Lick Online - Live

>> QMU
>> 27th May 2006

This exciting new band make me think of dancing on a summer night. New, very unique and uplifting band on the indie scene (from London) hit Glasgow last night. The band grab your attention through a blistering set.

Lead man, Fyfe Dangerfield, commands the stage and your respect, with an unusual, strong and expressive voice. On one song Fyfe holds onto a small keyboard to his chest, singing without amplification, and holds the silent audience in the palm of his hand. Fyfe has the most wide ranging voice, he uses it like an instrument.

Words to describe this band innovative, surprising, unexpected, melodic. There are shades of the Kinks. Soft yet furious at times, this band enjoy making music, with free abandon, slashing sax, and many more effects. Over this put creative, imaginative lyrics. A classy blend of the best of pop. Stand out is the beautiful even folky song, Made Up Love Song, and also the touching , Over the Stairs.

The guitarist MC Lord Magrao, does his own thing, as does the Scottish drummer Greig Stewart, and their quiet lady double bass player, Aristazabal Hawkes, are all top musicians. This is a band about to hit the big time, they are touring Europe and London.

>> Pauline Keighley
www.myspace.com/paulinekeighley

www.myspace.com/guillemotsmusic
www.guillemots.com

>> Firewater
>> Popup & the Hedrons
>> 25th May 2006

Firewater on Sauchiehall street has quite a strong reputation in the town for being an indie-kids dream with the Libertines on repeat and cheap ale a-flowing, and tonight it sees the launch of the Hanoi Rocks night, with a little help from XFM Scotland.

Popup and the Hedrons are tonight’s live acts, trying to give everyone a taste of things to come and at first it seems a bit weird that they are crammed a way back in an almost cage-like section of the pub. However the two ‘buzz bands’ of the Glasgow music scene don’t let anything get in the way of the show and produce two strong (if a little short) sets.

Firewater have certainly launched things in style tonight, with free champagne doing the rounds, every other drink being a pound (I still feel ripped off since I’m drinking Irn-Bru mind…) and the place being packed to the rafters with every Scottish music scenester I can name.

They also have some great bands lined up for the next coming months and this looks set to be a very successful night of live music. I just hope that when the honeymoon period is over that they don’t just start booking bands just because they can bring hundreds of their mates along, but I’m sure with XFM’s backing, and a fantastically well-run launch night that that will never happen.

So the Hanoi rocks night is set to be added to the list of regular nights of quality live music, so get your skinny jeans and converse trainers on now!


>> Joe Sach

www.myspace.com/firewaterglasgow

>> Barfly
>> 22nd May 2006

Tonight, the Barfly plays host to Kerrang’s Most Wanted Tour. And the band I came to see is The Morning After Girls. And already I’m confused. Last time I picked up Kerrang (after shouldering my way past half a dozen 13 year old, depressed yet foul mouthed emo girls to get to the magazine shelf) all the featured bands had very nice trendy haircuts and everyone of them seemed to claim the title of “most dangerous band in the world” or something. I’m fairly certain that Smash Hits magazine went out of business because Kerrang snapped up all their writers. The Morning After Girls don’t seem to fit in with bands like Trivium, Fightstar, Fall Out Boy, Lost Prophets (and so on, and so on, and so on….) but this tour sees them team up with electro-grind-metal-instrumentalists 65 Days Of Static; WTF???

So, with the huge Kerrang banner dominating the stage behind them, the Morning After Girls take to the stage and do their thing. Laid back but not lazy, their sound is very Dandy Warholes-esque, with perhaps a stone roses edge thrown in every now and again. Harmonies are tight and definitely grab your attention when three or four voices are used at any one time, and the amount of reverb being used tonight, it actually sounds like a choir singing from the bottom of a valley. Beautiful.

However, the songs are rather samey; the Girls know what they do well but they seem unwilling to stray too far away from that sound. The standout song of the night was Hidden Spaces as it changed the pace of the set quite suddenly and grabbed the attention once again. Soon to be released single, Run For Our Lives is well worth a listen too, with an almost Oasis-y swaggering rhythm throughout it makes for a real, feel good toe tapper. I wasn’t blown away tonight, but The Morning After Girls sound good on record.

