. 29 Apr.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Verdi’s Requiem (ERCU), 9 May; SCO/Rattle. 16Jun.
I SUBSCRIPTION SEASONS Programme
details and tickets for
; Royal Scottish Orchestra,
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and City ofGlasgow Philharmonic Orchestra are available from Ticketcentre, Glasgow (227 5511); UsherHall, Edinburgh (228 1155); Queen‘s Hall, Edinburgh (668 2019). Tickets for Scottish Opera from Theatre Royal, Glasgow (332 9000); Playhouse. Edinburgh (557 2590).
32 The List 31 January — 13 February 1992