Year: 2017

Theatre of Hate and Southern Approach – Live at The Bungalow, Paisley

October 25, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Theatre of Hate October 2017

Three firsts for me tonight.

First time in The Bungalow, first time I’ve seen Southern Approach live & first time I’ve see Theatre of Hate live.

The Bungalow, Paisley

The Bungalow didn’t let me down.

Unassuming from the outside, but a perfect intimate venue for a gig inside. The venue has loads of great vantage points to watch the bands and with a great line up of acts due to visit, I’m sure I’ll be back

Southern Approach

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Southern Approach didn’t let me down.

The Kilmarnock band had formed over 30 years ago but split up before they released an album, due to public demand according to frontman Munro.… Read the rest

Julie Hamill – Frank (debut novel)

October 22, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Julie Hamill

Many of you will know Julie from her Morrissey connections. From Mozarmy to  her book “15 Minutes with You”.

“Frank” is her first novel. The first in a series of three following the lives of a family in 1980s Airdrie.

Frank

The book tells the story of recently widowed Frank. The tale of how he, and daughter Jackie, are dealing with the many and varied challenges life is throwing at them after the death of his wife June.

I found myself drawn into Franks life from the off. The novel is an emotional rollercoaster with laugh out loud moments & happy events to bringing you to the brink of tears.… Read the rest

The Screens “Jennifer Jones” new single

October 12, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

The Screens

The Screens are duo, Neil and Colin. They have a long background in creating and producing music for TV shows and films. This project is their opportunity to have the “creative freedom” to make their own music and share it with the world. They don’t let the fact they live thousands of miles apart impact their ability to create their music.

They are currently in the process of recording a debut album for release in 2018

Colin : “When we wrote (first single) “Avalanche” we discovered our sound for this album. We’d written lots of songs that we liked but it wasn’t until we finished Avalanche that we discovered what The Screens were about.

… Read the rest

Writing as Therapy

October 10, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
CBT (Cognitive behavioural Therapy)

I recently completed 12 weeks of CBT. Some of the sessions were exceedingly difficult. I would even go as far as to say the initial sessions made me feel worse. It was a number of sessions in before I started beginning to feel positive.

I know now this was to be expected as my counsellor spent time unearthing my core beliefs to enable me to work on the correct solutions. These solutions are what are ultimately allowing me to manage my anxiety and depression. It was not however an easy trip to get there and accepting my core beliefs wasn’t something I readily did.… Read the rest

Duncan Reid & the Big Heads – Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow 6th October 2017

October 9, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
Duncan Reid & the Big Heads

I’d been looking forward to this gig since the 3rd of December last year. Well, technically this gig hadn’t been announced then, but it was the day after the last Duncan Reid gig and I was still pumped. If anyone has followed previous posts they’ll know I rated it as one of my gigs of 2016.

On that occasion the support bands were Mercury long-list nominees The Media Whores and fast rising Scottish punks with a masterplan, Heavy Drapes.

That night saw all 3 bands put in top class performances so the last gig had a lot to live up to.… Read the rest

Ian Donaldson – Interview – “A Rainbow in the Basement” & “….And Then The Stars”

October 6, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
Ian Donaldson

There has recently been a lot of activity from one of Scotland’s stars of the 80’s – Ian Donaldson. Those of a certain age will remember him being the front-man for H20 with their chart hits with “I Dream to Sleep” and “Just Outside of Heaven”. (Good excuse to put this here….)

Ian has returned recently with a debut novel “A Rainbow in the Basement”. On the music front, he has also been back in the studio recording a solo album due for release early next year and has announced a couple of album launch gigs in Glasgow.

He was recently kind enough to answer a few questions for me.… Read the rest

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Live at the SSE Hydro – 27th September 2017

October 3, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Live at the SSE Hydro

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this before the gig. Nick Cave’s music to me seems to be suited to a more intimate venue. Especially when you think about recent events with the tragic death of his son and the extremely personal nature of the song-writing for latest album “Skeleton Tree”.

It was my birthday, however, so I was determined that nothing was going to impact my enjoyment of the gig.

I needn’t have been worried though. I wouldn’t be over-stating things to say the night was monumentally epic.… Read the rest

Duncan Reid & the Big Heads – Glasgow preview

September 28, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
Duncan Reid & the Big Heads – Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, Glasgow 6th October 2017

Duncan Reid returns to Glasgow with his Big Heads this October to play a hotly anticipated gig. I say hotly anticipated as anyone who has seen the band play before will know that those with a ticket for this are in for a treat.

Last year they played in Audio with support from Heavy Drapes and The Media Whores and, in my opinion, was one of the top gig of 2016. Apologies for anyone who has read previous blog posts, I may have mentioned this several times…

Anyway, that night saw 3 sterling sets, each band was totally on form.

… Read the rest

The Media Whores – Mercury prize nominees for Dangerous Minds

September 25, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
Who are The Media Whores?

The Media Whores are a Falkirk based “political power pop punk” band (description courtesy of Vive Le Rock) who have now have three albums to their name.

  • Debut “Starfishing”
  • 2013’s “Pornophonica” (9/10 in Vive Le Rock)
  • and latest release “Dangerous Minds” (2016) (again 9/10 in Vive Le Rock) and was also long-listed for the Mercury Music Prize.

Although Dangerous Minds has been out for a while now, it seemed like a good time to catch up with the band following the Mercury long-listing.

Band members are:

Craig A – vocals & rhythm guitar
Doogie Mackie – bass guitar & backing vocs
Martyn Heath – lead guitar & backing vocs
Andy Russell – drums

Recent shows

The Media Whores have been prominent and noticeably busy since the album release.… Read the rest

The Jesus & Mary Chain – Damage & Joy Tour – Glasgow

September 25, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Live – 23rd September 2017

You wait years for one of your favourite bands to play a hometown gig. Then you see them three times within a couple of years (it would have been four if I’d managed to get a ticket for the 6Music show). Well it’s nearly hometown – I’m not sure the East Kilbride’s Bruce Hotel or The Village Inn would be big enough.

Since the Psychocandy re-union tours, The Jesus & Mary Chain have continued on a stellar resurgence resulting in some of the best live gigs in the band’s history.… Read the rest