11/03/08 The Mars Volta @ Carling Academy, Glasgow

TMV return to Glasgow exactly 3 years to the day since they last played in the city.  Having chosen not to tour Amputechture on these shores, they bring with them over 140 minutes worth of new material to unleash on the Scots.  They certainly didn’t waste any time as there was no support act ‘The Volta’ came on to the stage at 8.10pm, diving headfirst into a 15 minute rendition of ‘Roulette dares’.  The tracks were spread nicely from the four albums, apart from only playing ‘Cygnus’ off Frances the mute, although it was a 30 minute version!  It still remains my favourite album, although the new album ‘Bedlam of Goliath’ is not too far behind.  Second up was ‘Viscera eyes’ off Ampetechture which has a great riff which live sent shivers down my spine.

The gig lasted for 3 hours meaning at points it felt more like an endurance event both mentally and physically.  Sometimes the jams such as during ‘Drunkship’ and ‘Cygnus’ would go on for so long I would actually forget which song they started with in the first place.  There weren’t even many moments in between songs where there was silence.  While most bands in between songs play the odd chord here and there and talk to the crowd.  TMV take the opportunity to do some mini songs, often just Omar and Cedric bouncing off each other.  At times these bits were genius, but there were other times Omar’s loops became too repetitive and would nearly set me to sleep, until the next song would explode out of nowhere.  I think these bits acted like more of recovery sections for the band. Especially the drummer who has got to be seen live to be believed; he is just the most energetic drummer I have witnessed live.  Even if I did ever become that good at the drums; to do what he did in that gig, it would take me about a week to recover!  Never mind going on stage the next night and doing it all again.  Truly mind-blowing.  In hindsight I can see why they needed the breaks and even if at points it did become slightly monotonous; it is better than silence!

The songs off Bedlam were a total joy to hear live.  After being slightly sceptical of this album when I first heard it; it has grown on me with every listen.  Performed live it is sensational; in particular, ‘Wax Simulacra’, ‘Agadez’ and the Rock monster of all monsters ‘Goliath’.  These are all ferocious all out rock, space prog songs where Cedric hits notes with ease that some women wish they could reach. I couldn’t quite believe they played ‘Aberinkula’ without playing ‘Metatron’ which follows it on the album.  On the album it actually feels like the same song. I was just waiting in great anticipation to sing ‘Maybe I’ll break down…..’.  But it just stopped suddenly after ‘Aberinkula’.  Oh well, you can’t have it all!

They really were awesome and the new material in my opinion has transformed them into one of the best live bands around. I just wish I had the time to see these guys more live because it takes long enough to get into the studio albums never mind the live shows.  This is not a criticism, it is a complement.  I would rather be challenged in listening than going to a gig and hearing the same thing every time.  They are genius and really hope they bring out a DVD of one of the Bedlam gigs so I can watch it again and again. 

Set List

Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)

Viscera Eyes

Wax Simulacra

Goliath

Ouroboros

Tetragrammaton

Agadez

Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus

Aberinkula

Drunkship of Lanterns

Ilyena

Meccamputechture

Oceansize: King Tuts wah wah hut, Glasgow 07/10/07

Having not seen Oceansize since April last year; I was looking forward to this gig immensely. It was the same venue as last time, with 2 different support acts.  Hopes fall were meant to be playing a joint headline show but for some reason couldn’t play.

Twin Atlantic

The first band on were Glasgow based Twin Atlantic.  I have seen these guys once before at the Glasgow Barfly playing with Red Snowman. Think it might have been Succioperro. From what I remember they were a 3 piece.  Now however they are a four piece, with a new guitarist.  They have some good songs which feel Biffy-esque towards their more experimental direction.   I did feel on the whole though, that the different parts to each of the songs felt like they were glued together.  What I mean by this is that they take the good ideas they have, e.g. a guitar part, vocal part or drum part and try to force it in to the song, instead of just letting the song develop, so those bits make sense in the context of the song. In saying that, I do think if I gave them a few more listens, I would get into it more. A heavy start to the night which led nicely to the next band…

Slave to Gravity

I wasn’t even sure of the name of this band when they were on and had to look them up on Oceansize’s ‘my space’ when I got home. When they first came on stage to set up their gear, my brother and I were trying to work out who was in the band and who wasn’t. When they came on, we could not believe it and if I was perfectly honest I thought they were going to be total garbage. 

