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. And, in my world, what brings more joy and relief than living in the moment and losing yourself in the blissful rejuvenating spirit of live music?
And so to Tenement Trail, the multi venue festival in Glasgow’s East End, satisfactorily bookending the year after the superb House Guest at the start of the year. As with any of these types of events, I waited with anticipation for the venue listings and timings for the day, as expected when they were released in the run up to the big day, there were the inevitable clashes that revealed themselves. The day had to be planned with military precision.
Fortunately the first five bands whose sets I’d planned to witness were in BAaD and The Winged Ox, close enough in proximity for quick sprints between the two, and minimal risk of missing elements of the sets.
If you follow the blog at all, you’ll probably have noticed my passion for the rising talents of alt-rock band Alcatraz, so BAaD was a natural starting point for my day to see the Tenement TV new artist winners open the day in the venue in style. The band get better every time I see them, and with their number further bolstered with the addition of Awful Eyes bass player Olivia, they created an immense sound filling the BAaD space, hardly surprising with a three guitar assault on the senses. Not only that but the band were fresh from releasing their latest single, Nowhere Man, the song took its now standard, and rightful, place as their powerful set closer. I’m sure the band must have secured a new swathe of fans from curious early comers. A couple of years ago, I witnessed Soapbox early doors in the self same venue. Those riotous Scottish punks have gone on to conquer the world, and this year were headlining the St Luke’s stage at the event (and a little mouse told me that wasn’t the only stage they’d be gracing this year)… It’s all to play for Alcatraz…
A quick switch of venues over to The Winged Ox for another of my “ones to watch” in the form of Vanderlye. Despite the early hour the venue was packed already, but I squeezed in having just missed the start other first track. The double vocals of Sean and Becky play off of each other beautifully, their set giving me a warm glow that would continue throughout the day with the powerful anti-war anthem Blackout Sky one of the set highlights. No time to hang around after their set as the too and fro between The Winged Ox and BAaD for the early part of the day continued, and next up in the Arts venue was the turn of Fog Bandits.
The dry ice certainly helped them live up to their name as their dynamic full on rock sound filled the packed venue. Their explosive energy was palpable around the room, the band not letting the power and vivacity wane for a second. I love events like this where bands only have half an hour to sell their wares, and like the two bands before them, despite the early hour, the Fog Bandits had no time to waste coming out of the traps running and never letting up for one second.
I slipped out quickly just as Fog Bandits were finishing their last number to get back to The Winged Ox for Girls Speak French. I was just in time for them coming on stage, and it seems making that hasty exit from BAaD was fortuitous judging by the pictures I witnessed later of the queue outside the venue. Picking up on the feel good vibe from the rammed venue, the band didn’t let the early hour put them off. Maybe they were a couple of pints in (the sax player finding an alternative use for his instrument using it as a glass holder as he took to the stage) but whatever it was, the band was on top form and determined to bring the party. You would have been forgiven for thinking this was a headline set, such was the exuberant energy of the performance. The band were tight as fuck, my pus was slap bang in front of the bass player who slapped those strings to within an inch of their life. The closing salvo consisted of an insanely infectious run through of fan favourite is there any space on the moon? (a question I’ve asked myself often recently wanting to escape from the current insanity on planet Earth) and closed their set with the exquisite Miss Versailles. When I posted my pictures on Insta on the day, I think my words were Saxy and Funk as Fuck. I stand by that statement.
Once again it was that quick jump from The Winged Ox to BAaD, this time for North East indie rockers The Zebecks who I last saw at my other favourite multi venue festival, House Guest. Since then the band have released one of the songs of the year in the form of the brilliant Persona. They have clearly also been honing their live performance, providing us with an earnestly passionate set, a vigorous urgency coming though in spades. Talking of spades, their penultimate song was their anthem about growing up in the North of Scotland in the shape of the heartfelt Roseisle. I can’t relate to living up North but the song for me brings back happy memories of childhood holidays in the North East and visits to the beach at Roseisle. As if things couldn’t get any better, the band burst into the magnificent Persona to bring their set to an epic close. If you’re in Edinburgh on the 12th of December you could do a lot worse than catch the band at their headline show in Sneaky Pete’s.
After a non-stop first couple of hours, it was time to take a breather, soak up the atmosphere of the day, and grab some food, and some snippets of the next couple of bands in BAaD. To be fair I didn’t see much of Hot Stamp to comment on them but they were going down well with those who had come to see them, and what I saw of Basht, I could understand the ardency of their followers, their wall of noise indie anthems reminding me of the earnest rock of an early Radiohead.
