Gigs

Com Truise set for UK tour

Live interpretations of Galaxy Melt album with synth and drums

23 May 2012

Okay, so imagine if Blade Runner was not set in a dark, dystopian, fetid, sweaty, neon shoe-box version of LA and instead was transposed to a glaring and perma-tanned Miami of the future, drowning in UV rays, Day-Glo colours; a city as one giant…

The Horrors - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Tue 15 May, 2012

Charming and mesmerising set that avoids sharp pop aesthetic

22 May 2012

For Essex boys The Horrors, surely redemption has arrived at last. Yes, there were those of us who enjoyed the spooky frightwig garage rock of their debut album Strange House, but it left the sense that here was a band who are overstylised and blessed…

Austra set for UK tour

Toronto electro-goth-pop six-piece take Feel It Break on the road

22 May 2012

Having rated spine-tingling coldwave-disco banger ‘Lose It’ as one of our favourite songs of 2011, The List are big fans of this Toronto electro-goth-pop six-piece based around one-of-a-kind Latvian-Canadian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist…

Elvis Costello - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Fri 11 May

Three-hour 30-song greatest hits show with patter aplenty

22 May 2012

‘She’s filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake’ – has any songwriter anticipated the career ahead of them as clairvoyantly as Elvis Costello did on Watching the Detectives? The song appeared in 1977 but its writer has spent the decades since…

Lil B - Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow, Sun 6 May

22-year-old Berkeley rapper describes himself as ‘an art history project’

22 May 2012

It must be the Californian in him, but the BASEDGOD, despite his lyrics about eating white booty, his VIP lifestyle, and his resemblance to Jesus/Michael Jordan/Miley Cyrus and Paris Hilton, is basically a hippie. Top off, shades on, tiny muscled torso…

Friends & Aluna George - King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, Mon 7 May

Disco-tinged set of dazzling pop music

22 May 2012

‘Come closer,’ beckons Friends’ enigmatic frontwoman Samantha Urbani, as the Brooklyn quintet make their Glasgow debut. She means it too: blink and next thing, she’s on the floor, shimmying up to an exhilarated crowd. If the intimate touch hints at a…

Sparks announce 2012 UK tour

US band perform stripped-down 'Two Hands, One Mouth' tour as duo

13 Apr 2012

Following their sell-out gig in London’s Bush Hall in June, the due forever to be referenced as 'quirky' will commence their 'Two Hands, One Mouth' UK tour UK in October, with further dates soon to be announced. Probably best known for their 1974 hit…

Bloc Party announce 2012 UK tour

UK dates include Glasgow, Manchester and London

13 Apr 2012

British band Bloc Party are set to play their first UK gigs in almost two years. In 2009 the band took some time out after their last tour – Bloctober – but came back onto the scene late 2011, and after signing with Frenchkiss Records in late March…

Simple Minds - Barrowlands, Glasgow Sat 25 Feb 2012

Revisit to first five albums a reminder of their potency

8 Mar 2012

In these recessionary times, it’s easy to suppose the manufacturers of dry ice are thanking their lucky stars for 1980s art-rock bands on the comeback and reunion trail. Clouds of the stuff create precisely the proper atmosphere in which men with…

Sepalcure - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Mon 12 Feb

28 Feb 2012

There’s a sparse few loitering outside Sneaky’s closed doors come ten o’clock this Sunday evening, wondering whether they’ve got it right. But they have, and before long the thickening crowd are being lulled into hazy motion with zoned out electronica…

Spector - King Tut’s, Glasgow, Wed 15 Feb

Blending the anthemic and the generic to pleasing effect

28 Feb 2012

‘What a pleasure,’ notes Fred Macpherson. ‘I thought Newcastle on Tuesday was something, but this...’ Wearing his hair gelled to one side and a pair of thick-framed black glasses, the suited singer recalls Buddy Holly or Crispin Glover as Marty’s dad in…

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Thu 26 Jan 2012

Expanded line-up works well in large venue - once everyone relaxes

16 Feb 2012

The few gentle piano chords and overheard Fife chit-chat that form the start of ‘First Watch,’ the opener on King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ Diamond Mine, are all it takes to bring a sold out crowd to what is, for this venue in particular, an uncannily…

Kelly Rowland has Bible rider

Music Gossip

11 Feb 2012

Kelly Rowland can never be without her Bible when she is on tour. The 'Down For Whatever' hitmaker doesn't have many backstage demands when she performs around the world, but she is always sure to have the religious text with her wherever she…

