Glasgow
Cage the Elephant, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - old-fashioned rock n' roll from Kentucky sextetWednesday, 19 February 2020
Matt Shultz was clearly taking no chances. The Cage the Elephant frontman appeared onstage underneath a large umbrella, presumably bought to cope with the day’s deluge of rain. In the ever effervescent Shultz’s hands it was swiftly used as a prop,... Read more... |
The Murder Capital, QMU, Glasgow review - Dublin outfit find catharsis through pummelling songsMonday, 17 February 2020
It might have been 24 hours after Valentine’s Day, but James McGovern still seemed to have a touch of romance in his head. At one stage during the Murder Capital’s bruising set he referenced his floral-patterned shirt as evidence that he was feeling... Read more... |
Jonas Brothers, SSE Hydro, Glasgow - reunited siblings look to the future with slick showFriday, 07 February 2020
No matter how much the Jonas Brothers try, they can’t totally escape the mouse. Commercials for new Disney TV shows flashed up onscreen not long before the siblings took to the stage, and although the trio’s days of appearing in such fare are long... Read more... |
Celtic Connections 2020, Glasgow review - Yorkston/Thorne/Khan and Roaming Roots Revue celebrate joy of collaborationMonday, 03 February 2020
While there’s usually something for everybody on the Celtic Connections festival programme, where Glasgow’s midwinter festival tends to shine is in its collaborations and special events. Over the past 18 days the city has hosted folk icon Peggy... Read more... |
Celtic Connections 2020, Glasgow review - fine feast of Scottish musicMonday, 20 January 2020
Celtic Connections, Scotland’s annual festival of folk, world and fusion music, has been brightening up dreich Glasgow Januaries since its inception in 1994. Originally proposed partly as a way to fill a scheduling gap in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall’... Read more... |
Deborah Orr: Motherwell review - memoir, but so much moreSaturday, 18 January 2020
Published in the year following Orr’s death at the age of 57, Motherwell is an analysis of the author’s childhood in Motherwell, on the outskirts of Glasgow, and her first steps into adulthood. However, while this book is ostensibly about Deborah... Read more... |
IDLES, Barrowland, Glasgow review - rowdy and raucous, but with heartThursday, 05 December 2019
As the number of sweaty bodies increased towards the front of the Barrowland stage, IDLES singer Joe Talbot had a direct message. “Keep safe” he implored on several occasions, like a concerned dad warning his kids, or perhaps a shepherd guiding his... Read more... |
Björk, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review- Icelandic experimentalist reimagines live performanceWednesday, 27 November 2019
Grimes, the Canadian art pop performer, made headlines last week when she predicted the end of musical performance as we know it on a podcast interview with theoretical physicist Sean Carroll. Live music, she said, would be “obsolete soon”, while... Read more... |
The Lumineers, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review - a stomping but exhausting nightSaturday, 23 November 2019
There was something fitting about the Lumineers entrance in Glasgow. As “Gimme Shelter” blared around the SSE Hydro, lights pulsating over the crowd, it was drummer Jeremiah Fraites who took the stage and started the opening beat of “Sleep On The... Read more... |
Fontaines DC, SWG3, Glasgow review - Irish rockers let down by shaky soundSaturday, 23 November 2019
Time moves fast in the music business. It has only been a matter of months since Fontaines DC were playing the far smaller confines of King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, and here they were at a sold out SWG3, celebrating the success of debut album “... Read more... |
Charli XCX, SWG3, Glasgow - stripped of the gimmicks, but still the whole packageMonday, 28 October 2019
Considered logically, releasing an album as heavy on guest features as Charli XCX’s newest should present particular logistical problems when it comes to recreating the tracks on tour. Charli’s approach is the opposite: no gimmicks or trickery, just... Read more... |
Hot Chip, Barrowland, Glasgow review - dancefloor kings keep the party goingSunday, 20 October 2019
Familiarity evidently does not breed contempt, at least in the case of Hot Chip and Glasgow. This was the band’s third appearance on Glaswegian soil since April, and what a glorious, life-affirming evening it was. They arrived with a fine new album... Read more... |
