1st up is a live performance from VIIIAges and its fantastic they remind me of an earlier discovery DM Lied but their songs are more traditional than the pre mentioned band (that I love). The recording is wonderful; live energetic and knitted tightly by the prominent bass and slightly muted drums, The lightly distorted guitars are loud in the mix and on stage; you can hear the snare rattle.
It looks live; it is live
This band have a new York feel, punky, edgy, the recording appears to be at a venue called Youngcamelot in Chicago Illinios who record the bands that play live. Its a fantastic idea; the whole feel of this record screams an underground music scene that we in the UK haven’t witnessed since our last US import of grunge.
This is different there is everything where. The finale New Era is a fuzz jam with a dominant guitar playing over a frantic bass. Stoney Pony has a strong riff laced throughout. The vocals are delivered with punky vulnerability reminiscent of Joe Strummer Stoney Pony shouts the crowd; that’s the name of it? answers the band!
The crowd play their part it sounds like a small but close knit group who back up the band with screams of ‘one more!’ as the step into New Era.
Gigs we organise help pay for future recordings. So thanks for coming!!
Weird Decibels live at 13th note 22/08/2014
Our names in lights
A few months ago at practise, Derek suggested that we run and promote our own music night for a change; give the promoters a wee break. So Derek, Greg and Stu ( I was kinda leaving it to them to be honest) fused their music biz minds together and came up with SYTB promotions.(if you’re wondering its Strumit, Yellit, Twangit and Bangit)
A venue was needed, 13th Note were offering their excellent venue plus sound man for a very competitive price. It seemed too easy. The only thing we needed now was other bands.
a solid performance from the Dark Arts
We talked about the bands we have played with over the years and wanted a good mix of styles for our debut event. Up stepped Miss The Occupier, Dark Arts and Ciceros Secret. Three fine and very different bands.
Here is the story of the night.
The first thing that surprised me was my car; the boot swallowed up the bass amp plus two guitar amps without so much as a shrug. Gear packed we battled though the rush hour traffic back to the city of Glasgow which is still basking in the after glow of the Commonwealth Games.
derek couldn’t wait until the photo was taken and kept eating nom nom
We arrived early so I had time to sample some of the 13th Notes grub. Its all veggie; to be honest I could do with a night of the red stuff so I ordered a cracking veggie burger. Once we were fed we headed down stairs to one of the cities most iconic wee venues. For a band our size it feels more like home; even a modest crowd fills the room so that settled us.
The sound check went smoothly; the other bands rolled in. It was nice to see Jon from the Dark Arts; we played for a least three years together in the Seventeenth. Now I’m not saying it was a time of high fives and fist pumps, we had our moments, but it is a time I look back fondly on; it was nice to see the fella again. I was tempted to ask if he still listens to the old Seventeenth records (I do) but I let that one pass.
Ciceros Secret arrived; they are a nice bunch. We played with this young band back in November 2013 at the Garage Attic that was a crazy gig; their fans stormed the stage and the place turned into a mosh pit.
Miss the Occupier are friends of our friends and it was nice to meet them.
Now that the greeting were out the way it was time to get down to business.
The wonderful Miss the Occupier
The crowd floated in as Miss The Occupier took to the stage playing a fine mix of their own tunes which reminded me of Joy Division, they had a really clean, punchy sound; Roz the singer owned the stage. The crowd swelled and the temperature rose; the 13th Note atmosphere was here!
I really enjoyed their set you should check out their excellent video on YouTube
Sometimes it good to hear something you know, the Dark Arts provided a cracking set of rock covers for the now packed audience. Pearl Jams ‘Even Flow’ was excellent; Jon was particularly good on the bass. He had his sound spot on which was not really a surprise given that he was a perfectionist back in the Seventeenth days.
It was our turn to step up and time was pressing I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little rushed. I quickly set up the gear and we were ready to go. Or so I thought.
Set list
Speak
Kill it! Kill it!
Miss Asphyxia
Wonder
Little Thoughts Lost
Deliverance
Joker
I Hear the City
The heat the rock it was all there
We started well with the now stable Speak which often opens our set. This flowed nicely into Kill it! Kill it! Slight confusion at the intro but generally nailed. Then it was a wee hello to the crowd; straight back into Miss Asphyxia. By now I could hear my guitar on stage and it seemed out of tune but we flowed onto Wonder where Stu held the notes. A quick tune up confirmed that the G string was well out (har har). That fixed we moved on to a strong finish. New song Little Thoughts Lost got a little lost in my head! However Deliverance, Joker and new favourite I Hear the City went down well.
It was good to see the crowd right next to us; I was pleased everyone had stuck around to the end. It was hot; my shirt and tie combo was beginning to feel like a bad idea.
Before I knew it we were done and quickly packing up the pedals to allow head-liners Ciceros Secret on.
These guys are in their late teens; their music is high energy experimental metal. Its loud and in your face and I hate to say it but it took me back to the days when we started 20 years ago! Long hair waiving, loud music, playing hard and fast and not caring that some of the crowd were now starting to disperse into the late Friday night.
For those that remained they were treated to a brilliant show; their guitarists weaving through the crowd not missing a note. They were a brilliant end to the night.
We learned a few lessons on the night. Bands will run over, its natural with live music. So I’ll try not to rush my set-up in future. All in all it was a very successful night.
Final thought goes to our fans. Given that many of you have now seen us live many times we feel we are in a unique place that we have a group of friends that want to come tine and time again. The effort you guys make is quite simply brilliant. Thank you for keeping the band live.
We went for it anyway, back in with PM promotions it was nice to have a gig to look forward to. Jim’s Bar is a little sauna two flights of stairs up from the main stage that we played twice a few years back.
