Emma Newlands

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival

2 Oct 2008

‘Anyone can suffer from mental health issues, regardless of your walk of life,’ says Idlewild’s Rod Jones, curator of a music evening during the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. ‘It’s something I really wanted to get involved in. It’s…

Iglu & Hartly

2 Oct 2008

ROCK ‘Glasgow make some fucking NOISE! We’re Iglu & Hartly and we’re here to party!’ If you’d ever wondered what would happen if a chiselled boy band took a brace of hook-laden pop songs to the wrong side of the tracks, then this was your answer.

Pearl and the Puppets

4 Sep 2008

With a voice that’s as elegantly fiery as the red dress she wears to take to the stage, Katie Sutherland – aka Pearl – puts on a feistily charming and totally beguiling show for what she tells the crowd is her first-ever gig at Tut’s with the…

The Wave Pictures

4 Sep 2008

This trio may be from London, but the fine city of Glasgow is evidently a spiritual home for singer David Tattersall, who excitedly announces ‘I used to live here. I wrote this here!’ before one of the band’s raw but epic numbers, one of which includes…

Craig Campbell

21 Aug 2008

A one-man play that deserves an audience of less, there is probably a clever, poignant story here. It's just very well-hidden behind the screaming, swearing and unimaginative sexual euphemisms - and who can ever tire of simulated masturbation or crazed…

Jamie Kilstein

21 Aug 2008

Hey, you know what would be a novel idea for a comedy show? Taking pot-shots at the God-fearing American right from a left-wing perspective! Kilstein evidently thinks his scattergun approach to Republicans and organised religion is edgy, and maybe it is…

Literally

21 Aug 2008

Taking an admirably no-prisoners stance against the abuse and misuse of the word 'literally', Paul Parry delivers his anecdotes and research tongue-in-cheek (though not literally). His smart, dry humour and Viz-style subversive pedantry combine with his…

Craig & Roxburgh

14 Aug 2008

Christopher Hitchens caused outrage when he said women aren't funny. Lucy Craig and Kate Roxburgh, performing feeble gags on family life, poshness and being Brits-who-live-in-LA, are adding treacherous fuel to his fire. This needs 'stand-up' in the…

Damian Callinan

Testicular hour fails to tickle

14 Aug 2008

A visit to the sperm bank must rarely be an amusing experience for anybody, and its comedy value has already been extracted, bottled and labelled by humourists with far greater skill than Damian Callinan demonstrates here. The archetypal Aussie's hour…

Dan Nightingale

Dogging and squirrel-based japery

14 Aug 2008

The outlook wasn't good to begin with. In fact there was a palpable air of terror in the room when Dan Nightingale shuffled onstage apologetically, nervously, and admitting that his first few shows this year had not gone well. But to the audience's…

Diet of Worms

14 Aug 2008

'Let's get this over and done with as quickly as possible,' says one character during yet another interminably dire 'sketch'. Please. A recurring theme here is the tortured equation that a puffin plus a cat is apparently a 'puffincat'. And, therefore…

John Gordillo

14 Aug 2008

There are some gems in Gordillo's routine, which showcases him as a quick-witted and eloquent performer with a few killer lines up his sleeve. Universal matters like free-range chickens and the lunacy of circuses ring true for everyone; his father's…

Sammy J

Puppetry's Hell's Angel rips Disney a new one

14 Aug 2008

Part of becoming an adult, sadly, is realising that life is not going to turn out as you planned, and that a Disney-style happy ending is something that eludes all but a few of us. Not only has Melbourne-based comedian Sammy J realised this, he's only…

Stephen K Amos

14 Aug 2008

A hurricane of relentlessly energetic charisma, Amos has the crowd eating out of his hand for every second of his set. His comedy targets, including Facebook, American politics and audience members' hometowns tread a well-worn path, but when he hits the…

Susan Calman

14 Aug 2008

Stressing there will be 'nothing whimsical' in her show, the likeable Glaswegian lawyer-turned stand-up harks back to her legal roots by mentioning concepts such as 'contributory negligence' in her routine. Her quick-fire patter on friends, family and…

Lloyd Langford

Schoolboy whimsy misses the mark

7 Aug 2008

What do you get if you combine misanthropy and anthropology, as Lloyd Langford promises at the start of his routine? The answer is a disappointingly mixed bag of punchlines from the baby-faced and constantly chipper 24-year-old. The material, delivered…

Wendy Wason

Comedy catharsis lacks bite

7 Aug 2008

Inspired by Donald Rumsfeld's infamous 'known unknowns' comments that were beyond parody, Wendy Wason takes the audience along the rocky path of her marriage break-up (from Steve Furst of Lenny Beige and Orange cinema advert fame) and the lessons it has…

Bloc Party - A weekend out of the city

17 Jul 2008

'Alluding to a stadium moment is not something to be ashamed of,' grins Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke, 'if it can be done well . . .' The band's 'agit-jitter guitar pop' not only led to their 2005 debut album Silent Alarm selling a million copies…

Home work - Tipis and pods

17 Jul 2008

Home work A festival that is boutique in all the right ways, Hydro Connect offers some truly original bespoke accommodation options, as Emma Newlands discovers Ideally, all camping experiences would take place in Jellystone Park with Yogi Bear, or…

John B McKenna, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Over the Wall

3 Jul 2008

ROCK Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Thu 5 Jun Starting with suitably hushed reverence for John B McKenna’s gentle powerhouse of a voice in an acoustic set, and ending with the squawking guitar, pounding keyboard and trumpet combo of Over the Wall, tonight’s…

Kevin McDermott

3 Jul 2008

ROCK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 23 Jun ‘Was that good?’ says the chipper Scots musician early on in his set, and 20 years into his career as a singer-songwriter. ‘I thought so,’ he adds, tongue in cheek. ‘And I liked the guitar solo.’ But he has every…

Sergeant

19 Jun 2008

ROCK/POP King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 20 Jun ‘I wasn’t prepared for the sublime genius of Sergeant,’ says Alan McGee, who believes the Glenrothes band is carrying on a great tradition of perfectly-crafted sunny Scottish pop songs. ‘They have that slight…

Black Kids

22 May 2008

INDIE King Tut’s, Glasgow, Wed 4 Jun They’re not going to teach your boyfriend how to dance with you, but tipped-for-greatness combo Black Kids are hellbent on entertaining the Tut’s crowd as part of their UK and Europe-wide tour. Speaking from…

Natty

10 Apr 2008

REGGAE Nice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow, Tue 1 Apr ‘You’ve made my night very enjoyable,’ says Natty at the end of his infectiously sunny set, before needlessly adding: ‘I hope I have yours.’ It’s a suitably charming signing off from this Londoner; fresh from…

Manchester Orchestra

13 Mar 2008

ROCK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 10 Feb When it comes to compiling the worst album titles of all time, this Atlanta-based five-piece will surely be up there with the likes of Fiona Apple and Limp Bizkit with their second release, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a…