With music’s apparently unstoppable ‘new model’ - where music is free and bands make a living from live shows - where do free gigs (for band and audience) fit in? For the musicians, there’s more to think about - but, maybe the Mao-like revisionism from We Were Promised Jetpacks is mere coincidence. The band seem to be churning out new material by the minute, with previous instant classics consigned to the dustbin of history. That’s not to say that the set tonight is any worse than ‘Crawling Home or ’Double Bluff - just a little different, and perhaps better suited to their ultra-tight set. At a rammed (more on that later) underground setting, the Jeptacks have never sounded better, with punchy guitars and vocals soaring upwards in the cathedral-like setting. And perhaps the most ‘rock’ use of the glockenspeil yet. For these local boys there’s a relaxed atmosphere despite or perhaps because of proud family members in the audience, but it’s not just the relatives who are singing along to ‘Quiet Little Voices’ or ‘Ships With Holes’ or just doing the “woah-woah” bits inbetween. Jeptacks may be making progress consantly but it is surely pointing them towards greater things - clearly not ones to forget their roots, but hopefully their back catalogue is backed up somewhere.
Perhaps Miller could lend them a hard disk or 2? The Mill is a club, of sorts, set in the Caves, but while the sister events at Oran Mor do involve a lot of what might be described as ‘branding’ (Miller ad-boards act as sound dampeners), here in Edinburgh a complete reconstruction of the interior is necessary. PA, lights, as well as the ubiquitous banners and posters have all been installed at pretty short notice. The balance between corporate event specialists and saviours of the Edinburgh music underground is a thin line - certainly you’d have to be ultra-confident in your bill to put on a competing show on a Wednesday now - but the capacity crowd here will be overjoyed to see 2 acts of this quality playing in a local venue.
Of course, this all nearly goes belly-up when Frightened Rabbit launch into theifr first, heavily distorted and muffled number, but happily they’re back on track soon, running through Midnight Organ Fight in its entirety - even time for the underexposed ‘Floating in the Forth‘. Frontman Scott’s vocals - like those of Adam previously stage centre - are perfectly suited to the venue and can be heard loud and clear even when he drifts away from the mike. The band’s new sound, which even employs occasional bass guitar, is crisper than ever. The show can’t be faulted, apart from a lack of material from Sings The Greys until ‘Square 9’ right at the end. Still, as the band once sang, this is ‘Music Now’, not then. Fingers crossed however that neither of tonight’s band write off their past completely.
//Stuart McHugh