Cry Parrot New Year Fest - Nice & Sleazy, Glasgow, Fri 13 Jan

Snapshot of Scotland’s restless underground featuring Sacred Paws

1 Feb 2012

Not so much a ‘hot tips for 2012’ shindig as a snapshot of Scotland’s restless underground, the second night of independent promoter Cry Parrot’s new bands residency is dominated by electronica, but there’s room for polyrhythmic guitar’n’drum jams too.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 15 Jan 2012

Minimal classical configurations building a truly hypnotic form

27 Jan 2012

The collaboration of Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie and Devics’ Dustin O’Halloran might sound like a dream ticket for devotees of string-abetted US independent music, but this live performance was no occasion for ego or for taking individual bows.

Best of 2011: Gigs

The best gig of 2011, including Remember Remember, St Vincent, Arcade Fire and Group Inerane

13 Dec 2011

Remember Remember and Miaoux Miaoux The Planetarium, Glasgow, Sat 8 Oct We don’t tend to throw about words like ‘spellbinding’ and ‘mesmerising’. But for a gig that asked us to lie back and gaze at the stars, while laptop wizardry and shimmering…

Django Django - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Thu 24 Nov

Infectious fun from band with no agenda other than having a good time

13 Dec 2011

Django Django’s music could be described as folk-rave, or math-beat, or perhaps contemporary hoedown. It’s hard to explain, really, why the combination of American West, Merseyside and East London rhythms should sound so good, meaning that, joyously…

Josh T Pearson - Oran Mor, Glasgow, Tue 22 Nov 2011

Utterly entertaining hour of songs and charm from Texan singer

9 Dec 2011

With little fanfare, Texan son Josh T Pearson drifts onstage. The crowd erupts. Calmly, he takes his time before addressing them. ‘Whadd’ya think, jacket on or jacket off?’ An immature chuckle ripples through the dense pockets of punters. ‘You ladies…

DJ Shadow - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Mon 5 Dec

Stunning live show continues to break new ground

9 Dec 2011

For innovation and impact, genre-mashing LA turntablist DJ Shadow, aka Josh Davis, has never bettered his entirely samples-based 1996 debut Endtroducing... But his visually stunning live shows continue to break new ground, and prove DJ sets can be just…

The Fall - HMV Picturehouse, Edinburgh, Thu 3 Nov 2011

Band deliver fiery performance despite injured and semi-present Mark E Smith

15 Nov 2011

'Mark has a really bad bruise on his feet so he can’t stand, announces keyboardist and better half Eleni Poloui. Cue blasts of effing and blinding from the angry mob. The Fall are clearly back in town – but unlike their performance at Studio 24 last…

Twin Sister - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, Thu 10 Nov 2011

Infectiously prettified melodies threaten to become dance-floor dream

15 Nov 2011

In her geek-girl specs and floppy Annie Hall hat, Twin Sister chanteuse Andrea Estella appears as quintessentially kooky a New Yorker as any afficionado of 1970s me-generation peak era Woody Allen movies could wish for. The check-shirted quartet of…

Remember Remember, Miaoux Miaoux - Glasgow Science Centre, Sat 8 Oct 2011

Fantastic electronica double-bill in impressively apt surroundings

19 Oct 2011

It’s a simple enough idea. Two nights of live music (Saturday and Sunday) inside the Glasgow Science Centre planetarium, with the performances broken up by lectures from Simon, the centre’s laser pen-wielding resident stargazer. Simple but brilliant.

The Stone Roses reform to play dates at Manchester's Heaton Park in summer 2012

19 Oct 2011

As you’ve no doubt heard, yet another cornerstone of the British music establishment has chosen to dust off its bucket hat and have it large with a reunion tour. This is no ordinary by-the-numbers reformation, though. This is The Stone Roses. Capable…

Wilko Johnson - The Caves, Edinburgh, Thu 15 Sep 2011

A winner set from the ex Blockheads guitarist turned bluesman

22 Sep 2011

Canvey Island rocking bluesman Wilko Johnson kicked off his nationwide tour from the other end of the UK with a stonking set that compared favourably to the Essex man’s glory days as lead guitarist for Dr Feelgood in the 1970s and Ian Dury and the…

Coldplay announce UK tour 2011

UK dates include Manchester, London and Glasgow

20 Sep 2011

Coldplay have announced live dates as part of a 2011 Winter tour. UK date include Manchester, London and Glasgow, while European cities include Paris, Rotterdam and Berlin. New album Mylo Xyloto is released 24th October and follows up 2008 album…