Picture this if you can.   The lead singer/guitarist is dressed in skin tight red jeans, with a red jacket to match.  He also had straight long hair and a trimmed moustache like someone out of a 70’s rock band.  The lead guitarist was wearing a black suit jacket, dark jeans and had a mop top hair style like someone out of the strokes.  The bassist outfit resembled something a die hard Guns and Roses fan would wear, a t-shirt with tartan trousers. Last but by no means least a drummer who had a skin head and was wearing a plain black t-shirt and black jeans.   

So now we knew who was actually in the band, I was racking my brain trying to conjure up what they are actually going to sound like.  As you can imagine, my brain went into overload! Then I realised its probably better to just wait and see!

What I got was pure rock and roll with Chris Cornell style vocals but with lots more whaling. Overall a very enjoyable and energetic set.  So the lesson learned: Don’t judge a band before they’ve played a note. Usually I don’t do this, but there was just such a contrast in the styles of clothing, it was hard not too!

Oceansize

Tonight saw Oceansize on the stage for a memorable hour and forty minute set.  Most of the set was geared towards their new album ‘Frames’.  The album had only been out a week before the gig and due to postal strikes I still hadn’t received it by the time the gig came around.  So I was interested in how it sounded compared to its predecessors; Effloresce and Everything into Position.  One notable difference is that there is a lot more keyboard usage.  But bearing in mind one the guitarists does the keyboard, it still leaves the 2 other guitarists to ensure the wonderful wall of sound Oceansize create is not lost and is instead enhanced.  On first impressions it sounds very promising, a little bit heavier than ‘Everything into Position’, and I will definitely be investigating it further over the coming months when I eventually get the CD!

They also fitted in the classics from Effloresce, with ‘Catalyst’, ‘Remember where you are’ and ‘Women who love men who love drugs’.  From ‘Everything into Position’ they played ‘Homage to a shame’ and my personal favourite ‘Music for a nurse’.  If you haven’t heard ‘MFAN’ before I would definitely recommend it! Played live it’s just a mesmerising experience.  Normally I head nod, dance about or sing to songs, but for this one I just stood and took it all in.  It was just so moving and sounds epic live.  Although it is nine minutes long, the way its constructed makes it feel like it’s only about four minutes.  Absolute gold.  The ‘Size finished the night with ‘Ornament/Last Wrongs’ which has to be in contention for best set closer ever.  Again absolute genius.

Once again Oceansize deliver a set straight out the top drawer and with ‘Frames’ it certainly looks like there onto yet another winner.

Set List:

Commemorative 9/11 T-Shirt
Unfamiliar
Remember Where You Are
Trail of Fire
Savant
Catalyst
Sleeping Dogs and Dead Lions
Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs
Homage to a Shame
Music for a Nurse

-----------------------

Paper Champion
Ornament/Last Wrongs

T in the Park 2007

Another T in the P, another great day out J. This year only went to the Saturday because last year we felt we really did not make the most of the Sunday at all due to being totally shattered.  Although the number of days decreased, the number of people I went with increased to 5 from 2 last year, which made it even better! Thanks to you all for making it such a laugh!  Anyway here’s the run down of all the bands I went to see this year…

Charlotte Hatherly – Pet Sounds Arena

Although the tent was only half full, it was a good start to the day. At the moment Charlotte’s sole stuff appears to be going largely unrecognised which is surprising considering the success of her former band Ash. The early slot probably did not help either as people were still trying to sort themselves out after the trouble with the weather the previous day.  Charlotte’s set itself spanned her two albums full of catchy punchy pop rock tunage.

Camera Obscura – King Tuts Tent

This is one of those bands I’d heard of, just not heard anything by them. What I got was like a very pleasant stroll in the park in the height of summer.  The female vocalist’s soothing vocals and laid back guitars created a wonderful soundscape making it a very enjoyable set.

