This momentous occasion for the 50,000 strong crowd was clearly a carefully orchestrated event that was to serve as a reminder that the Roses are anything but a spent force. Dundee’s favourite indie popsters The View kick off proceedings and are met with a vibrant and energetic crowd gleefully singing in unison to the likes of ‘Same Jeans’ and ‘Wasted Little DJs’.
During intermittent bursts of rain Jake Bugg braves the unpredictable Glasgow weather to showcase his rousing brand of rockabilly on tracks such as ‘Lightning Bolt’ and ‘Trouble Town’.
Primal Scream are then led by a focused and self-assured Bobby Gillespie whose suave and effortless presence brings a bit of panache and an air of nonchalance to classics such as ‘Loaded’ and ‘Moving On Up’. While the band are still hot on the heels of their recent Screamadelica anniversary tour their new album More Light also features heavily here in a career spanning set that is the perfect introduction before the headliners.

As The Supremes track ‘Stoned Love’ rings out across the Green a wildly inebriated crowd brace themselves for the ominous tones of Mani’s intro riff on ‘I Wanna Be Adored’. As the band take to the stage with a youthful exuberance that defies their approach into midlife, their collective consciousness shines through on the synergy of the fluid rhythm section that is Mani and Reni. This allows the perfect opportunity for guitarist John Squire to add his own melodic flourishes when flexing his muscles on tracks such as ‘She Bangs The Drums’ and the Led Zep-influenced ‘Love Spreads’ while Ian Brown leads the crowd in a two-hour singalong session in what is a life-affirming moment for many. “The best band in the world in the second best city in the world” quips a clearly overwhelmed Mani. As the pounding snare of ‘I Am The Resurrection’ kicks in there is a sense of solidarity and tribal atmosphere amongst the crowd which brings the evening to a climactic conclusion. With the promise of new material on the horizon let’s just hope the Roses can make another valuable contribution to the current indie landscape after reminding us in a live setting just how important their music still is to so many people.

Thankfully, this couldn’t be further from the truth with ‘The TP’ EP from Too Many Ts. This duo bring a fresh approach to a genre that has recently sounded tired, rapping with wit and humour over backing music that owes more to old style swing and jazz than to modern pop tropes. It’s a combination that brings genuine vitality, an energy that apparently carries over ably into their live show (one which can be caught regularly – they are prolific on the London scene and beyond).

Too Many Ts are clearly a band who enjoy what they do, and revel in sharing that joy – either from the stage or from their EP. The lyrics are genuinely funny, a throwback to when rap didn’t take itself so seriously. In terms of highlights, opener ‘Boom Bap’ is solid, a great introduction to their blend of genres, with the pair rapping over funk guitar and a decent groove. Top song honours go to track two though, ‘It Ain’t Right’, which is laugh out loud funny in places and brilliantly constructed. Much like this EP as a whole.

My evening kicks off with some sonic subculture, courtesy of the inimitable force of Harri & Dom, Sub Club’s Housemasters. Despite a tawdry turnout at this point, the set doesn’t disappoint, and begins to delve into the sumptuous House and quirky beats we’d expect. One wonders if the fact this is Day 2 of the Easter Weekend special explains the lack of feet on the floor, but the evening begins to warm up as we move upstairs, through the seductive disco of Thunder Disco Club and past the now infamous Photo Sofa, courtesy of photographer Brian Sweeney (see Facebook!), to sample some of the bowel-rumbling bass of Chilean-born German Matias Aguayo, a set which begins with vibrancy and energy, helped by the enthusiasm of a wired crowd, desperate to show a Glaswegian welcome to our guest. Notable in his performance is the attention to the crowd’s reaction, always appreciated, and certainly reciprocated.

The venue works brilliantly, having come so far in terms of design and the sheer quality of the sound. Equally bouncing was Optimo’s set: we know what we love, and we always love that! Following a wander down to check out the makeup girls, decorating faces with glitz and feather, and the beautiful cigarette girls, in their airline 60s chic, is Octave One, the US technoheads doing a grand job of convincing us this is Michigan and we are Detroit. I didn’t believe the volume could rise, but it does, as does the hype. Straight from Amsterdam the night before, the set is massive.

And then it’s time for home, before the pumpkin appears. Overall, a success indeed, though the price was perhaps a little inflated, and the drinks ridiculously so. If the success can be measured by the grins and babble of the crowd, then Electric Frog got it oh-so-right, though this reviewer found the night lacked a little vibrancy for the first few hours. Perhaps one night rather than the weekend would have been a better plan, though the quality of the headliners made every moment worth it. Thank Disco for the Monday holiday!

It is strange then, that Burrows would step out from the name I Am Arrows with the name garnering such a positive response from fans and critics alike. However, through releases ‘Because I Know I Can’ and ‘If I Had a Heart’ it becomes clear why the decision was made.

Burrows is now in his most broken-down format, as straightforward and honest as his music has ever been. ‘Because I Know I Can’ looks at the loss and confusion of a man who is now looking over his shoulder at a past youth as he sings “I might wait a lifetime, to make my lifetime plan / It’s better late than never, I’ll do what I can”. The song presents an emotional battle that flows well with the dipping acoustic guitar and smooth chorus.

‘If I Had A Heart’ presents another honest look at Burrows as he looks back on a past love, feeling he kept the relationship out of spite rather than love. An honest, yet miserable outlook, but with Burrows’ guitar line cracking through like sunshine in a cloud the song is not at all dreary.
With Burrows next album project set to be released mid-October, fans of the artist can expect more of the brutal honesty that makes these tracks so interesting.

In fact, you know you’re onto a good thing with an album when you want to play the album again before you’ve even finished it. I’ve got a whole heap of albums to work through, and this album tempts me : ‘They can wait another day. Enjoy me again.’

‘Demons’ is the first track from the album to do the rounds, but it’s one of many excellent tracks on here, like the opener ‘I Should Live In Salt’ and ‘Fireproof.’ The whole album is sublime, and in fact, I knew I was falling for it when I kept trying to find negatives to balance the review…To hell with it. Superb, sublime and even when it’s melancholy, it’s not drag-you-down depressing.

So, a major thumbs-up from me. Go and check it out.

In fact, such is the alien nature of music delivery these days – I yearn for the days of wax cylinder – I find that, probably, ‘Year of The Cat’ is actually the lead track. This is again, for me, heavily influenced, though it’s the mix that makes it work… Sonic Youth, Dino Jr, all fine reference points. They maybe share this retro love with The Yawns, another band to bring back memories of those (for myself, at least) good old days.

‘Seedlings’ brings us back across the Atlantic in a sense. C86, the harder end, with hints of the Close Lobsters and the Wedding Present, but happily, they have stamped their own feel on it – jangle streaked with feedback.

What is the final track, we assume – ‘Summer of Lunches’ – offers more slacker fun and games – like a purposeful Pavement with the guitar of J Mascis, only more understated, with a hint of malevolence bubbling underneath the surface.

In all, something of triumph. Especially given that they consist of former members of earnest but workmanlike pop-rock acts the Kays Lavele and Come On Gang. Truly a case of the sum being more than the parts. Unless these guys have nicked their parents’ record collections, we’ll assume that it’s all original, five star stuff. If not – well, who cares?