It’s been a while, Derek had a bad injury to his ankle then he got married so the first half of 2014 has been a quiet, subtle year for the band. I say subtle as we’re halfway writing wdB2. We cancelled the Pivo Pivo gig for this so we had high hopes for the Saturday show.
Stu brings in the red
On arrival we opened the door and I could swear we stepped into an oven, it was so hot. Air conditioning was non existent, Jesus I was sweating taking my Guitar out of its case. We met a guy from PM promotions called Jim and he was nice. He was welcoming, told us what time we’d be on and introduced us to the sound guy, who was younger than my car (an old beaten up ford). The sound check was quick as it always is, it sounded OK on stage, I asked for a couple of changes thinking the young dude would fiddle with his knobs but later I would find it was not to be. Jim took us up another four levels to our changing room which had a fridge for the beer but we’d never use it,
After sound check we headed off to the west end of Glasgow, Ashton lane, we had a burger a beer and a seat in the sun. Fantastic. I had a great feeling about the gig.
We headed back to the venue, I was a little fuzzy from the beer I had. We caught a fine set from Augusta Fireball, two guys around our age playing in front of a white screen that displayed various pictorial moments including the colourful moment J F Kennedy’s head met a bullet. I’ve not seen the image for a while but it unsettled me. It was slightly distracting from their music which was excellent. We were up second.
Our faithful turned up and cheered the loudest. To be honest I’m not sure why we were on second , we had perhaps the biggest crowd on the night.
Set list
Miss A
Speak
Joker
Kill it! Kill it!
I Hear The City
Wait
Wonder (replaced by Waiting On the Sound of Your High Heels)
Greg slams the bass
It was the hottest gig I ever played, nearly fainted hitting the high notes of Joker. Our crowd were there but there was no one else apart from the other bands. The sound on stage was muddy, the young dude hadn’t made the changes as asked. Disappointing.
Every song we played was interrupted by the moving drum kit. Derek would would run off to find some gaffer tape so I would try my best to entertain the crowd.
Derek fixes the kit as i talk shit
I enjoyed it though. I loose it every time we play there is something about playing live that makes me reach into me deepest feelings and pour them out. As RM Hubbert would say its a kind of therapy and you don’t need to pay for it. We were getting ready to play Wonder and I had piled praise on Jemma for helping us on wdB1 when from the bar I heard the shout of ‘play high heels!’ Sounded like Wilson and Byrne. Then I heard ‘gonna remove the tattoo! I looked around, Derek stared the click and we rolled into High Heels.
After us were a Perth band called Bedford Rascals, they were young and they were nuts the singer burst his hand and bled over his bass, that was the most rock and roll moment of the night. The headlines All Suns Blazing had a fine set of blistering blues. Really impressed. Unfortunately for the guys the heat had got to the crowd and most had left apart from the faithful.
I cant call this gig a classic. It wasn’t, in many ways it was the kinda gig you have to play to help you appreciate when the next amazing night come along.
It was a surreal night in the city of Glasgow, it was the night after the tragedy at the Clutha yet there was the normal hussle of Sauchiehall Street. We parked up at the back of the venue, climbed up several flights of stairs past the bigger and more impressive stages until we reached the Attic. A smaller, darker room in need of a little love and attention. I must confess I like the little run down places to play gigs there is something ‘underground’ about it.
We had reservations about tonight. Our fans have dug deep this year to support us at other venues, Christmas was on the horizon and well we didn’t push it as much. When I saw the venue I must confess to being spoilt by the recent adventures at Oran Mor and ABC2. The sound would confirm this. I believe it sounded good to the audience but on stage it was no where near the crispness of the aforementioned venues.
We set up our sound and belted out a sound check in minutes. (I have no idea why it takes so long for bands to sound check) It was at this point we were asked for money to pay for the hire of the drum kit. There were four different reactions to this request. Stu went a bid red, (seething anger) Greg went quiet, (how to I sort this), I sighed,( why are we doing this) and Derek went into full blown Kirk rage ( Khaaaaaaaannnnnn, the older folk will get this). He said no to the promoter and we left to get a pint.
During our rather lovely pint and the effect it was having on me I had a conflict of thoughts. Do I really want, after 18 years of getting f**ked by promoters, to keep doing this. However I love it, sitting with guys pre gig, meeting our crowd and belting out our tunes. Why does playing live have so many pitfalls? I concluded I wanted to do this for as long as possible (although perhaps not as long as the Stones). I still love the whole scene.
Greg snuck off and paid for our share of hiring the kit… Stu and Derek were livid, I was angry but I could see where Greg’s heart was and gave him some money to put in his lighter pocket’s.
So we’re all a bit angry, the venue is lite on crowd and we’re about to go on. I looked at our faithful friends who came to see us. I thought, this is for them. The last time we played angry was at the QMU.
Set list
1. Deliverance
2. Speak
3. Ms Asphyxia
4. Wonder
5. Steel
6. Wait
7. Joker
Angry gigs are amazing, we play hard and fast. Our 30 minute set felt like 10 minutes. I had had a few beers and we were loving it. Every song merged into each other, I didn’t say much to the crowd which is not like me. The sound on stage was poor though. I was distracted by feedback throughout and that really annoyed me.
I enjoyed the night. It was a fitting end to an amazing year for us. Perhaps the next time we play live we’ll be showing off new songs, oh and we won’t be paying to hire a kit!!
I must mention Cicero’s Secret. They were brilliant live. The sound was a bit of a mash but the energy was incredible and their crowd were a delight to watch. Yes we were the oldies up the back foot tapping to the tunes! I wish them the best of luck.
weirddecibels.com 