Category: Gig

Tenement Trail 2025

October 15, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

I’ve not written a blog/review since April… and reading that one back now, the negativity in my tone probably said as much about my state of mind at the time as it did about the event itself.

Maybe I should have noticed the slow decline from then until a few months later when things came to a head and my brain, for want of a better word, imploded and became my worst enemy once again. but hindsight is a great thing isn’t it? Slowly getting back on track means revisiting the things that bring a bit of joy and relief into an insane world and try to regain some sanity and balance, it means bringing some conscious positive habits in to replace all the unconscious negative habits that insidiously creep in.… Read the rest

Keeley/The Phlegm/Reverse Cowgirls – live in Glasgow

April 19, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

For some reason I didn’t get around to writing about this one… It was one of those usual dilemmas on a Saturday night in Glasgow, with so many great gigs in every weekend, there at least two that vie for attention, the decision usually having to be made to pick one over the other. On the night in question though I had the opportunity to get to two gigs in one night, and who am I to pass up an opportunity like that.

One not to be missed was Keeley’s first gig in the (in)famous King Tuts. This was Keeley’s fifth gig in Glasgow, and I was sure I wasn’t going to miss it, having missed the last visit supporting The Boo Radleys in Mono.… Read the rest

Klingonz – live in Audio, Glasgow with Thrown Away, Three n Eights and Numbskulls

April 18, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Another epic night thanks to Shrunken Head Promotions in the company of Thrown Away, Three n Eights, Numbskulls and the mindblowing Klingonz, along with a cast of hundreds!

A Shrunken Heads night guarantees several occurrences… a great mix of musical genres; punk to rockabilly, ska to psychobilly and a melting pot of ages and styles, all coming together in a pit instigated by the usual suspects, alongside a huge grin on everyone’s  face and a feeling of being part of something bigger, and this occasion was certainly no exception.

Thrown Away kicked things off with their rollicking in yer face punk tunes, unfortunately work and life got in the way and I only caught their last two songs but there was plenty there to tempt me back for more.… Read the rest

House Guest Festival 2025 – Review

April 14, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

In 2024, the inaugural House Guest Festival was such a roaring success, I had high hopes and expectations for this years event. My hopes were most definitely not dashed as Scottish Music Collective & Crowded Flat pulled off another cracker of an event, planned perfectly and executed with a pinpoint precision, with timings being a major factor in events such as this, everything flowed as gracefully as as a swam gliding across water, but I’m sure this meant no end of unseen frantic exertion behind the scenes. Kudos to all involved.

Count the Days


The Sankaras opened proceedings in Sleazys, but my starter for 10 for the day was a furiously energetic Count the Days.… Read the rest

f.o. machete – Mother of a Thousand – album launch gig – Nice n Sleazy

March 27, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Two sold out album launch gigs in one weekend! Monsieur, with these gigs you are really spoiling us… Well to be fair, this one should have been in January but Storm Eowyn had other ideas. Tonight Paul was pragmatic about the whole affair, “Mogwai were due to be playing the same night, there was only ever going to be one winner there” was his deadpan comment from the stage. 

Mother of a Thousand is a phenomenal album so whoever else may or may not have been playing this Sundays night in Glasgow there was only one place I wanted to be, and the band can be safe in the knowledge that after a such a mind-blowing gig, the album was well and truly launched.… Read the rest

Three n Eights – Leopard Print Hearts – Album launch gig – Audio

March 24, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Photographs of Corrupt Intentions, Rudebeard and Three n Eights courtesy of Chris Hogge Photography

Yeah, yeah, I know the old cliche, when that gig you’ve just been to is brilliant, nay, the best ever because it’s the one that’s on the forefront on your mind. When you’re on the way home and the memories are still fresh, the adrenaline is still pumping through you and the dopamine high is real, you feel like you can take on the world. We’ve all been there, and we’d all agree that feeling is palpable. All too often though that it is a fleeting feeling, the moment is gone after a short while and, boom, you’re back down to earth with a bang the next morning as reality hits and the vagaries of life return with a vengeance.… Read the rest

Water Machine Single Launch – with comfort and Count Florida

March 16, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

It’s been a long time since I last saw Water Machine, with, pardon the pun, a lot of water passing under the bridge in everyone’s lives in the interim. It’s been all going the last couple of weeks though, with Water Machine playing a gig recently in Stereo, releasing a highly danceable new jangle-pop indie single Tiffany and announcing their debut album release (and accompanying gig) in June. Having unfortunately missed the Stereo gig due to a clash, tonight’s single launch gig was one not to be missed.

Before I got to witness the Water Machine live spectacle again, it was down to Count Florida to open proceedings followed by a band I’ve been excited to see for some time but the stars had not aligned up until now, comfort, whose 2023 album What’s Bad Enough was a triumph.… Read the rest

Jenny Don’t & The Spurs & Wild Devils – live in The Rum Shack

February 13, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

A rare midweek opportunity for a night of Rockabilly and hard-rockin’ Honky-Tonk Cowpunk in one of my favourite local venues, how could I resist? The Rum Shack is garnering a strong reputation as a much sought after venue for live music, a great size, with great sight lines and sound, and when you add to that a band who are quite obviously in their prime, basking in the success of their superb latest record Broken Hearted Blue and clearly enjoying their performance you’ve got a perfect recipe to counter that mid week slump, injecting a bit of joy back into that gloomy feeling… last weekend was a distant memory and this weekend still seems a lifetime away… On this dreich and cold February Wednesday night, Jenny & Co.… Read the rest

Sultans of Ping FC & Meryl Streek – Live at St Lukes

February 9, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

At 16:00 today my plan was a lazy Saturday night in front of the telly, probably moaning about the shite that was on, probably involving at some point three of the unfunniest people on the planet, Michael fucking McIntyre and the talentless dullards from Tyneside, haudit and daudit who are constantly laughing at us as they gratefully take their millions earned purely for being halfwits.

By 16:15 though, my plans were turned on their head by the gracious intervention of several folks. including Meryl Streek himself, after a fortuitous visit to Mr Tony Gaughan’s veritable music emporium, the mighty Blitzkrieg opposite the best music venue in the world, Glasgow Barrowland.… Read the rest

Save Face – All the Gold in the World – EP review

February 7, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Glasgow’s Save Face released their debut single, God’s House, the third song featured on their debut EP All the Gold in the World released in January, a month which also saw them play a blissed out set as part of King Tuts New Years Revolution alongside Tanzana, Naked Actress and Aldous.

Like their live set, the EP suitably kicks off with Intro, a beautifully spirited folk infused instrumental, which, despite having no lyrics,, manages to capture the warm dual vocals which are a feature of the bands sound. The vocals are one of the factors which are a highlight of following song An Understanding, the interplay and timbre of the voices have the ability to radiate a feeling of wellbeing.… Read the rest