MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
_ Boomw 1
BJORN
Barrowland, Glasgow, 7 July.
Oh, for the unearthly talent that would allow me to utter the words ‘thank you’ and be greeted with an avalanche of applause, to pull a silly face and
get a standing ovation, to bunnyhop
around to show that I’m violently happy and cause mass hysteria in a crowd of otherwise polite, orderly concert-goers. But I’m not Bjiirk, so I
can’t do all this.
The transformation in the audience from pre-gig civilised drinkers to devotional congregation genuflecting before the omnipotent Bjiirk is the first surprise of the evening. The second is that her voice, although still unique, is not the sound of a flotilla of angels casting blossom to the gentle wind to the accompaniment of massed harps. In fact, she sounds quite
human, really.
lnevitably, she can’t replicate the sound of Post live — Glenn Miller wasn’t available to back her on her encore, ‘lt’s Oh So Quiet’, but it was a highlight anyway, still managing to capture the sass and celebration of
\
single, does not fare so well in its pared-down format. A swelling string arrangement is a powerful thing, and
Concerts listed are those
at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going to press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLANDS (226 4679) Terence Trent d'Arby. 31 Jul; 1.eye11ers. IS —19Sept; Marillion.23
Sept: Julian Cope. 30
Sept; Pulp. I ()ct; Big Country. 7 ()ct; Iron Maiden. 5 Nov; Deep Purple. 2 Mar.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL 1227 .551 l I Joan
j Armatrading. 2 Sept:
Simple Minds. 11--l3 Sept; Jethro Tull. 18 Sept;
lilkie Brooks. 10 ()ct: Art Garfunkel. 11 ()ct‘. Alison
without it the prettiness of the melody I is barely bolstered.
i i
gubbins. 80 ‘Army Of Me’ works ‘ because its pounding steamroller
the big band sound. ‘lsobel’, the next 1
See, even a performer like Bjiirk isn’t an island. Okay, there’s the voice, the presence, the pretty frock, but it takes 9 ' more than a series of impressive vocal I (-l. v H) I)“ : acrobatics to create magic. So her ‘ J "1‘" “' minimal version of ‘Venus As A Boy’ is I , sweet but nowhere near as beguiling
5 as when it gets the full arrangement
rhythm remains intact.
it’s not that deviation from her recorded works is a bad thing — heaven forbid she ‘do a Portishead’ and reproduce her album exactly - but in the main her renditions are so stripped back that there’s no thrusting i momentum and the success of the i show rests entirely on the Bjiirk 1 larynx. Although, judging by her i reception, Bjiirk on a plate was all the audience demanded anyway. (Fiona
Shepherd)
Im- ‘
EUGENIUS
llice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow, 8 July.
Although Eugene Kelly has a tendency to turn up in the audience of almost
every concert played in Glasgow, it
seems a heck of a long time since he
Moyet. 18 ()ct; Bootleg Beatles. 155-19 Dec.
I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) Boy/one. 29 Sept; Celine Dion. 27 ()ct‘. Status Quo. 2 Dec; Wet Wet Wet. 8 Dec; Gary
I STRATHCLYDE
l 6969) T in the Park. 56
COUNTRY PARK (013
557
Atig.
I éorueunou FESTIVAL
THEATRE (5296000) Joan
Armatrading. 3 Sept: lilkie Brooks. 8 ()ct; 1.oudcn Wainwright 111. 12 Nov.
‘ I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL (22S 1155) Simple Minds. 2—-5 Sept; Boy/one. 1 ()ct‘. Big Country. 7 ()ct; Bootleg Beatles. 16 Dec.
COUNTRY
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Kenny Rogers. 9 Sept; Don Williams. 27 Sept: Joe Longthorne. 15 ()ct.
I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) liverly Bros. 24
3 ()ct. I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL (228 1155) Kenny Rogers. 10Sept; Don
I Williams. 2S Sept; Nanci Griffith. 17 ()ct; Joe
Longthorne. 21 ()ct'.
Paul Weller headlines at T in the Park, Sat 5 Aug
Melly and Ball. 1c; Sept; Tuck and Patti. 5 Nov. I EDINBURGH DUEEN’S HALL (668 2019)1il.115 ()pening Party. 5 Aug; 1"iI/gt‘t‘ztltl Song Book II. 7 Aug; George Melly. S Aug; Martin 'l‘aylor. 10 .-\ug;('aro1 Kidd and Annie Ross. 29—30 Aug; Craig Mthirdo‘s Jiye Cale. 31 Aug-I Sept: (ion/an Rubalcaba. 2 Sept: Jack Bruce. 2 Sept. I EDINBURGH ST GILES (668 2019)1)ick llyman. 7 Aug; l-‘iye Blind Boys of Alabama. 11 Aug.