So perhaps it was because the venue really seemed devoid of any kind of atmosphere tonight (as is often the case with the eclectic magazine sponsored tours trying to provide something for everyone) but I’d wait to see the Girls play one of their own shows before I really make my mind up. Those with tickets to T in the Park (you lucky, lucky bastards) can check them out there.

>> Dave O'Neill

www.themorningaftergirls.com
www.myspace.com/themorningaftergirls

>> Barrowlands
>> 19th May 2006

The anticipation in the Barrowlands tonight is electric. Not because the mighty Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be frolicking on stage in a few short minutes, but because this is a proper band, playing exciting music and it’s happening in the Barras! Seriously, it’s been about two years since I was last here. The lager-whore club across the water (you know the one) has been sucking up all the quality bands since it opened and the poor old Barras has been left playing second fiddle. So it’s time to readdress the balance and there is no band better suited to give the old gal a shot of serotonin than the YYYs.

Openers ‘Services’ from New York City are two gentlemen playing the most blistering of dance music. Two synths/samplers, a cymbal and a microphone and they’re off! Bubbling the sparkly paint on the roof with their bass booster. If the Mighty Boosh made Junior Senior songs they’d sound like this. ‘Alive’ and ‘Killer Bees’ were absolutely top notch. I reckon that, come the summer, dance floors around the country will be getting sweaty to this band.

But tonight is all about one person – Karen O. From the front row look-a-likes with their pin stripes, polka dots, oversized plastic jewellery and chunky bowl cuts to the quiet indie boys she would chew up and spit out without breaking a sweat, everyone is here for this whirling dervish. I pretty sure Nick Zinner and Brian Chase would agree on this too! The adoration is apparent before first song ‘Gold Lion’ is even one bar in and it continues as such all night. During the many, many technical glitches that hold up the set it is Karen’s sultry/giggly crowd interaction that keeps things afloat.

The set was very heavy on second album material making it lack the spark and vitriol of the early shows. It feels like the band are still finding out where all the songs should go and as such the atmosphere is like a rollercoaster – one minute you’re united by the squall of ‘Y Control’, the next you’re intently waiting through rat-a-tat of ‘Mysteries’. Tonight the crowd were fully charged by six songs: Black Tongue, Gold Lion, Y Control, Pin, Phenomenon and Maps. The second album seems to have some ground to make up.

However, as the constant grin on Brian’s face shows, tonight was a triumph – despite the guitar f*ck ups and obviously fluctuating set list – the fans were never gonna let this gig go without giving the sprung floorboards a damn good hiding.

>> Russell Moore

www.yeahyeahyeahs.com

>> MacSorleys
>> 19th May 2006

Tonight I was summoned to the sh*theap that is MacSorleys on Jamaica street to SEE Invisibles (Ba-doom Peeesh!!).

First off, this band should not be playing MacSoleys Pub. Ok, it's a good watering hole but nothing more, and the sound quality is awful. Still, Invisibles impressed the middle aged crowd, with some stonking tunes and pounding bass lines that sound disjointed but mesh into a frenetic coherence that’s definitely friendly on the ear.

The yet untitled track 2 is definitely single material with a chorus that’s more infectious than bird flu. They then launched into ‘Catapult’, a fantastically feverish number that’s chock-a-block with banter.

The annoyingly short set was rounded off with ‘Problems with drugs’ which galvanised there quirky and distinct sound and sent everyone packing with a smile, a spring in their step and a jaunty beat lodged in their craniums.

>> Joe Sach

www.myspace.com/invisiblesuk

>> ABC
>> 14th May 2006

The Hazey Janes are not one to follow the crowd, so it’s hardly surprising that as the rest of Scotland headed north for Radio 1’s ‘One Big Weekend’, they bucked the trend and headed south for a night in the ABC in Glasgow.

Bursting open with a song which sounded remarkably like Snow Patrol’s newest hit, and the following tune not that different, I began to wonder if the Hazey Janes would prove to be one trick ponies. Thankfully, I was proved wrong. Lead singers Andrew and Alice belted out some extremely catchy melodies, and all eyes remained on them throughout the set.

The Hazey’s manage to combine snippets of the White Stripes, the Magic Numbers and the above mentioned Snow Patrol. However, they still have further to go if they want to prove they have that something ‘special’. If fault can be found within the band, it would be the lack of audience interaction – surprising as when asked where they prefer to play, smaller venues came up trumps, owing to their more intimate atmosphere. Perhaps they ought to charm the audience between songs, include the crowds more, and their fan base will expand.