Incidentally I recommend the Chicken Shwarma wrap and fries from the food window at BAaD. Delicious and set me up properly for the rest of the day.
Back to my quest, and due to the badly kept secret regarding the McChuills midnight headliner, a slight change in my plan. No change for the next band though. Of course the band I had been waiting for at BAaD was the irrepressible Sister MADDs, the bombastic quintet who never fail to give 100% in every performance. I was reliably informed that their set would also include a couple of new songs so there was an added level of anticipation in the mix. As expected Sister MADDs delivered, and then some, there could have been no complaints from anyone in the packed venue as fans of the band were given a set to remember. Any casual fans giving the band a chance for the first time would surely have been instant converts to the sisterhood. Kicking off with their now standard gig opener Edinburgh Song it was a foot to the floor adrenaline from then on. It isn’t a Sister MADDs gig without a classic pop cover, in the past I’ve seen them own Sound of the Underground, but today it was all about Chappell Roan and an exuberant version of H.O.T.T.O.G.O. The two new songs Nepobaby and Table Manners sat shoulder to shoulder with what are already band “classics” like Can’t Read Your Lips & Hot and Bothered. The entire venue was hot and bothered by the time the band closed their high energy set with their most recent single Performative Exercise before tempting us with news of a headline show in King Tuts in February and the promise of some other big news…
No time to pause for breath though, if I was to be able to catch any of Tanzana . As it was I made it into a packed Barrowland 2 hosting the BBC introducing stage just in time to see the band performing their last song, their excellent single Covet. It is great to see how far the band have come since I saw them in Broadcast supporting Death Valley Girls alongside Junk Pups. The world is theirs for the taking.
The furthest jaunt yet was from Barrowland 2 to McChuills for Awful Eyes, the second set of the day for bass player Olivia who already had one set under her belt with Alcatraz. And like Alcatraz, Awful Eyes were fresh from releasing a new single, in the guise of Post Punk Revival, which was one of their set highlights with its many spot the song references throughout the lyrics. Their entire set was as frenetic as the flashing strobes throughout, and a special mention must be made for their energetic romp through a cover of Sports from Dream Wife.
The bar and venue were really packed by now, it’s as if people knew who the secret headliners were going to be…as us punters in the bar enjoyed the exploits of the animated DJ between bands.
Knowing that Soapbox would be gracing the venues compact stage later, I sacrificed a trip back to St. Luke’s to catch their headline set there in favour of seeing Martha May and the Mondays once again, who had recently played a cracking set in Nice n Sleazy for their EP launch. As an engaging and in your face frontwoman Martha’s presence alone more or less guarantees a great show. Add some great songs to the mix and it’s a no brainier. As predicted Martha wound the crowd up into a frenzy with her animated antics and banter, hyping everyone up and paving the way for the bands to come.
This pent up energy started by Martha & Co needed a release so by the time it was the turn of The Cowboy Hunters to bring the noise, the late night McChuills crowd were already like a rabid baying mob spurred on by the taste of blood. The irreverent duo turned in what was to be the most riotous performance I would witness for the day, the crushing bass and drum onslaught from the band driving the crowd wild for the entirety of their set, every song played inducing a feverish response and inciting a furiously frenzied pit. Hard to pick a highlight but the ferocious trash punk of Mating Calls is hard to beat. Just as you thought it was safe to exit the fray, the audience bayed for “one last tune” encouraged by Megan & Desmond. The backing tracks kicked in for one last time and the band joined the mob on the floor for, what else, but a choreographed Cha Cha Slide. Absolute scenes.
Now, having planned very carefully to be at McChuills for Cowboy Hunters and therefore in pole position for the the secret headliners, the cat having being let out of the bag much earlier in the day, my sure fire winner of a plan very quickly unravelled. Let’s just call it age related issues. Instead of hanging around inside the venue I had to leave to use the facilities, exiting to a horde of Soapbox T-shirt bedecked punters with expectant looks on their faces awaiting entry due to the one out one in system, and bumping into frontman Tom who is exclaimed “you’re not leaving are you.” The answer at that moment in time was no, of course I wasn’t, but that response soon changed to yes I was. The story doesn’t warrant recounting here, but essentially, despite having two chances to see one of Scotland’s best bands, I ended up missing both chances. I’ve seen the clips and pictures though, I may not have survived anyway…
All I can say is roll on next year, early bird tickets are available already.
Tenement Trail back in 2026… early bird tickets on-sale now