Calvin Harris – King Tuts Tent

After a fairly chilled out start to the day, Calvin Harris changed that pretty quickly! Full of energy and boundless enthusiasm; Calvin blew the roof off the King Tuts tent as if he was a festival veteran.  The whole place was just going wild.  Especially “Acceptable in the 80’s” and “Girls”.  Having completely low expectations of the set before he came on, I was literally transformed into a dancing monkey by the end of the set.  What I expected was a guy to come on with a laptop, press play as if he was doing something then nod his head every so often (believe me, I’ve seen it before!).  This was very different; as Harris was singing, jumping around and playing on the laptop, while being accompanied by a full backing band.  Definitely would recommend seeing this live!

Reverend and the Makers – Scottish water future stage

After seeing three acts in a row beginning with the letter ‘C’.  As you can imagine you can get a bit “C’d out” and could start suffering from “C” syndrome if we listened to anymore acts beginning with that letter, so we felt it was time to move on to ‘R’.  Only to find the tent was so full there were people hanging out the entrances trying to catch a glimpse…………so we just dingied that!

Lostprophets – Main Stage

So it was onwards to the Main stage to catch the last half an hour of Lostprophets who were on top comedy form.  Having the job of fitting on to a bill where none of the acts could really be put in the same category as them.  Not because they are highly original but because they are the remains of the nu-metal scene which started in the mid 90’s. They certainly went the right way about getting folk to listen, even if it did mean taking the piss.  As they blasted through their catalogue of hits, I couldn’t help but notice they’ve never really bettered ‘Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja’.  If they don’t come up with anything better soon they will be joining the other Nu-metal bands on the scrapheap…

James – Main Stage

Only caught the first 3 James songs, including ‘Sit Down’ which, as expected, felt like they were born to play at festivals, but had to head off to catch Air Traffic.

Air Traffic – Scottish Water Future Stage

Having listened to Air Traffic on XFM the previous week and consequently buying the album; I was delighted to find them playing T in the P.  Originally I was more inclined to see Black Rebel Motorcycle club at this time, but having seen them before, I decided I wanted something fresh.  Air Traffic are exactly that with a good mix of songs ranging from the epic ‘Shooting Star’ to the punchy ‘Charlotte’.  This is a band who are making waves and destined to get bigger and bigger.

DJ Shadow – Slam Tent

Having had a bit of food and nothing really worth seeing it was time for a bit of random tenting! So destination was the Slam Tent for a laugh only to find DJ Shadow playing who I thought was headlining that night.  It was impressive stuff, with a cool video backdrop.  The crowd itself was comical! As one of my friends stated ‘Do you not notice, the nearer you get to the slam tent, the weirder people get’……………..oh it was so true!

Razorlight – Main Stage

Pretend its battle of the bands.  You’ve got the choice between Razorlight, Klaxons and My Chemical Romance.  First to be eliminated was My Chemical Romance for the easy reason “Nobody liked them!”.  So it’s down to the Klaxons or Razorlight.  Not really a big fan of either but decided to go for Razorlight (majority vote).  Klaxons I felt didn’t really have enough material yet to pull off a festival storming set, as although the singles are good, they would just be rehashing the only album they have.

Razorlight were ok, good sing-a-long music.  ‘Golden Touch’ and ‘Stumble and Fall’ are good tunes.  However in the end with all the mediocre impromptu bits in the last song which seemed to last forever, it was clear they don’t have enough material to pull off that slot, and I seriously worry about there capability to headline Leeds and Reading festivals.  I think festival organisers generally should implement a minimum 3 album rule for headliners and co headliners, this way the slots would be more prestigious and not given to the latest hype band with a lack of good material.

The Killers – Main Stage

In saying that The Killers had it a bit easier because although just having two albums they have a lot more good tunes than Razorlight, so maybe there could be some exceptions.  The Killers set was magnificent, all I really remember is bouncing up and down continually for an hour and a half, singing every word.  I always felt the first album ‘Hot Fuss’ was half good, half bad, but ‘Sam’s Town’ was a lot more complete. With the new album though it means they could afford to just not play the weaker songs from ‘Hot fuss’ and concentrate on the classics. Still ‘Mr Brightside’ is still sounding as good from the first time I heard it.   It was a great end to the day and The Killers were worth the price of the ticket alone, never mind getting all the other treats and bonuses along the way.