The evening was rounded off with a slow, melodlodic number, which proved unusual but effective. Far from leaving the audience downbeat, they managed to finish off the evening with a relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps this fitted in with the bands plan to “have an early night after the gig” – rock on!

These guys have shown they do have the potential to make it; they just have to find their audience, target – and strike!

Debut Album, Hotel Radio is out now.

>> Jill Harkins

www.thehazeyjanes.co.uk

>> T Break Showcases
>> King Tuts
>> 11th - 14th May 2006

Glasgow was again host to 4 of the showcase gigs for the fantastic T Break competition which decides what lucky 12 acts get through to grace the stage at T in the Park.

LickMag.com was there for all 4 gruelling nights of stiff competition, and the wide range of musical styles once again proves that T Break and Scottish music is getting bigger and better every year.

Thursday the 11th kicked things off, and a packed King Tuts is the just the best place to see live music – and tonight is no exception. The night has a very heavy theme to it, with Civilised, Magdalena, NLD and For Your Sins aiming for the ‘metal’ section of HMV but for me Endor are the highlight of the evening. Having released their debut single Hold On this month (reviewed in the demos section), their vocals and songwriting lift them up above the rest.

Friday night’s event was by far the strongest line-up of the 4 days, kicking off with a solid performance from electronic heroes Ives. On another night they might have been better received but it’s the sort of music that isn’t best suited for a live gig unless you afford some fancy lasers and some class A drugs…

Edinburgh-based Hip Hop dudes 3 style, take the night up a notch with some fantastic beats and clever lyrics. Some mic problems and some edgy comments to the crowd don’t prevent from 3 Style going down an absolute storm, and with a fantastic sample of Jimi’s Crosstown Traffic they leave the stage triumphant. Edinburgh’s other favourite sons The Acute follow, and even if the singer’s attitude doesn’t sit well with everyone, they have some stonking riffs and the man with the sticks is simply fabulous.

OBE’s funky-ass beats may well send them through to the T tent, but they also win the prize for best haircut from the amazing bass player and the much-anticipated Yellow Bentines provide an entertaining show – even if the music lacked a little substance. Indie 4-piece Bwana Devil finish the night off in style with some well-written songs and beautiful harmonies.

Saturday provided a slight surprise with opening band Futuro. Having had such a great night previously it was a tough ask to begin proceedings, but Futuro powered their way through a fantastic set with some We Are Scientists-like rock and are definitely fighting for a place in the tent. Joy Division – No, sorry - Kings Die Kings disappoint with a ridiculously un-original set and Reograd also fail to grab the ears.

Injuns from the Isle of Skye lighten the mood with some jazz influenced, trumpet solo’s and a great live performance, whilst Tinrokit have one-or-two strong tunes with brilliantly Scottish lyrics - ‘The club is always, always heaving, with every kind of sexual deviant’ - that may well take the Edinburgh 3-piece through to T.

And so to the final evening of the T Break showcase gigs for another year, and local favourites How to Swim open up with their own Glasgow based brand of the Polyphonic Spree. A great live show and it’s just a bit disappointing that Tuts hasn’t quite filled for their lively carnival set. Exit Pilot drive the night forward with some pounding rock and/or roll, but the Liam wannabe singer lets the side down a little from an otherwise powerful set. The possibly clinically insane Some Young Pedro don’t really add anything spectacular to the evening who’s music can’t really be described in words, but never-the-less put on an entertaining show and a few heads may start to bob if you’re into that sort thing.

Singer/songwriter had the enviable task of trying to hush a lively crowd with his Jeff Buckley style vocals and acoustic wizard-ry, but did so with style. The intelligent Emo rock of Think:Fire also adds to the interesting night and along with a good front-man have some very inventive guitar work going on. Solarlise finish up the evening with a steady set but don’t really show signs of the spark needed from a kick-ass band, although they seem to be trying their best with tight tunes and matching outfits.

So, after the dust had settled, here’s my top five from the Glasgow nights (in no order).

1- Futuro - www.myspace.com/wearefuturo
2- 3 Style - www.myspace.com/3styleuk
3- Bwana Devil - www.myspace.com/bwanadevilmusic
4- The Acute - www.myspace.com/acute
5- Endor - www.myspace.com/endor

It was another fantastic T Break event, and time will only tell who gets the opportunity to play at T in the Park. Rawk on.

