The Music
Glasgow Nice N Sleazys (8th March 2008)
Leeds finest indie-prog rockers The Music ride in town tonight, in what is a huge coup for, frankly, too dingy a venue. But for the evening we ignore Sleazy’s obvious flaws (a pole in the centre of the stage? Who in the hell put that there?) and concentrate on the long-awaited return of the psychedelic Yorkshiremen, making their first foray North since their jaded 2004 show at the Barrowlands.
Indeed, they began and ended that UK tour in Scotland, and the opening gig at the Corn Exchange contained all the vibrancy and intensity the Glasgow gig sorely lacked. Their second album, Welcome to the North, was met with muted disdain from the music press, so after three years holed up gathering new ideas, they are a band with things to prove once more.
Frontman Robert Harvey has shed his Plant-esque locks in their period in the studio, probably through necessity rather than choice, but unlike Samson he hasn’t surrendered any of his strength. He remains an engaging, charismatic figure, and his vocal prowess is as devastating as ever.
As for the new material? Opener ‘Spike’ appears to be a striking return to form – rhythmic, hypnotic guitars, a barnstorming drumbeat and stunning vocal amount to a real standard setter for what was to follow. This was a performance that simply did not slow for a second – never have I been in amongst such a sweaty sea of knackered geezers, attempting to ask their calf muscles to give them the strength for one final foray down the front. It’s tribute to their following that the crowd were utterly insatiable in their desire to delve in the chaos that ensued.
A UN peacekeeping force would have struggled to hold this lot back, so attempting to listen to a bands performance with a strangers arm wrapped around your neck becomes increasingly difficult. What I will say is, in the moment it probably a good deal more monumental than it necessarily was.
They blasted thorough their hits in just under 40 minutes, including debut album favourites such as ‘Getaway’ and ‘Take The Long Road and Walk It’. Fair play to the band, they could have played larger venues than this, and the ticket price could have been substantially higher. But this represents a move back to their roots, and as clichéd as it sounds, a return to playing the type of venue they used to tear up before they found success. It is where they are more comfortable, where their music can leave you deaf for a week instead of being lost in the comparative space the ABC or Barrowlands offers. Whether or not this speaks more about the songs themselves is open to question, but for Saturday night entertainment it proved more than enough for ‘The People’ in attendance.
Donny
