Last night The Courettes cemented their place as my new favourite band with a frenetic supercharged performance, fittingly in Glasgow’s Mono, supporting the release of their third, and in my opinion, best album to date, Back in Mono. The emphasis of last nights gig was fun with a capital F.U.N. Despite being three albums in, this was their first visit to Glasgow, hopefully there will be many more to come in the future.
On a miserable Thursday night in raintown, I made the effort to dress from head to toe in black and white in tribute to the this most stylish of bands, and ventured out in the pissing awful weather. The weather kind of reflected my mood this week, despondent, grim and dismal… I needed a bit of cheering up.
Jodie Rae
Before I headed to Mono, I had another gig to attend. I had wanted to catch the set from Ayrshire singer songwriter, Jodie Rae, who was supporting Fake Lips and Blue Nicotine in the 13th Note. Jodie released two singles during lockdown, her debut single Creepin’ last year, and then earlier this year, the follow up, Glance. I always think when someone plays live just themselves and an acoustic guitar, it is a very brave thing to do, all eyes and ears are on you and you alone. But then, when you’ve got a voice as strong as Jodie’s along with some heartfelt lyrics, you’re on to a winner straight away.
Other than the singles mentioned I was particularly impressed with her song Saving Graces. There has been a lot of brouhaha around Adele tickets and the ridiculous prices quoted. Any day of the week, I’d choose paying a fiver to see an immaculate performance like this in a basement bar in Glasgow.
The Poppermost
A short sprint in the rain and I was in time to grab a drink before the support came on stage. The Poppermost is the 1960’s Merseybeat pop project of Joe Kane, of Radiophonic Tuckshop fame. And the band does exactly what it says on the tin, giving an energetic run through of their light-hearted Beatles-esque tunes followed by a string of covers ending with their own take on the Beach Boys Help Me Rhonda.
Between bands, a quick scan around the venue indicated the presence of several familiar, and not so familiar faces. There was just about enough time to say hello to as many people as I could, and introduce myself to some people who, before then had been nothing more than small icons on a Facebook page.
I was conscious that I was quite flighty, as I flitted about not standing in one place for long. On Saturday night, I had butterflies before the Lola in Slacks album launch gig. That was a superb, but altogether calmer night, the feeling tonight was altogether different. I felt like a giddy teenager attending their first ever gig, I think I must have been talking ten to the dozen, I’d be surprised if anyone I spoke to understood a word I said.
The Courettes
Normally happy to stand to the side or back, I took up a position stage front and was there for the duration. This wasn’t going to be a stand back and nod my head, tap my foot type gig. I could feel it in my aging bones.
As Flavia and Martin took to the stage and struck a pose, you could cut the atmosphere with a knife, the anticipation had reached fever pitch, holding their pose just a little longer then – CRASH – straight in Hoodoo Hop and there was no going back. This wasn’t just a pair of musicians playing a gig though, this was a performance like I’ve not seen in an age, this was raw energy and passion personified. I’ve been following their progress on Facebook, they seem to have been touring for what feels like months, putting that level of spirited vivacity into a performance night in, night out, I’m surprised they are still standing at this stage in the tour.
That fact though did not stop them from putting 100% into their performance though. Two or three songs into the set, and Flavia’s perfectly coiffured hair was wild from her spontaneous bursts of intense energy as she wrestled a glorious garage rock noise from her guitar, while the elegantly suave Martin must have been feeling the heat from the frenzied pummelling he was giving his kit. Offers of tequila from an audience member was gratefully received by Flavia, while a tongue in cheek comment from Martin about a coffee break while Flavia tuned her guitar resulted in a coffee being delivered by the bar… that’s service, and that’s a Glasgow audience…
Primal
In comparison to the triumphant sounds achieved on wonderfully produced Back in Mono, complete with all the added instrumentation and embellishments, the live sound Martin and Flavia make is far more primitive and raw. No less a wall of sound than can be heard on the album but more of a primal scream, a rousing call to arms if you like (even if Flavia did have to re-start that call on Boom! Dynamite! when she was faced with a lacklustre response on her first attempt). It is easy to forget that there is only two of them on stage when faced with the sheer intensity and volume produced by this effervescent pair.
The “hits” kept coming, highlight after blistering highlight, a broken guitar string not phasing Flavia as she dexterously removed the offending item. Tongue in cheek between song banter was well and truly lapped up by the gathered throng. “Do you want another hit?” was responded to with a unified cheer as they launched into the tribute to Richard Starkey, R.I.N.G.O, or the “tribute” to their old record label Trash Can Honey, or their set closer the crunching garage rock of Hop the Twig. Hell, every song was received with a rapturous applause completed with an outpouring of reverence and love when they took their bows at the end of their set.
To a person, everyone I spoke to after the show was overflowing with superlatives to describe what they’d just seen, a fact borne out by the seemingly unending queue of people waiting to buy merch post gig. One guy I spoke to had travelled from Peterhead having only heard the band for the first time a few weeks ago.
I’m also happy to say, that not only are they one of the most entertaining live acts I’ve ever seen, they are both genuinely warm and lovely people, and appeared bowled over by the outpouring of love they’ve received on this tour. One question remains though – when will Back in Mono be Back in Mono? Me? I Can Hardly Wait….
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