Gigs in Glasgow - The Ginger Quiff

The Beat/Bow Wow Wow – live in Barrowland

June 10, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

For some reason I have never witnessed The Beat live. Just one of these things, the planets never aligned. I assumed with the death of Ranking Roger my chance had gone, but not so, with Dave Wakeling bringing his version of The Beat to Glasgow Barrowland. I’ll admit I had a slight concern about the crowd filling the Ballroom, having seen one of the ticket filler companies selling tickets for around a fiver earlier on in the week. Not great news for those who had already paid full price but the approach seemed to work, while the gig wasn’t sold out, it was a healthy sized crowd.… Read the rest

Brenda – live in the Hug and Pint with Hound and Pozi

June 3, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

In a typical turn of events in the Glasgow gig world, I could have been in (at least) two places at once tonight with two of Glasgow’s best new(ish) bands playing at the same time in different parts of the city. I’d bought a ticket to see Brenda supporting Pozi in The Hug and Pint before Junk Pups announced they were supporting Sister Madds at their single launch in Nice n Sleazy. I did do some research on the possibilities of seeing both, but time travel isn’t yet a thing…

Let’s just say, the Glasgow music scene is in fine fettle with bands like Junk Pups and Brenda winning new followers every day alongside bands like Watermachine, Tina Sandwich, Sacred Noise, Brontes, Big Girls Blouse, Pizza Crunch, Casual Worker, Pedalo, Parliamo, Static, Bin Juice, the aforementioned Sister Madds, Dark Amadeus’s and Goodbody to name a few.… Read the rest

The Bathers, Sister John & The Cowboy Mouth – LNFG triple bill – live review

May 29, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

This was the second weekend in a row I took in a triple bill of Last Night From Glasgow acts, having been wowed the previous Friday by the album launch show for Slime City in the excellent St Luke’s and the Winged Ox venue, a gig also featuring bis and Casual Worker.

Converted churches seem to be order of the day, this time round Websters Theatre in the city’s West End hosting the trio of Graham Skinner and Douglas McIntyre’s The Cowboy Mouth, the band who have the prestige of being LNFG’s first album release, Sister John and, as I once saw them billed, a seminal Glasgow band, The Bathers.… Read the rest

The Primitives – live in Broadcast

May 21, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

The last time The Primitives played Broadcast, the venue was, at best, half full. This time round though, the gig was a sell out, maybe this was partly the Saturday night effect, but whatever the reason, I made sure I was there early to get a good spot, having been at sell out gigs in the venue before and getting stuck somewhere I could see virtually nothing.

The only gripe I had about this was, I was standing around looking like a lemon for what seemed like hours. Despite the ticket saying doors at 7, show starts 8, it was another 45 minutes after that before The Primitives took to the stage.… Read the rest

SLIME CITY – SLIME CITY DEATH CLUB – album review

May 16, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

Do you want some existentialist fun? Then come on and join the Death Club! The membership benefits are second to none. Don’t worry death isn’t a pre-requisite, although Slime City are here to remind you of the fact that you and everybody that you love will one day die…

On that note it should be pointed out that gallows humour is a matter of course, but just forms a small part of what you get with your membership of this singularly unorthodox exclusive, naw make that inclusive, club. Slime City has something for everyone in their repertoire. Rising from the ashes of the legendary We Are The Physics, Glasgow’s Slime City has been on the go for what seems like aeons now, after a series of audaciously sublime singles, we are finally being treated to the debut album from this sardonically anarchic band.… Read the rest

Blue Aeroplanes – Culture Gun – album review

April 22, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

My tiny mind is blown. I thought Last Night From Glasgow had reached their zenith early this year with Hifi Sean and David McAlmont. Then along came Culture Gun. I must have listened to Side A at least half a dozen times before I even managed to flip over to Side 2, the four songs on the first side offering so much, it was hard for me to take it all in on the first listen. Raw energy. Commentary on the state of society. Impassioned vocals. Tunes which veer from boisterous and rambunctious to beatific and thought-provoking. Lets face it, Gerard Langley and Co.… Read the rest

Mark Shaw: Then Jerico – Live in Room 2

April 18, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

16th April 2023 in Glasgow’s Room 2 stripped years off me, maybe not physically, but certainly mentally. First (pardon the pun), I’d seen Then Jerico way back in November & December 1987 in the QMU and Edinburgh Playhouse respectively on the Winter Safari tour at the ripe old age of 18, fast forward to ‘89 and this time it was the Playhouse and the famous Barrowland for the Big Area tour. I may have aged 33 years in the interim but in Room 2 on Sunday night, as stage time approached, I felt the same youthful exuberance I’d felt all those years ago, a giddy sense of anticipation potentially unbecoming of a man of my advancing years.… Read the rest

His Lordship/Bruno & The Outrageous Methods of Presentation – Live in Stereo

April 11, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

The month of April, and a week of annual leave, got off to a remarkable start gigs wise. What with a double header from The Fabulous Courettes on the Monday, including the most unusual venue for a gig I’ve ever been to, in the chapel in Barlinnie Prison, and the second with Three n Eights in tow, closely followed by the return of His Lordship to Glasgow after a triumphant slaying of the McChuills crowd last year. Two of the best live bands on the go just now, back to back, what more could a body ask for?

I’ll tell you what more a body could ask for.… Read the rest

The Day The Courettes visited Barlinnie Prison – Gig Review

April 5, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

After what has been a full on few months at work, I awoke to a bright & crisp sunny April Monday morning, hailing the start of a week’s annual leave. And what better way to spend my first day of doing as little as possible, than in the company of “the hardest working band in showbusiness”, the dynamic husband/wife duo, The Courettes.

You Know That’s a Prison Don’t You?

This was set to be a day, and a gig experience, to remember. One like I’d never seen never before, or likely to again. The first of a double header of gigs in Glasgow for Flavia and Martin on this most glorious of Monday’s saw them following in the footsteps of a select few performers over the years, including the infamous San Quentin gig from the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash, by playing a gig exclusively for the inmates of a prison.… Read the rest

Scorpio Leisure, Casual Worker & Spread Eagle – live in The Rum Shack

March 25, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

Take one measure of Rum (Shack) add an intoxicating blend of three 100% proof bands and mix well with an effervescent crowd, fizzing in anticipation, and you have a veritable cocktail, enough to brighten another dreich night in Glasgow’s south side. The Rum Shack has built a reputation for itself as one of Glasgow’s best club-sized venues, and rightly so, a great atmosphere building in the bar next door, and transferring to the venue itself, a venue which has great acoustics and plenty of space to get great views of the stage and bands.

I was disappointed not to have made it though to Edinburgh for the first show by tonight’s headliners, Scorpio Leisure, when they supported Lydia Lunch.… Read the rest