The Old Fruitmarket is a wonderful venue, not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but the acoustics are tremendous and this was a wonderful musical occasion in association with the Commonwealth Games and the Merchant City Festival. Talking of the Merchant City Festival I’m also buzzing for this Friday’s indie music showcase featuring 4 Outta 5, Radhika, f.o. machete, Youth of America, and Lungleg, having taken a day’s annual leave to go. Unfortunately, personal circumstances changed and I now won’t be there for the first two bands, hopefully arriving in time for f.o. machete. This really disappointed me as I’d been trying to see Radhika live for ages, but the planets have just never aligned, so it was just as well she was opening proceedings at this very special gig…
Radhika was the first of three supports on this wonderfully varied and eclectic bill, playing her indie dream pop solo and acoustically ahead of the County & Western stylings of Riley and the acoustic folk of the delightfully engaging duo of Carol Laula and Yvonne Lyon. Her short set had me transfixed with the delicately powerful acoustic takes on songs from her excellent debut album Cine-Pop influenced by both the indie music scene and the silver screen. Opening with Feline Bandits, her five songs included Starry Eyes complete with a touching tale about her grandmother, the inspiration for the song, the beautiful Cocoa Butter Eyes with a melody not unlike You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory, and of course the Blue Velvet inspired Sleep, (what’s not to love about a song inspired by David Lynch?) before she closed with her perfect cover of Yo La Tengo’s Nowhere Near. I have finally broken my Radhika duck, it hopefully will be the first of many, and it wasn’t to be her last appearance of the night…
Next up was a new artist to me in the shape of Country singer Riley, accompanied by acoustic guitar and keys, her songs take the Nashville sound as their inspiration while regaling us with tales from closer to home that I’m sure many can relate to. Opening with Dumb Luck, the theme of which she indicated should be easy to gauge, her voice soared filling the room with her gorgeous tones, following it with a tale of love at first site only to never see the person again in Maggie’s Rodeo. One of her most impactful songs was the ballad Long Run suggesting that if the one you love isn’t in it for the long run of the songs title, then kick them to the kerb. She also kicked off the first sing-along of the evening with her unique take on Dancing Queen, before her penultimate song, Married in Vegas and almost reaching the end of her allotted time, she managed to squeeze in her “2-minute song,” the knowing tale of Mary Jane.
There was time for one more support act before the main event, and this time it was down to Carol Laula and Yvonne Lyon, who had a witty line in banter as well as their beautiful acoustic folk songs, with jokes about Tunnock’s Tea Cakes appearing from above and Carol Laula’s claim to be able to get a whole one in her mouth, then Yvonne immediately regretting saying she used to listen to Carol when she was growing up… I too listened to Carol back in the day, but let’s just say I’m much closer to Carol’s generation than Yvonne’s. Taking it in turn to take the lead with the other providing backing, Yvonne bookended their set opening with the sublime Winter Ground and closing with the uplifting song of positivity, The World is Fine, while in between Carol brought a smile to my face with songs like Wishing on Me and the perfect Endless Friend, with the pair instigating another sing along with Yvonne’s track Sail On.
And so, it was time for the brilliant Hen Hoose band and Collective alongside some very special guests to take to the stage, and what an absolute treat their set was, uplifting and inspirational in equal measure. It should be said that what Hen Hoose does for supporting and giving a platform to women and non-binary musicians in Scotland is truly to be lauded, as is the work Girl’s Rock Glasgow do for the next generation of bands and artists, who were represented by flinch. guitarist and vocalist Beth at The Old Fruitmarket manning the merch table. There was also a perfect link to the fantastic music documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands which was also to be celebrated, not just with the presence of Carla J Easton, but with a coup in the form of a late addition of a very special guest…
As the Collective said themselves this was no ordinary Hen Hoose gig, their “Commonwealth Games” set was so much more than just a Hen Hoose live gig, I say just, but in no way am I demeaning their music, which on any given Sunday would have been a joyous celebration of music and a thrill in itself. This time around they’d spread their net wide and captured some of Scotland’s best female and non-binary talent from across the decades to add to their number and create an air of jubilant revelry.
