September 19th 2022! At the time this was arranged no-one of course could have predicted that this would be a bank holiday, national day of mourning, the same ceremony being on pretty much all TV channels pretty much all day…
So a great evening to dust off the glad rags and venture out to the first Snare gig in Glasgow for quite some time….
First up we had Hugh Haggerty, aka Scottish Faultlines, playing his first ever gig to an audience comprising his friends, sundry Snare fans and other curious onlookers. Strumming away on an acoustic (but plugged in) guitar, he entertained us with tracks like ‘Tempest In Blue’ and ‘Keep It In My Heart’. His patter was witty and self-deprecating, reminding BM a wee bit of Dan Withered Hand, and after some initial nervousness he seemed to actually quite enjoy himself, so that’s a start!
Next up was Kim Grant aka Raveloe. A calmer vibe onstage, she played a number of new tracks which are going to go onto her forthcoming album. Again strumming a semi-acoustic, her deft changes of chord and pace give some unusual accompaniment to some evocative but at times inscrutable lyrics, all delivered in her characteristic clear as a bell vocal. ‘Old Lessons’ and ‘New House’ were probably BM’s favourites tonight, but last track ‘The Chair Is Nowhere’ is also a great grower. The Raveloe full band (with added drum ‘n’ bass) will be performing at the Great Western Festival later in the year – definitely one to look forward to…
The headliners Spare Snare emerged from their hometown of Dundee in the early 90s and have given us around 30 years of crunching backline, squalling and jangling guitars, krauty keyboards and singer Jan’s unmistakeable booming vocals. This and a gig several days ago in the ‘Dee were intended to roadtest new material before they go into the studio with a return visit from uber producer Steve Albini, who previously recorded a sort of ‘greatest hits’ album with the Snare a few years ago. The best laid plans etc. however – the “sixth (and newest) member” got Covid so some of the new tracks were dumped in favour of a revised line-up to accommodate his absence yet still let Jan lose the guitar – he likes to roam around the stage and into the audience…
Starting with a brand new track ‘Wifi’ (with two keyboard lines and a Fall-esque repetition of “is the Wifi on?”) they started as they meant to continue. Lots of older material in the set such as ‘Tracked’, ‘Action Hero’ and ‘Haircut’ while things like ‘Ring To Me’ and ‘I Have You’ were getting their Glasgow premieres. The rest of the band as usual provided a pounding and at times brutal backdrop to Jan’s increasingly shouty tones, with shades of HMHB coming to mind in the combination of music and at times oddly-phrased vocal lines. Credit due to sound engineer Ross at the back to keep this all under control – BM thinks there were around seven new songs but the night ended with oldies ‘Super Slinky’ and ‘Stop Complaining’, sending us out into the night with ears a-ringing_
They were The Snare, indeed…
(Photo: Mike Melville @ Manic Pop Thrills)