>> Joe Sach

www.tbreak.co.uk

>> 'Etheria' Album Launch Party
>> Oran Mor
>> 12th May 2006

It’s a strange wee venue, the Oran Mor. Located as it is in the basement of a recently refurbished, once-derelict church; it has the ambience of a medieval dungeon crossed with the romantically flamboyant air of a Phantom of the Opera-esque theatre…

and as such it’s the perfect place for vibrant young misfit Colette McKendrick to unveil her marvellously eclectic debut album.

Following an eye-opening show at a certain Glasgow magazine’s own launch night back in April it is obvious that Colette et al have hit the ground running and are continually picking up the pace. The ‘Mor is packed out, the walls are beautifully decorated with Gaelic art and the band is hotting up with what has effectively become a ‘best of’ set already! But not just one, oh no, for it is the liberal decadence of two sets that the crowd are treated to tonight. In poker terms it’s ‘ALL IN!’ So how’s the hand?

Well, you’d be forgiven for thinking that two sets would lead to an inevitable drag in proceedings, but not one to run out of steam it seems that Colette has been in marathon training for tonight. The lively mix of musical styles keep the crowd buoyant and the band is clearly in its element when locking into a groove.

By now the songs speak for themselves. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of the myspace site has probably been entranced by the snippets of ‘Voyerism’, ‘Colour’ and ‘Peter Pan’s Biggest Fan’ already – but tonight there is a defining energy in the band’s performance that transcends the limitations of any recording. The delicate touch of ‘Dark Horse’ or the misty funk of ‘Kangaroo’ is something to be witnessed live. The nifty addition of some well-chosen covers, including Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, also add to the glittery vaudeville performance.

Tonight’s highlights are ‘This Girl’ (for Arthur Izat’s wizardly guitar powers) and the song that other bands will probably beat down Colette’s door and hit her with a stick for, ‘Find Me’. The latter is a song of such completely realised brilliance that the songwriters she is arguably rubbing shoulders with – Tori Amos, Imogen Heap, Dresden Dolls, et cetera – would whimper and scurry off into a cave should they hear it. The sooner the world gets to hear this song the better!

I have no doubt that tonight’s show will be the start of bigger things for this band. At the next available opportunity get out and see Colette McKendrick in an intimate venue – because you won’t have the chance for long. Calling Jools!

>> Russell Moore

www.colettemckendrick.co.uk

>> ABC 1
>> 5th May 2006

Who? They're playing where? How? Don't worry, I asked myself these very same questions when driving into Glasgow on Friday night.

Maybe one of the reasons that the Star 69 are relatively unknown is that their website doesn’t work. Or maybe that they are trapped in 1994 and don’t look like they want to get out – so much so that there is no myspace page to be found either. So like diseased ridden sea captain – I walk the plank into the ABC, blind on what I’m about to experience.

Support on the night comes from local lads Laker. A massive following awaits them as they appear on stage and I’m guessing that most of the crowd is actually here to see them rather than the 69ers. 40 minutes of cheesy rock/pop follows, and ok it may not be very credible rock, or very ‘art school pop’ but Laker are good at what they do. They obviously work very hard, writing and rehearsing all the time to get the stage performance to be as tight as it is, but they lack a spark that is needed to push them to the next level. Still, the radio 2-friendly tunes might not float my boat, but I’m sure a less demanding ear would raise a smile.

The Star 69 strut on stage with a degree of arrogance that is needed to be able to fill the ABC 1. Well, let’s face facts – they haven’t filled the ABC. Laker have.

Liam Gallagher – sorry, singer Peter McLeod (it’s impossible to tell the difference) swaggers on stage with his Bono-like shades and annoying tambourine like he’s just written Live Forever and the Ian Brown/Oasis-isms don’t let up for the whole set.

The music it’s self is heavier than Oasis, but definitely cut from the same cloth. Boring, bland and another word from the B-section of dictionary that I’m not allowed to type would be the words I’d use to describe this band. I’m sure they are a good, hardworking people – but the onstage persona leaves a lot to be desired.

The night belongs to Laker and promoters Flat2m who have yet again exceeded all expectations to bring together a fantastic, profitable evening of live music.

>> Joe Sach

www.myspace.com/lakermusic
www.flat2m.co.uk