T in the Park 2006

Saturday

El Presidente – Main Stage

Thought I better show my support for these guys, since the keyboard player lives near by and there was nobody else on at that time worth seeing.  Although it was early on (just after midday), a fair amount of people were present to greet the Scottish five piece who produced an enjoyable set, playing all their big hits.  The lead singer did well to get the best out of the crowd, with his chat in between songs.  Overall a good start!

Guilimots – King Tuts

Now this is where the decisions began to get tougher! Guilimots or Wolfmother.  In the end Guilimots, as this is quite possibly the most exciting band in Britain right now.  Their current hit single Made up love song 43 particularly, went down an absolute storm, in a reasonably full tent.  The lead singer’s energy is second to none, as if he has restless legs, as they bounce up and down non-stop throughout the set.  The rest of the performance proved that the Guilimots are not going to be one hit wonders, as there were many potential singles played to the Scottish crowd.  As the lead singer announced the last song, I was thinking, hang on we might be able to boost over to the nme stage to catch the remainder of the Wolfmother set.  Only to be hit with a 15 minute (ish) version of Sao Paulo, which was absolute genius and a great way to end a stunning set.  One thing is for sure, if the Guillemots play T, next year, it will be a lot later in the day!

The Twilight singers with some guy called Greg – King Tuts

Was quite intrigued to see these guys, as the Ayrshire martyr (see friends list) is well in to them.  I really enjoyed their power rock and the lead singer’s strong vocals.  Was tempted to go and see Billy Bates at this point, as I saw him earlier in the year supporting Red Snowman at Bar bloc and was well impressed.  However, since Billy resides in Glasgow, I thought it would be easier to catch him some other time, where as the Twilights come from the good old u.s of a, might not get the opportunity any time soon. 

Hope of the States – King Tuts

This was the second time I have seen these guys, so I had an advantage that I knew for a fact these guys were awesome live!  They played to a pretty much full tent, and played through a mixture of both of their albums. I forgot how good the violin is live, most bands the the brass instruments fades into the background, but not with these guys, they have it up full blast.  No competition for these guys, this was amazing and they really should have been higher up the bill.  How, Larrikin love managed to get 3^rd on the bill in the King tuts stage on the Sunday is beyond me, as they are utter rubbish and not even got an album out.  Hopefully one day HOTS will get the recognition they deserve.

Kula Shaker – King Tuts

Never seen Kula Shaker live, so thank goodness they reformed! And quite a lot of other people were obviously pleased too because the tent was pretty much full.  They kicked off with Hey Dude, and if you have heard it, you will know that it is the best summer song ever!  The crowd erupted into frenzy, it was brilliant.  The rest of the set include some new songs such as Dictator of the free world, as well as old classics like Govinda, Hush and Tavata.  Unfortunately the peasants, pigs and astronauts album was pretty much ignored apart from Shower your love.  So I was slightly gutted they didn’t play Sound of Drums or Mystical Machine gun; but hey it is great to have them back!

The Zutons – NME stage

After seeing 4 bands on the King tuts stage it was time to leave and boost over to the NME stage to catch the zutons.  We arrived just as they were gracing the stage.  This was the first time I have managed to catch them live and they certainly did not disappoint.  As you would expect they played all there hits including you will you wont, tired of hanging a round, pressure point and Valerie.  You know when a bands getting good when all the songs they play are starting to sound like anthems, which is exactly where the Zutons are heading.

Giant Drag

This was my brothers choice, after 5 sets straight of jumping about, I was getting knackered, so decided to to sit down for this one.  Was an ok set, but to be honest not really my cup of tea, the women’s voice is so annoying!

Franz Ferdinand

Managed to last 4 songs of Franz Ferdinand before we all got bored.  Coincidently, it was during the song Walk away, much to our amusement.  All I can say is I am so glad I didn’t buy the second album, as it really is just a re hash of the first but worse.  I did use to like them and have been to see them four times in the early days, but they have not changed or progressed a bit. 

