Gav Prentice seems pretty angry about something.
Hardly what you might expect from the frontman of Over The Wall, who most famously provided us with the chipper Burnistoun theme tune.
Prentice is now frontman – and indeed sole proprietor – of Ultras. Guitar, a little backing, apart from that it’s Prentice and his quick wit and a bunch of songs about Churchill and other sacred cows (though a suggestion that ‘Lady Diana” should be the subject of some as-yet-undirected vitriol is met with gasps from some elements of the audience – “too soon”, perhaps. But as you might expect from his per his previous work, a great live experience with excellent songs.
The Hug and Pint favours ‘subtle’ lighting i.e. you can’t see your hand in front of your face, but for the John Know Sex Club, it works. One red solitary spotlight illuminates frontman Sean, who “feels like Keane West”.
There the similarities of Glasto’s greatest living headliner end. I can’t recall the last time so many “influences” came to mind in a set, though better to exhibit myriad sounds and ideas than just merely copying one act slavishly as so many in the Glasgow scene do.
Sean is in the audience by the first number (Iggy Pop-style… ah…) stalking the audience with a crazed intensity. With elements of Nick Cave, The Smiths, Tindersticks, and Delgados all make for an enthrallingly intense spectacle that is happily, also a great listen for those closer to the back. By the end, the mainman is doing another lap of the crowd – this time hugging rather than haranguing them, his efforts reciprocated and very much appreciated.