The party started with Wipe Out the title track of the Collective’s second album The Twelve with Ray Aggs (Sacred Paws) and their infectious perma-smile and Tamara Schlesinger (MALKA) taking centre-stage on fiddle and vocals for this gloriously uplifting opener, setting the scene for an inspirationally edifying set. Exit stage left for Tamara and Ray to be replaced by Carla J. Easton, Djana Gabrielle, Becca Shearing (SHEARS) and The Vaselines Frances McKee, the first of many quick turnarounds of the evening. I feel as if I want to use the word uplifting constantly, because uplifted is what I felt as every song started, an overwhelming feeling of emotion and positivity swelling in my chest, definitely a most welcome distraction after events elsewhere in the city the previous day. This quartet performed the stirringly determined and fittingly defiant boisterous feminist anthem of togetherness with Rich (Katy’s in Space) and its rousingly supportive “lift each other up” refrain.
What followed next was a rare treat, Carla remained on stage, to be joined by Radhika and an exceedingly rare appearance from the one and only Jill Bryson of Strawberry Switchblade fame for a heartwarming take on the classic Since Yesterday. This was a case of all the planets aligning, what with one of the original members of the band, joined by Carla whose documentary named after the song continues to keep their music front and centre and in some sort of karmic synergy and, in Carla’s words, the past, present and future converging with Radhika also continuing to shine a light on Strawberry Switchblade with her cover of Since Yesterday on her album. It was a slightly surreal moment sitting there rapt watching the three of them sing together, and it is hard to believe this was the first time Jill has sung on stage for 40 years. A truly wonderful sight and sound. And this was just the start,,.
The Delgados Emma Pollock was next to grace the Old Fruitmarket stage, talking fondly of the trip to Lewis for the songwriting and recording that ended up as The Twelve, the album from whence the first song she sang came. The evocative Sirens Call My Name with its richly textured sounds including the hypnotic looping flute topped off my Emma’s resonating vocal was a feast for the ears, with the surprises continuing as she went on to play Future Tree from her 2025 solo album, Begging the Night to Take Hold.
No time to stop and take a breath through as the party continued with Ray Aggs returning to the stage to join Sarah Hayes and treating us to a glorious For All I Care from EP3, before a trio of back-to-back guests and songs from the rich tapestry of music from female artists. The first of these came from The Vaselines Frances McKee playing a shiver inducing take on the bands Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, famously covered by Nirvana alongside Molly’s Lips. Next year sees the 40th anniversary of The Vaselines debut EP, Son of a Gun.
Next it was the turn of Horse to share her dance version of her classic track, Careful, encouraging the crowd to come and dance in the gaping chasm at the front of the stag, a request to which some happy revellers didn’t need a second invitation. The party pieces continued with Lucia Fairfull of the magnificent Lucia & the Best Boys, whose new album Picking Petals is out this week, and in a shameless plug I’d totally recommend it based on the quality of singles teased ahead of its release. Lucia didn’t play a Lucia & the Best Boys song though, instead tackling the Garbage classic Only Happy When It Rains with an unrelenting gusto and powerfully compelling vocal.
It was back to the Hen Hoose Collective and the return of Carla and Tamara, going back to the roots of the Hen Hoose and the first song they wrote, The Best before a cast of thousands returned to the stage for an intoxicating and triumphantly euphoric performance of the galvanizing anthem, In Control, which channels the spirit of Self Esteem. As if there weren’t already dozens of talented artists on stage, everyone else who wasn’t already there returned for an all-conquering cover of another bona fide classic in the form of Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (are Made of This) and if I wasn’t there to witness this and pinch myself, I would have sworn it must have been a fever dream, it surely wasn’t possible to have so many stellar artists on the stage at one time. A divine end to a perfect night.
If you’ve not got your ticket for the Hen Hoose gig in St Lukes in December, I’d encourage you to treat yourself now…
Behind the scenes pictures courtesy of Carla, and credits for these go to Tamara and Horse:
I couldn’t finish this review without acknowledging each and every one of this extended one night only Collective, and thanks to Carla for filling in any blanks I had…
A huge thanks, which I’m sure everyone in attendance would echo, to:
The Hen Hoose Band:
- Jill O’Sullivan
- Inge Thomson
- Sarah Hayes
- Cariss Crosbie
- Lauren Macdonald
- Charlotte Pinter
Hen Hoose Collective members:
- Carla J Easton
- Tamara Schlesinger
- Becca Shearing
- Ray Aggs
- Djana Gabrielle
- Frances McKee
- Emma Pollock
Guest Singers
- Jill Bryson
- Horse McDonald
- Lucia Fairfull
Support Acts
- Radhika
- Riley
- Carol Laula
- Yvonne Lyon
Merchandise
- Beth Black
Band Rep
- Laura Wood
Sound Engineer
- Carla Feuerstein