Apologies for the complete lack of attention i’ve being giving to the blog recently. I’ve had a fairly busy and eventful couple of weeks since i last posted. I’ve been to 4 gigs and also took a road trip to Aberdeen for a few days. I’ve put in a lot of overtime at work. I’ve helped my sister move house. I’ve gained a nice PA System. Oh and i’ve slept a lot. Exciting stuff or what?
Ok let’s see….my last post was on the 22nd February so lets begin the update from the 23rd.
23rd February
God Is An Astronaut @ Oran Mor
This gig was definitely one of the haziest i’ve ever been to. And i don’t just mean because of the smoke machines and lighting. Me and Simon somehow managed to work our way through an astronomical amount of our bag of weed. We didn’t touch one drop of alcohol all night. It was just weed, water, weed, water, weed. You get the picture. Some would maybe think that getting that stoned before and during a gig would maybe hinder or lessen the experience. Which is more than likely true in quite a few cases. But not God Is An Astronaut. It brings a whole new dimension to their music. I felt like i could almost see the music. Weird, yes? But i tend to find that with a lot of post-rock and instrumental bands. That type of music is one that heightens my aural and visual senses. It gives me visions, makes me see things, mainly colours but other things too. Just random stuff that i couldn’t describe. Not because i don’t want to but i simply don’t know how to. The band also had a screen behind them so that would have added to the visual side of things. Butterfly Explosion provided the support for God Is An Astronaut and they were the perfect build up. Two bands i’ve wanted to see live for years and here they both were together. Couldn’t ask for much more really.
MP3: God Is An Astronaut – Suicide By Star
MP3: Butterfly Explosion – Sophia
Also, as a bonus (because i feel guilty about the lack of posting) here are some tracks by a few other bands i’ve really enjoyed seeing whilst under the influence of Dr Greenthumb.
MP3: Aphex Twin – Windowlicker
MP3: Unkle – Lonely Soul
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25th February
Errors @ The Grand Ole Opry
This was all set to be a strange night and if truth be told, one that i was a bit nervous/sceptical about. The Grand Ole Opry you see is a Western Themed venue. See for yourself….http://www.glasgowsgrandoleopry.co.uk/
It’s more famous for it’s live country music that takes centre stage every weekend. There are also “shootouts” (not real one’s of course…i hope) and Cowboy and Indian theme nights. And there’s no bar…..oh no, there’s a saloon instead. Nice. So as you can imagine i found it very strange yet somehow appealing that an electronic instrumental band such as Errors would choose such a venue. Could it work?
Yes it could and it did. It was a brilliant gig. One that will stay in the memory for a long time. The crowd were full of nice cheery faces, a mixture of the bearded muso types and trendy indie types and their girlfriends. The only gripe i would have was the amount of time it took to get served a drink. The venue has probably never been so busy before and you could almost see the panic written across the faces of the staff. You could see that the barmaids, sorry, Saloon staff (Saloonettes?) were every but as bemused by us as we were by them. The staff is made up of mainly people that are about 50+ so it was surprising to see them cheerily bop along to the Errors chimes and beats. The new song “Rumour In Africa” seemed a favourite. It was the fourth time i’d seen Errors and they seem to be progressing at an almost perfect rate. Each album or EP becoming more expansive and complex than the previous. As the band themselves said in a recent interview it’s hard to keep making instrumental music that remains interesting and not dull. I know from experience that that is very true but they just happen make it look so easy and effortless. After the gig me and Gustav got a free taxi back to the city centre. We spotted a taxi driver stuck in a rut, well a big puddle to be more precise and decided to help him out in his hour of need. He repayed us with a fare-less journey. Nice man. We then proceeded to enter a club in Glasgow, those few hours however are a blur of strange coloured shots and plastic pint glasses.
MP3: Errors – Bridge Or Cloud?
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26th February
Japandroids @ King Tuts
Another great gig at the most reliable venue in Scotland. I don’t think i’ve ever left King Tuts disappointed. Ok, maybe once when my ex girlfriend happened to spill her blackcurrant and cider all over my freshly bought brand new Oceansize t-shirt but that’s all in the past. I’m over the t-shirt heartache.
The Japandroids seem to be getting a taste for this whole live headlining show malarky. They oozed charisma and charm on stage and had the crowd eating out the palms of their hands. They have anthems in waiting coming out of those amps and they’re finally just starting to truly embrace it. There was a lot of foot stomping from band and crowd alike. A lot of sweat (for once, not from me, i stayed up back this time). A lot of beer. And a lot of banter and sing-a-longs. The songs were making the crowd happy and in return the crowd’s reactions were making the Japandroids happy. Afterwards i took the option of a train home and a reasonably early night (1am) as i was up early the next morning.
MP3: Japandroids – The Boys Are Leaving Town
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27th February
Lisa moves house…..i’m hungover.
The sole reason i decided to head home after the Japandroids gig and not join my friends at a club was because i had to get up early to help my sister and her family move house. In hindsight i should probably just have stayed in the night before. I had no idea how much stuff they had in that little flat of theirs! I was anticipating beds, some furniture, a dozen or so bags of random stuff, tvs etc. The usual really. What we (me, Symey, Graham and my dad) were faced with was box upon box of things. Really heavy things. I have a lot of DVDs and CDs but my collection pales into comparison with Garys (my brother in law). He’s been collecting vinyl, cassettes, CDs, VHS, DVDs, boxsets, and all other sorts of memorabilia since his pre-teen days. He’s now coming up for 28. So work that out. That’s right, about 22 years worth of stuff squeezed into about fifty million boxes. And that was just for starters. That was before we started on the really heavy stuff. And that’s just what it was just stuff. I asked Lisa what was in these heavy boxes and bags. Her reply? “Just stuff“. “What kind of stuff?” i asked. “I have the right to know what i’m lugging up and down stairs all day!” Once more the reply came, “I told you John, it’s just stuff, so just get lifting!” That was me told. So after all the “stuff” was out the way it was the turn of the sofa and wardrobes. Followed closely by the beds and baby cot. We started the moving at 10am and were finished by 4pm. That’s a fine shift if you ask me. Especially when you consider the amount of stuff to be moved and also the “sensitive” mood i was in. A hard days work followed by a night in bed and The IT Crowd Boxset. Why do i find Jen from the IT Crowd so attractive? There’s just something about her. It might be the whole ordinary girl from next door look and her sense of humour.
MP3: Moving Units – Between Us And Them
MP3: Ryan Adams – This House Is Not For Sale
MP3: MiKiX The Cat – Movin’ Around
“If you type google into google you will…break the internet”
Tomorrow or Thursday i’ll post the rest of the update which will predominantly be about the trip to Aberdeen.
Before i go though….i want to know exactly what it is that i’ve said/someone else has said/what i’ve seen in these pictures….
Any ideas?
S.I.T Wolf X
Someones In The Wolf 