When Duglas T Stewart, Darren Hayman and Stuart Murdoch are in front of you in the gig queue you know you’re in for a good evening.
You could also take a guess at the kind of good evening ahead – indie jangle of a certain vintage, perhaps?
First up is Davey Woodward and the Winter Orphans – formerly of The Brilliant Corners and the Experimental Pop Band, they’re pretty true to the previous sound of their eponymous frontman, and perhaps more noisy than some of the other acts on the bill. There’s just a hint of jangle, as they are joined by Amelia Fletcher for an exuberant closing tune.
Ms. Fletcher is quickly back onstage for her set as part of The Catenary Wires, her current combo formed with fellow Talulah Gosh and Heavenly bandmate Rob Pursey. They declare themselves as being one of the more laid-back acts on the bill but ‘Always On My Mind’ is pretty nifty, as is the next, the boy / girl vocal interplay evoking, perhaps aptly, The Pastels. There’s plenty of entertainingly amiable chat and laughter at mention of England’s hosepipe ban – “do you not get that here?”
‘Canterbury Lakes’ is a self-confessedly twee tune that is still, it seems, too punk rock for a member of Caravan encountered by the band. Pursey remains seated throughout, but fails to encourage “the most dancers ever” at this celebration of Sarah Records, whose artists are, he says, “discreetly sexy”, before stopping digging that particular hole.
The band don’t do “other songs”, by which Fletcher means it’s all-new material, but with a closing couplet of ‘Three-Wheeled Car’ – about Brexiters plummeting off a Kent cliff – and a closer with a bit of a Stereolab groove, there are few complaints.
Especially as The Orchids, despite having released new material every decade since the late 1980s, are happy to delve into their back catalogue, with revitalised takes on ‘Me and the Black and White Dream’ (from their second album on Sarah Records) early in their set. Still driven by piercing, meandering guitar lines, they slot in newie ‘Don’t We Love You’?’.
‘Lovechild’ also makes full use of their funky percussionist, on congas (and bongos? never been sure). By way of contrast, ‘This Boy’s a Mess’ is just about punk rock – “as passive aggressive as we get” jokes frontman James Hackett. ‘It’s Only Obvious’ gets the biggest reception of the night, with simultaneous pogoing and singalong, the crowd thoroughly warmed up for ‘Caveman’, while they reel back the years for ‘Bemused Confused Bedraggled’ to end. As the refrain goes; “Make me happy make me smile” – mission accomplished.
The June Brides were, they claim, a dance band, and yes, the by now very much up-for-it are happy to shake a leg to ‘No Place Like Home’ – “an old Appalachian folk song”. “Simon Bates played it, it got to number 87,” recalls frontman Phil Wilson, whose self-effacing trip down memory lane goes all the way back to their Creation Records days – in that period “right between” when Alan McGee’s label was cool and trendy, and successful.
Employing trumpet and violin, the band are still very C86 (even though they declined the offer to appear on the NME’s legendary cassette for fear of being pigeonholed). “We don’t do slow” they joke, before the spiky ‘Josef’s Gone’, apparently stolen from Josef K and then in turn appropriated by the Manics for ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’. “It was all ok in the end,” Wilson says (Paul Haig sadly unavailable for comment).
Remarkably given such a fine-tuned performance it transpires that as well as this being the band’s first gig in six years it’s also their first with their new drummer. Wilson’s admission that this therefore “could” be their last-ever show is met with palpable disappointment by the crowd, especially as Simon Beesley, on “punk rock” guitar, has composed a couple of brand new tunes on a par with much of the back catalogue – although inevitably, ‘Every Conversation’ and closer ‘In the Rain’ get a reception that’s nothing short of rapturous.
To many, Close Lobsters‘ most iconic moment will be ‘Let’s Make Some Plans’ (due to its appearing on the b-side of one of The Wedding Present’s biggest hits, ‘California’), so it’s a bold move to kick off with what is a flawlessly energetic take on one of their most iconic tracks. Then… “what the hell was that?”
‘Don’t Worry’, apparently, as singer Andrew Burnett fesses up to barely remembering the set’s second song – a forgivable faux pas given its similar age to the classic opener i.e. 35 or so years old.
The Paisley act are perhaps the most ‘rock’ of today bands, especially on newer material from ‘Post Neo Anti’ like ‘Absent Guest’ while ‘All Compasses Go Wild’ is similarly noisier than their C86 era material, delivered with an energy that belies the band’s age.
Burnett brings out a St. Mirren scarf in time for singalong ‘I Kiss The Flower In Bloom’, and The June Brides’ Jon Hunter & Frank Sweeney appear on trumpet and fiddle for an apt closer which unites the Glasgow ’80s / C86 / Sarah Records scenes. It’s a real testament to the tireless efforts of the organisers of this exercise in nostalgia, and despite the vintage of the acts taking part, the music on offer still sounds as fresh and vibrant as in its heyday.