Memories fade quick these days. Hence me filing this review the day after the show and having already forgotten quite a lot of the details. So pity anyone who has to think back 20 years, to the Tramway when the first Bent Meltdown took place.
I wasn’t at that gig, though I suspect a few of tonight’s crowd may have been. However, I do remember The Leopards from that era – a bit. One cracking psychobilly-tinged album ‘They Tried Staying Calm’. Were they a three-piece? Did I even see them live before they came together to back up Lloyd Cole at the Commonwealth Games show at Glasgow Green? Maybe in passing, in some support slot. Certainly the years haven’t diminished their talents. Mainman Mick Slaven must have been keeping his eye in, his finger-shredding guitar work still as impressively nimble as it was on record two decades ago. Kicking off with a fierce ‘Ju Ju Girl’, its a frenetic set, full of verve and vigour and no small amount of controlled aggression. Except for one “pop song” – “one for our marketing department to get their teeth into,” Slaven jokes. A very short set concludes with a timely cover of Bowie’s ‘Hang Onto Yourself’, at least as intense as the original.
I’m not alone in making a torturous search of the grey matter. Secret Goldfish singer Katy McCullars has brought her lyric book, just as a memory aid. Not sure why it’s necessary, the band having played live a mere 16 years ago. ‘Dandelion Milk Summer’ gets things off nicely – its with jangling guitars and sweetly-sung vocals, it’s as if they’ve never been away. Guitarist Douglas MacIntyre is sporting shades – not to look cool, we’re advised but so that he can adopt a whole new persona later as bassist in the headline act. Unfortunately the sunglasses aren’t aiding his tuning, which soon becomes “faffing about”, but at least giving the singer the chance to thumb through her songsheets.
For the uninitiated, MacIntyre and McCullars’ are now an item, and have been for some time – indeed, their daughter (and niece) are old enough to arrive onstage to perform backing vocals on ‘Somewhere In The World’, while James Kirk also appears to augment the guitars on his Orange Juice tune ‘Moscow’. The expanded band finish with an extended mashup of ‘Going To A Go Go’ and ‘The Light Pours Out Of Me’ – well, that’s how the oldie whose title I forget sounded to me.
Davy Henderson is another man with a chequered history. The former Fire Engine, Win and more lately Sexual Object has recently reformed The Nectarine No. 9 to tout debut ‘Saint Jack’ and the set draws from that era, with the same robust three-guitar sound of 1995. ‘My Trapped Lightning’s Beefhearty stomp is a highlight as the audience relive that golden era. Sporting glasses now, Henderson is compared to Richard Gere by an audience member – can’t see it myself, maybe they were thinking of Robert Powell – though in ‘Detectives’ mode rather than Jesus Christ. Mind you, the set seems to be a religious experience for some here, and Henderson is a captivating performer.
Following a groooovey ‘Johnny Bristol Flu’ and, inevitably, an electric ‘Saint Jack’, there’s a several minute wait for an encore – permission is required from someone. It doesn’t come and despite the record amount of time / applause elapsed, neither does Norris McWhirter. So instead Henderson and chums form a circle stage front. A request for ‘Kumbya’ goes unheeded, but instead Henderson sends the throng into the night with an acoustic and unplugged ‘Feels With Me’. “What about Jesus baby?” Well, what indeed?
Photos: Andrew McKenna