Red Hot Chilli Peppers

I have waited a long, long time to see these guys, probably since californication came out. However it was still a tough choice with Sigur Ros and the Charlatans also playing.  Anyway, chillis it was so I wanted to get a good view of this one and managed it, just in front of the sound desk, there was a wee ledge, so we got a view right over the massive crowd.  It was an absolute brilliant set, with all the classics.  The crowd were so up for it.  Although I kept shouting for Frusciante to play his solo stuff (cos its so bloody good), he did play a cover of the Beegee’s “How deep is your love” which the crowd went mad for.  As usual, the onstage chemistry between Frusciante and Flea was as present as ever, with there extended jams during some songs.  This is what makes the Chillis stand out from other bands; they have the talent to take there songs to another level live, instead of just playing the album back to the crowd.  It’s also good to see that they have not given up talking crap. Eg.Flea “Whats the difference between me and a blade of grass, NOTHING!”  (you probably had to be there, lol).

Overall a fantastic day, unfortunately had a job interview on the Monday so only got to see the proclaimers on Sunday, but got right in the front bit for them and was an amazing atmosphere!

Red Snowman - Some Kind Of Medicine EP

For those of you who don’t know, Red Snowman are a five piece rock act, hailing from Lochwinnoch (South of Glasgow, Scotland) who have been together for over 3 years now.  SKOM sees Red Snowman develop their sound further from their self-titled debut EP.  Originally this was going to be a 4 track EP, however having eight strong tracks, it would have been a shame for 4 of the songs to go to waste.  Instead of going into the studio, creating songs, recording them and then going to play it live; The Snowmen created the songs and through constant gigging moulded them into the songs which lay fourth on the EP today.

The The cover of the Poets Revenge by Neil Young shows not only how they can make other people’s songs sound like their own; but also there is no end to the number of bands they are influenced by which in turn has created something fresh and inspiring in its own right.

One of the unique things about this band is that 3 out of the 5 members can actually sing.  The three vocalists have different styles that create many options for this band in the future and create endless options as to which direction they choose to go in.  David is the main singer, whose range can be seen from the haunting vocals in the introduction to Follow Me to the full out rock screeches in SKOM, the title track.  Ross on the other hand brings his Metal’esque vocals to the fray which can be seen through ‘Anger Rise’ which was originally a song from his former band Tallow, but has now been given the full Red Snowman treatment.  Meanwhile Craig adds the softer vocals shown through ‘Wasted Land’.

The final song ‘The only thing I know’ starts off as an epic stadium sized rock ballad.  However this dramatically changes by the end of the song through a winding guitar solos, heavy riffing and screeching vocals. I can in-vision grannies listening to this, drinking tea, thinking “awe what a lovely song”, only to be spitting out their tea when the song really kicks in, thinking “Gosh, what a racket, turn it off!”. But hey that’s just rock’n’roll.  Its almost as if the Snowmen are trying to say to people “We are capable of three minute rock ballad epics, but right now, we just want to rock out as hard as we can!”.  When I see this song live, it’s beyond belief how Frazer pulls off the guitar solo, with seemingly effortless ease, never mind doing it behind his head!

Overall a great ep, with 8 storming tracks, but like any great band, it is the live performance that really matters.  This is where Red Snowman really come into their own by putting 100% into their performance every time they play and taking their songs to a whole new level.  However if you can’t see these guys live; this CD acts a great reminder for every other day, that Red Snowman ROCK!!!

Marc Carlton - For Truth

'For Truth' is Marc Carlton's 7th album. Carlton has taken a different approach to this album compared to his previous 2 releases. This change in direction as installed a different dynamic and freshness to his music which is there for all to hear. This is a 9 track album where each track is self contained rather than being various parts of a longer track like 'Reflex Arc' and 'Ovriah, but still has over arching themes'.