Arcade Fire - The Castle, Edinburgh, Thu 1 Sep 2011

Band's enthusiasm helps suck in swirls of Edinburgh spookiness

16 Sep 2011

Any band gigging at Edinburgh Castle is going to feel a sense of occasion. Arcade Fire more so than most. Frontman Win Butler, his wife Régine Chassagne and the rest of the Montreal outfit are obsessed with the fragility of the modern world. Playing in…

Kurt Vile & The Violators, with Woods - Stereo, Glasgow, Tue 6 Sep 2011

Philadelphia native’s heartland rock lineage pokes through

16 Sep 2011

The Kurt Vile tour package comes with an opening act equal to the main event. New York spectral folk combo Woods are friends and associates of Vile - frontman Jeremy Earl owns Woodsist records, the label which released Vile’s first two records. It’s…

PJ Harvey - Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sun 4 Sep 2011

Assured and powerful set from artist in command of her own medium

16 Sep 2011

Forty-eight hours after this concert finished, PJ Harvey would have her second Mercury Prize safely in hand. While the award was an open field this year in terms of the albums submitted, the assurance and power in Harvey’s set here spoke of an artist…

Bob Dylan set for 2011 UK tour

Dates in Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff and Bournemouth

14 Sep 2011

Rock stars, like canines, maintain strange relationships with the tally of the passing years. The job is viable till the moment the performer hits 60, at which point the shade of pensioner-hood lowers like showers on a Bank Holiday weekend. We’re…

Cults - Nice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow, Wed 31 Aug 2011

New Yorkers' difficult attempt to recreate reverb-soaked debut album

14 Sep 2011

When their chiming, summery debut single ‘Go Outside’ ricocheted around the blogosphere last year, then on TV ads for Brothers Cider this summer, New Yorkers Cults made a very immediate impression. Live, their undoubted charms proved much slower to…

The Dillinger Escape Plan

The Garage, Glasgow, Fri 5 Aug 2011

24 Aug 2011

The Dillinger Escape Plan deserve every single penny they make out of tonight’s gig. Their onstage energy is so unrelenting that you ponder if they’ll collapse post-show and perish in a putrid pile of sweat. For the uninitiated, the band’s music will…

Meursault / Over The Wall / Capitals / Miaoux Miaoux

King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, Mon 25 Jul 2011

8 Aug 2011

It's always exciting to find a new band that gets you going, you know, one that really does it for you. To have four of them on one bill is another kettle of fish entirely, one we at The List welcome with open arms on this leg of the second annual…

Hidden Orchestra, Queen’s Hall, Wed 27 Jul 2011

Dubby, lush sounds from Edinburgh-based jazz orchestra

8 Aug 2011

The List was intrigued to see what Hidden Orchestra’s live show would look like. The band’s debut album – 2010’s Night Walks – was based on the careful building, sampling and layering of tracks in the studio; something damn difficult to create in a live…

Oneohtrix Point Never / Arab Ginsberg - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Sun 7 Aug 2011

Tired performance from experimental artist Daniel Lopatin

8 Aug 2011

Tonight’s openers, the Edinburgh-based trio Arab Ginsberg are somewhat indebted to the likes of the indie-friendly and noise-lite environments of Fuck Buttons or Hype Williams. There’s some fleeting moments of keyboard hookery but it’s all far too light…

Bon Jovi – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Wed 22 Jun 2011

Polished if unremarkable show from the New Jersey rockers

20 Jul 2011

For many years to even admit a passing love of Bon Jovi lead to ridicule and derision. But the passage of time has been kind to these reformed poodle rockers, nostalgia has meant their hits have been reassessed as cheesy but ultimately life affirming…

Morrissey - Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline, Mon 20 June 2011

A spellbinding show from Mozza on his Scottish mini-tour

28 Jun 2011

Dunfermline’s grand Alhambra Theatre oddly represented perhaps the most conventional of stop-offs in Scotland for Morrissey on his latest mini tour of typically out of the way destinations. Or at least the most central, on a sojourn that will have wound…

tUnE-yArDs, Captain’s Rest – Glasgow, Wed 15 Jun 2011

Merrill Garbus is an offbeat, un-obvious, must-see pop act

23 Jun 2011

Three years after she self-released homemade album BiRd-BrAiNs, recognition and even a degree of hype are finally starting to come the way of Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-yArDs, and so it is that her Wednesday night show at the Captain’s Rest (a venue she…

GWAR, with Clutch - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Tue 14 Jun

