Despite its long existence this venue was actually a new experience for BM..
Nestled in Oswald St near Central Station it was friendly with a decent sound system (it had to be tonight!).
Instead, ‘first’ were Acid Rooster, a three-piece from Leipzig in Germany, playing some UK and contenental dates with Helicon. A killer combination of bass, drums and guitar/keyboards, their instrumental tracks had some degree of sheer power, conjuring up various psychedelic and krautrock combos over the past few decades. Intense and well-executed, the trio have the kind of communal chemistry that makes for great rock act, and BM hopes to see them again on these shores soon…
After the one-off string quartet show earlier in the year Helicon have reverted to the “usual” seven piece formation for these new shows (if anything about this lot could be described as “normal”…).
Juddering and grinding into first gear like some awakening dragonesque creature, it took a couple of numbers for the band to reach the sonic heights that they are capable of, but reach them they did. BM has attempted to describe the sound before but let’s just say tonight a caterwauling combination of early Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and Mogwai, if that is even possible.
JP’s wailing vocals howl over the frantic riffing of multiple keyboard and guitar playing, while Graeme’s sitar is deployed as usual on several tracks, often more like another guitar, or a weapon even. Not too sure regarding any new material but certainly some from current album ‘God Intentions’ including the newly remixed ‘Last Tango in Glasgow’. It has to be said that the following day BM was a bit deaf, which doesn’t always happen – but it was well worth it for another evening with one of Glasgow’s best and most distinctive combos.