The first track, 'For Truth' starts off slowly and gradually gathers pace over the first 3 minutes, acting as a nice build up using the synthesiser until 3 minutes 40 seconds where the guitar comes in, as crisp and as pure as ever. The track lasts for 12 minutes and is a great start to the album. Carlton once again shows off his ability and talent of creating longer tracks while conveying a relative simplicity to the listener which have that added depth to give the more a tentative listener a challenging listen. This makes the album's longevity longer which in turn makes it more appealing. What I mean by this is that it appears that the songs are easy to listen to on the surface. But when you really look into all the layers of the music and think that every instrument is played by Carlton himself. Makes everything all the more impressive.

Track 2., 'One possible dream' is another 10 minute plus track and shows how good a guitarist Marc is. Every pluck is so powerful and well thought out. It shows an artist who has gone way past just knowing just 3 chords; but someone who knows every fret and chord like the back of his hand.

Track 3 goes back to synthesiser land while 'Caught into the Fourth wall, the fifth track starts off as an eerie affair with a xylophone sound with a synthesiser backdrop. The xylophone type beats continue right the way through the song and when the electric guitar comes in at around the 4 minutes 30 seconds mark it is like a storm has passed over and not caused any damage. People are returning to their normal lives as the music has certain tranquillity about it at this point.

'Mind fire', the sixth track, picks up the pace and continues the electric guitar theme from the last track. At the two minute mark and even more powerful guitar sound comes in and repeats the same riff for a minute until the mood the song takes a dramatic shift from light to dark, going through a quiet acoustic jungle, as if any loud sound will wake up the dangers that are roaming the dense jungle.

The album finishes with a flourish. 'Reason or Die', explodes into life halfway through the track with some fine electric guitar work. It is if throughout the album there is a battle between light and dark, good against evil - Reason or Die. In this case it's like good prevails and overcomes evil. It is an excellent way to finish what is a well thought out and well constructed album.

Overall Carlton manages to not only sustain the high standard of work set by his previous albums but exceed it. The different approach he took to write and develop the album has kept things interesting not only for him but the listener too and has created something magical and timeless.

Marc Carlton - Still

Released in 2004, 'Still' is Marc Carlton's 4th instrumental album. Having listened to follow up albums 'Reflex Arc' and 'Ovriah' prior; it has been like going back through time, listening to the albums in the opposite way they were intended. However this in turn has given me a different perspective of the albums and has allowed me to witness the progression between albums in a different way.

The biggest difference I noticed from 'Still' and the two follow up albums is that unlike 'Reflex Arc' and 'Ovriah' where the tracks flow neatly into one another and the album's are a complete piece. These tracks stand out more as individuals, each going off in their own directions making it easier for the listener to digest. In hindsight I wish I listened to this album first and then moved on to the more challenging 'Reflex Arc' and 'Ovriah'.

8 minute opener 'Beyond Surprise' starts off with a pure crystal, clear electronic guitar which gently weaves its way into the album gathering other instruments and sounds along the way such as the piano; creating a majestical sound. Track 3 'Vista' sees a much welcome viola which adds to the peacefulness of the track. In a change of direction track 4 'It never happened' sees Carlton going more upbeat with use of the synthesizer to create drumming mixed in with a cool keyboard sound.

At first I thought the album title did not fully reflect the music. When I think of stillness within music, I always think of peace and tranquillity. Music which you can just lie down to and each track will have that calming theme delivering relaxation for the listener. This album feels like it has a little bit of everything from the peacefulness in earlier tracks, to the darker tracks such as 'A future, already a memory', 'Meanwhile' and 'Epos'. With a little more thought however I realised it did make sense. The music in the album to me is like sitting on a bench looking out on a peaceful lake surrounded by mountains with the sun out and everything just seems perfect. But then of course you can be sitting in exactly the same position and everything changes. The sun goes away, clouds form, it starts to rain badly and get dark. It is like forces out with your control are changing the way you feel, just like the music changes the way you feel when listening to this album.

Overall this is a good album, although I would say it is not as good as 'Reflex Arc' and 'Ovriah', purely for the reason there is no real flow to it which is what made the other two albums so challenging and rewarding. However if you have not listened to any of Carlton's stuff before, I would definitely recommend it as an excellent starting point because the album has a good balance to it from dark to light. Another fine effort from Carlton, just relax and let the music take you on a journey.