The Hedrons (and more…) – live in Glasgow

In the mid-noughties The Hedrons burst onto the music scene in a blaze of unfettered energetic punk rock glory but, much to the disappointment of their fervent fanbase, that flame burnt brightly but briefly and within a couple of years Tippi, Soup, Rosie & Gill were gone, leaving us with their sole album, One More Won’t Kill Us to console us.

Thankfully, Past Night From Glasgow has recently reissued the album, remastered and with extra tracks, which culminated in last night’s gig, nay, celebration featuring the remarkable talents of this most fondly remembered of bands. A band whose individual members have lost none of their energy or vivacity over the intervening years. In fact, tonight’s performance felt like a triumphant return with the four protagonists coming together as one more vim and vigour than ever before.

This was an early show, so unfortunately I missed most of the set from the first support, Peached, but from what I saw, they made a powerfully unholy racket that went down well with the crowd.

The biggest compliment I can pay The Laurettes is that, if you ever need a party started, call The Laurettes. They had the crowd eating out of their hands from the off with their own blend of folky rock drinking songs, the gathered throng obeying Lauren’s requests to dance along to the band’s own moves, and to sit down and row imaginary longships during Techno Viking.

With the crowd well and truly lubricated, and warmed up by The Laurettes, The Hedrons arrival was heralded by the appearance of 2 Easter Bunnies and Big Bird, splitting the crowd pantomime style and conducting roars of anticipation from the fervent crowd to a soundtrack of Iggy Pop.

I adore live music. Well, I adore music, but live music especially, no matter how shit things may be, seeing a band live is a tonic like no other. Whether you are there with a group of friends celebrating your love of the band and their music, or if you go alone and just lose yourself in the music, however you enjoy your live music, it has the ability to allow you to immerse yourself in the moment, the chance to forget all your troubles even just for a short period, and leaves you invigorated and more ready to tackle whatever shite life throws at you. Last night’s gig from The Hedrons did exactly that, it was exactly what I needed. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for several reasons. Thank you, Tippi, Soup, Rosie and Gill, you’ll never really know just how much last night meant to me.

Were they any good? Were they ever! They bounded off the starting blocks with an unbridled zest for life and a potent intensity that didn’t let up for one second throughout the set. At the back, drummer Soup was a powerhouse from the off, setting a standard and a blueprint for what it means to keep a punchy beat and rhythm, ensuring the forceful bouncing dynamism of the band was driven from the back. The other thing I can’t leave out, and this goes for every time I see Lesley perform, every time you look to the back of the stage, she has this enormous grin on her face, it is utterly infectious.

This vitality and energy was matched by Gill’s solid bass playing, thunderous rhythms keeping the band in check and underlining the strident seething punk attitude that positively erupts from Rosie’s guitar, showering the crowd with searing punk and heavy rock riffs aplenty.

Then we’ve got the charismatic Tippi to top things off, making plenty of forays into the crowd throughout the band’s phenomenal set, interacting and leaving chaos in her wake as she jumps and surfs into the middle of the room, all the while delivering an engagingly compelling sinewy vocal.

The set was, obviously, pulled mainly from that sole album, One More Won’t Kill Us, but the encouraging sign was the inclusion of three fantastic new songs and the declaration that a new album is on its way. That can only mean more Hedrons live gigs, and that is something you should all relish.

The atmosphere created by these four incredible musicians was dripping with attitude, these four have more punk attitude and brio in their little fingers than some of the dross and unlistenable sub-thrash noise that purports to be keeping the punk ethos alive in this day and age. Dear Thomas packaged this up in one fell swoop. I had a feeling all the way through this gig that I used to get every time I saw Heavy Drapes live, featuring ex members of Baby’s Got a Gun: the late Garry Borland on vox, Richie Simpson on guitar and Billy Duncanson on drums. Perhaps it was the charisma, perhaps the punk attitude, or the tunes and the playing. Whatever it was, it was a great feeling to have, I was never left wanting for anything after a Heavy Drapes gig

After a breathless 14 songs, the band left the stage to a rapturous reception. It wasn’t quite over yet though, there was time for one last curtain call and the girls brought the thunder one last time with a sensational set closer in the shape of I Need You.

The Hedrons are back, back, back baby, you’d better believe it. Welcome back ladies, we’ve missed you.

Having congratulated Soup on the bands stunning performance, I made my way into the dreich Glasgow night reinvigorated and with Lesley’s huge grin replicated on my face. As I made my way through Finnieston to the station I felt like I was walking on air. Little did I know that through a series of unexpected meetings and coincidences, my night wasn’t over, nor was the live music.

Cue an unplanned trip to the legendary McChuills and the closing band in this year’s Buckfest, the enigmatic and aff their heids Bucky Rage complete with their trademark Lucha Libre masks. The set was as chaotic and brilliant as I would have expected, the evening ending on a fantastically ramshackle version of Suicide’s Ghost Rider.

I met numerous friendly faces tonight, and it cemented the oft quoted Joe Strummer line, despite my often wanting to crawl into a ball and never see another member of the human race again, in reality “Without people, you’re nothing”.

Vive The Hedrons. Vive live music. Vive Le Rock