23 Jun 2011

The differences between GWAR and Clutch might be as obvious as they are many, but there was no doubt that the bearded southern destroyers were capable of holding their own with this one. This hour-long set further cemented Clutch's status as a…

Wu-Tang Clan - HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Tue 14 Jun

Impressive show despite ceasing to be a creative entity years ago

21 Jun 2011

An appearance of any sort by the Wu-Tang Clan is to be met with a healthy dose of scepticism. Given that the Wu ceased to be seen as any kind of creative identity a good while back, to be replaced with ‘The Wu-Tang Brand’, understand that their…

Six Organs of Admittance - Captains Rest, Glasgow, Wed 8 Jun 2011

Ben Chasny's return to solo performance playful but unenthralling

16 Jun 2011

Alec Cheer’s delicate acoustic loops and tape reel hiss has become a kitemark for lush DIY drone work within the Scottish underground scene, and despite some minor tech hitches, tonight was another strong example of him hitting his stride. Next, with a…

The Wild Swans - Captain's Rest, Glasgow, Tue 7 Jun, 2011

Reignited version of iconic Liverpool post-punk group

14 Jun 2011

Heroism comes in many forms, but Paul Simpson's ongoing awfully big adventure fronting his reconstituted, reconfigured and on this showing on the first date of a short UK tour thoroughly reignited Wild Swans nom de plume is a sublime experience that…

The Nightingales - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, Mon 23 May 2011

Skewed meat n' two veg avant-garage from alt-punk stalwarts

27 May 2011

The Nightingales are what happens to 1970s-sired latch-key kids if you leave them alone with a CD of Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, a DVD of The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club and the Bumper Book of Existentialism For Boys. After more…

Fucked Up - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Tue 11 May 2011

Their sweaty whirlwind plants a slobbering kiss on Reekie

24 May 2011

Opening this Canadian double header is Black Lungs, a side project from Wade MacNeil of post-hardcore stalwarts Alexisonfire. They tick several clichéd punk boxes with spitting, posturing and utterly generic riffage; coming across as a slightly garish…

Low - Classic Grand, Glasgow, Tue 17 May

Tenderness and latent menace: that’s Low all over

24 May 2011

Half-way through this suitably intense and reverential set by Low, Alan Sparhawk responded to a loved-up heckler with a telling remark. ‘After 18 years we add a fourth person and he’s the first to get a compliment?’ he deadpanned. His comment served…

Bon Iver announces UK tour and releases free download single

Download 'Calgary' from forthcoming second album

17 May 2011

Justin Vernon returns to the UK for his first live dates since 2009. His eponymously titled second album is release on 4AD on June 20th 2011 Tickets for the Edinburgh date go on sale from 9am Fri 20 May.

Ray Lamontagne - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Thu 3 Mar 2011

Dark, meaningful and uplifting music from self-confessed troubled soul

7 Apr 2011

The state of Maine’s self-confessed troubled soul returned to Glasgow, accompanied onstage with four-piece backing band The Pariah Dogs. Perhaps most recognised for his 2004’s album Trouble, LaMontagne combines soulful songs laden with melancholy with…

Glasvegas - Royal Concert Hall steps, Glasgow, Mon 4 Apr 2011

Open air Buchanan Street gig showcases new album to crowd of 1000+

5 Apr 2011

It’s a dreich, drizzly day in Glasgow, and it feels surprisingly apt for Glasvegas’ album launch show; a lunchtime freebie on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall - a thank you to their home city on the day of the release of their second album EUPHORIC…

The Babies, Paws and Schnapps - Stereo, Glasgow, Sat 19 Mar 2011

New York lo-fi indie kids provided with able support from local acts

24 Mar 2011

Imposing concrete pillars aside, Stereo continues to ‘cement’ (oh yes, we did) its position as one of Glasgow’s best basement venues, and a good place to seek musical refuge in the face of yet another cold Saturday night in the city. First up, local…

Why does Morrissey love performing in small venues in provincial towns?

Why the small gigs of 2011 UK tour are in everyone’s best interests

17 Mar 2011

A snapshot of any Morrissey gig at any given venue at any point in his career paints the same (vulgar?) picture. From the bequiffed to the balding via gladioli and vegetarianism, a congregation of grasping hands reach and strain towards the stage where…

Tinie Tempah - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Tue 23 Feb

Londoner turning grime scene credibility into commercial triumph

1 Mar 2011

Around a decade ago the notion of a British MC storming the charts was as good as laughable. Now Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder, Example, Chipmunk, N-Dubz and the rest shift hundreds of thousands of records, and the future of UK hip pop is so assured…