Rats from a sinking ship – Gig time again
It was exactly a month since I was last at a gig (far too long!). More than that, the last gig wasn’t great from a personal perspective. I needed to have a good gig from Rats From a Sinking Ship tonight to rectify that.
I had great expectations for tonight’s gig and I was not to be disappointed.
The Hug and Pint was a great wee venue too; small, dark, sweaty and intimate. This sort of place is far more preferable to me that the enormous soulless venues like the Hydro, more often than not attracting soulless bands to play them.
As I ordered a drink at the bar and headed down to the venue, I felt a pang of regret. I’d already eaten but the smells from the kitchen area were sublime!
Thankfully, I had my usual gig night anticipatory butterflies tonight. The anticipation of going to a gig always has that effect on me. Will the band deliver or will I be disappointed? Tonight was no different and they were a welcome return after last month.
St Patricks Night is gig night…
I’ve seen Rats From a Sinking Ship live before, so I already I knew I was in for a treat. Tonight was set to be a special one though, being the “official” launch gig for their 3rd album Fight the Future. It was also good to see the small venue busy as it was a big night for gigs in Glasgow. The annual St Paddy’s night shenanigans with SLF in Barrowland, preceded by Combat Rock playing a 2 hour set of Clash classics in McChuils & Field Music playing St Lukes. All of which had attracted friends of mine.
The Chibmarks
Before Rats took to the stage though, there was a full supporting line up…
Kicking things off it was The Chibmarks with their unique views on life and their take on the music they play (“We’re not punk”). The following act, Mark McG, described them as ripping off us (The Girobabies) ripping off the Clash. Their heady mix of raucous songs and amusing banter made for an entertaining start to the evening.
Mark McG
Next up to entertain us was Mark McG of the aforementioned Girobabies and Jackal Trades. Mark kept the crowd amused and involved with his acerbic poetry. He also shared lyrics from upcoming Jackal Trades material. Based on the location of the venue the observations in “Overheard in the West End” took on an extra significance.
The Fuck Ups
Final support came from a band that came highly recommended to me by friends. I was glad to finally get to see them. The Fuck-Ups were highly entertaining and played a tight powerful set of punk rock and roots reggae. There was mention of a certain gig across the city but I was glad to be here. Interestingly Ruts DC were supporting SLF, and The Fuck Ups gave us a couple of great slabs of their take on reggae, reminiscent of The Ruts. A great taut band with passionate delivery.
Rats From a Sinking Ship
I’d recently had the privilege of hearing the new Rats album and reviewing it for my blog. I already loved the first two albums and this one raised the bar once again. So I was well up for this.
The gig opened with the salvo of Kill One, Kill Two and Rise as One from the debut album prompting an early singalong by the assembled crowd. The bands mix of vitriolic rapped lyrics, heavy punk influenced guitar thumping bass and samples are a perfect foil for the subject matter of the songs
Having whet my appetite with the new album, the bands live performance has also notched up a few levels since the last time I’d seen them (at a hastily rescheduled gig after the original venue closed unexpectedly.)
The urgency in his delivery confirms Alex really means what he is singing about. There are similar themes on songs from each of the albums. Take Drones “we don’t need to be there to kill you”, Hang Him (not Tony Blair’s favourite song) and Act of Peace – “we go to WAR”. They all rail in some way against the West becoming involved in wars & peacekeeping in Syria, Iraq and the like.
The band’s core of Alex Lusty on vox and Jamie Price on lead guitar is bolstered by Stevo on bass and DMT dropping beats, samples & effects. When they all combine – Alex’s lusty vocals (pardon the pun), Jamie’s distinct powerful playing, the throbbing driving bass from Stevo and the heavy beats from DMT, the collective result makes this the best sound I’ve ever heard from the band.
Old and New
The set was drawn from across all 3 albums. The the new songs like Cursory Rhymes & A Disgusting Filthy Rag (I’m pretty confident by the audience participation that no-one in the room would buy the Sun!) sit perfectly alongside fan favourite staples like No Nazi (with added audience member – ahem – vocals, you know who you were).
To top things off we were also treated to the bands unique take on the terminally under-rated Half Man Half Biscuit classic Trumpton Riots.
As the band reached the climax of a brilliant but all too short set, they took the rapturous applause before returning to the stage for their encore. Well when I say returned to the stage, there really isnae anywhere to go. Alex headed to the back of the stage then returned stage front for their well-received take on the Rage Against the Machine classic Killing in the Name of..
And now, the end is near…
So all too soon it was gig over, with lots of happy smiling faces though. The satisfied audience I’m sure would have been happy to stay for another half dozen songs (at least) but sometimes it’s good to be left wanting more.
All told, a superb nights entertainment. A huge thanks to all the bands and a special mention to New Hellfire Club for putting on the gig. When you add to that the opportunity to meet up with some friends I hadn’t seen for some time, things were topped off nicely. It set me up well to venture out into the cold to battle against the snow and the hoards of drunken knobs in Guinness hats I encountered on the way home…
This bands ship certainly isn’t sinking and I look forward to their future voyages to Glasgow.
