While drunken festive-related insanity raged in Central Glasgow on 2023’s “Mad Saturday” the venue tonight was an oasis of calm, although obviously the music was quite loud. When purchasing the ticket BM was not actually aware that this was Current Affairs’ last gig. Also the last minute change of support band gave a chance to see one of the acts missed the previous weekend due to own cancellations etc. This was also a relatively late gig for Mono, doors open 9.45pm and ending at midnight.
Dancer were up first, a Glasgow-based four-piece playing a cocktail of spiky, scratchy postpunk guitar/bass/drums with some slightly Afrobeat overlays while Gemma’s vocals mixed Polystyrene-esque shrieks and raps with some Claire Grogan-ish tunefulness. They played an eight-song set including some tracks from their recent EP ‘As Well’ (including the disturbing but brilliant ‘Chill Pill’). There were several new tracks, during which Gemma had to read her own lyrics off a sheet (nothing wrong with that and they also sounded great). Overall the set was a riot of angular guitar patterns, including the use of a strange, maybe custom-adapted Key-tar, from stage left, while Andrew’s Peter Hook-esque basslines crunched in from stage right, all kept in order by a thundering drumbeat at the back. The signs are good for this developing act and BM hopes to see them again in 2024.
Headliners Current Affairs played tonight like their lives depended on it – a compelling performance which left the fairly decent-sized audience with quite some parting shot. Joan’s vocals were better than ever as they tore through cuts from their debut album ‘Off The Tongue’ plus other EP tracks. In her second appearance of the night Gemma put in the work on bass while Andrew on drums and Sebastian on guitar provided some furious playing. To be honest tonight the band that CA reminded BM most of was Joy Division (although having never seem them live unfortunately) – think it was the frenetic energy that seemed to power the whole thing forward, so let’s just say that BM will remember this as “JD fronted by Siouxsie Sioux” – a quotable quote indeed! No seriously, from the first track ‘Riled’ to the last, the room was a cauldron of noise, with very little banter with the crowd as they played against the clock with the midnight curfew approaching. Bands split for all kinds of reasons and there is no point in regretting the end of this combo but what they gave us tonight was and is unforgettable.
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