And a great day it was too. Thanks very much to Mono, and all those that made it happen. Caught most of the day, despite the horrendous weather up North.
First up, John B Mckenna and his acoustic guitar - certainly entertaining and with some decent songs. Mother and the addicts were on second - meh, blues rock, fairly boring standard fare.
Third, One Ensemble, folky, amtospheric classical tro with strains of GYBE! Had I not heard Espers a month or so before, would have quite enjoyed it. Plus they seemed a bit more classical and stuffy.
Not what you want on a cold, wet day in Glasgow.
4th, Glasgow upstarts DANANANANAYKROYD!!!! Think of Jetplane Landing and At the Drive-in, and although they don't sound particularly like either of them, they are great. Hardcore based, melodic punky rock. They clearly had a great time, and I thoroughly loved it. Rock Action, sign them!
www.myspace.com/dananananaykroydFollowing that energetic show, the Twilight Sad: the dourness following such an upbeat show, didn't quite work for me, but I can see why people like them. Epic, spacey guitar, strong vocals and driving songs, the Twilight Sad, they're not shit.
(Check them -
www.myspace.com/thetwilightsad)Next up er, Part Chimp. Or not. De Salvo, those fellow Rock Action-ers took their place. And what a show. Certainly a spectacle with the lead singer storming the crowd in fetish-butcher wear, and running around shouting at people. Extremely loud and extremely heavy. Get involved if that's your thing. Decent, even if it just didn't quite click.
( Check
www.myspace.com/desalvoland )
(NB. Something kind of bugged me during the show - who are those guys, I recognise certain members of desalvo, and yet their music was new to me? A quick check of the myspace later, and it clicked. Alan Stewart, Idlewild touring/second guitarist and Alex Grant, Idlewild guitar tech. No wonder they've been driven to such extreme noise...lol)
Then... special guests... Part Chimp.. er no, still no show. So Franz Ferdinand instead. Special unbilled guests. You know them, we know them, etc. Short set, new stuff. Meh, I'm not massively impressed, but hey I've passed chances to see them before. Bring on the Part Chimp!
Then back to the Rock Action with Errors! Yes. They are great,
you can dance and also enjoy their slightly awkward spectacle. Some new stuff, and some of the older stuff tweeked and pounding. Great stuff.
At this point, after a day of rain, we decided to call it quits as no-one was massively fussed on the Aliens.
I did briefly corner Dom from Mogwai (er, I mean rudely interrupt, apologies) at one point, to find out where the Chimp were at. A family illness/emergency.
Also, from the Errors, for those interested - they're currently recording and tweeking have been for the last three months. But hey, they've a certain perfection in their sound, and it's definitely worth it.