FOLK
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Scottish 1’iddle ()rchestra. 16 Sept: (‘lu'isly Moore. 12 ()ct; Mary Black. 31 ()ct.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (5296000) Incantation. 7 Sept: Christy Moore. 15 ()ct: Battlefield Band. 22 ()ct; Capercaillie. 23 ()ct; Mary Black. 29 ()ct; Boys of the Lough. 26 Nov.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 2019)Coe1beg. 17 Aug; Boys oI‘tlte Lough. 18~20Aug; Wollstone. 21—22 Aug: Mac-'I’alla. 24 Aug; Dougie .\1acl.ean. 25 Aug: l.indis1‘arne. 26—27
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Seottish International Piano Competition. 17 Sept; Wadaiko lchiro Drummers. 2 ()ct; ()pera Gala. 5 ()ct; Montserrat Caballe. 6 ()ct; St I’etersburgh Phil. 3—4 Oct. I GLASGOW KING’S THEATRE (227 5511) Amnesty International I-"reedom Gala. 10 Sept. I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) International String Orchestra. 29 Jul; Christ Church Singers. 11 Aug; NAYO Festiyal. 12 Aug-4 Sept; Scottish International Piano Competition. 10-15 Sept; RSNL) Gala. 19—21 Sept; l.eda Trio. 29 Sept.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Crystal Clear ()pera. 22—23 Sept; Lesley Garrett. 1 ()ct: Music Theatre London. 25—28
Oct.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) One \'oice linsemble. 23 Aug: Xanl'onia Trio. 13 Nov; Pra/ak Quartet. 4 Dec; Juliane Banse. 22 Jan; ()uator Ysaye. 19 Feb; Grieg Trio. 11 Mar.
I EDINBURGH
and his band have been the ones up on ; " tit-ct-ty Brothers. 25 ()ct. Aug, INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL stage being stared at. Not that there's I EDINBURGH ususn 1995 (:25 575(1) 13 anything remotely ‘comeback’ about ; JAZZ HALL (22s 1155) Scottish Aug-«2 Sept. Tickets rot- tonight. It’s more like bumping into a t I GLASGOW CONCERT Fiddle ()rchestra. 28 ()ct. all concerts can be booked
cousin you haven’t seen fora year or
so. There’s no particular
HALL (227 551 1) Pasadena Root" Orchestra. 7 Sept;
LIGHT
I‘rom the liestiyal Box ()t'lice. 21 Market Street.
. . ' ° - ‘t ' ~- ‘ 1:1 1 '21 121 W. app'ehenswn’ expectahon 0|, desue to ; Syd‘layyicncc ()rchcstra. I GLASGOW‘CONCERT t Ian, I" 1 113 V ‘ ‘by im ress on either side Comfortable l 3“ SCPI- HALL 1227 >511 I Howard PM «imitation (m p o ' I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL K031. 3) (m. brochure Ior request
However, the basement of Sleazy’s is busy and stiflineg hot. The air hangs
close by, picked out in cheap green
stink and the floor is sticky underfoot. ‘As we haven’t played for a while, “93"! While murky "times move about we’ll treat this as a kind of press conference, so if there are any
THEATRE (529 6000) Van Morrison and BBC Big
Band. 6 Aug;1ilJI“ Gala 3 Concert. 9 Aug; l.ytte1ton.
I EDINBURGH QUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) From Piccadilly to Broadway. 4 Aug.
form). telephone (0131 225 5756). fax (0131 226 7669). textphone (0131 226 5668). or personal
"91“ "his" adds ‘0 "'8 general 3 questions, call out between songs,’ fig‘fi‘sig‘l-Pnou lmPTBSSIOII 011118 "11018 bat be"!!! qutps Eugene. Someone asks where he SEASONS Programme
trapped undemaief With the oxygen got his stripey top, and the ensuing
running 10W- i question and answer session ends in Claustrophobic. and ‘Flame On’ isn’t g the punchline ‘What Every’s Jeans’. A really helping to distract the thoughts possjb|e highlight, but, y’know, you of just how unpleasant it feels down " many had to be there, here tonight. This surely is the point of “are to keep coming back to the halting 50‘3" dingy 09"” Venues - heat, but it’s surely a factor in both when the music hits, the excitement the lacklustre audience reaction and fills the place. The sweat dripping 1 the brevity and largely impersonal from the ceiling rafters takes on a performance of the band. They hit , cinematic sheen and you feel dirty- hard once or twice, but you didn’t miss elite, really, glamorously decadent. much more than a damp T-shirt. Man Tonight, it’s just too hot, the toilets ' alive. (Damien Love)
details and tickets for RSNO. SCO. BBC SS() and CGPO concerts are available from Ticketcentre. Glasgow (227 5511); Usher Hall. Edinburgh (228 1155); Queen's Hall. Edinburgh (668 2019). Tickets for Scottish Opera from i I 1 Theatre Royal. Glasgow 1 (332 9000); Festival STOP mess: the wars have added a second date at i Theatre. Edinburgh (539 SEC!) on Sat 9 Dec 1 6000).
42 The List 14-27 Jul 1995