THE SCENE
(Stornoway Gazette January 10 2008)
GIGS, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs - was there really that many in the lead up to the festive season? It certainly seemed like there was a heck of a lot goin' on! I'm trying deperately to remember it all - everything was moving a bit too fast and it's all become a bit too distant and hazy in such a short time but - let's see if we can piece it together - for history; for posterity's sake and just for the sheer fun of it!
Right. I'm goin' back, way back now, because somehow I forgot to mention this one - 'twas right at the beginning of Friday December 7 - in the Woodlands. Opening up with a sterling set was Some Random Guy (the nome de plume that Rod Morison from Kroftwerk likes to attach to his forays into the solo sector), followed by the superb Glaswegian singer/songwriter Brendan Campbell - great, great songs - but it's his guitar playing that keeps blowing me away!
Then Open Day Rotation the new solo project from William Campbell (astrid / Our Small Capital) accompanied in this instance by Rod Morison. There's something very special going on here - I had seen the larger ensemble including cello and violin the night before at a live session for Rapal at BBC Radio nan Gaidheal -truly amazing and totally looking forward to the debut CD release 'Down By The Head' due out sometime around February 2008.
And then there was headliners Man From Michael, a four-piece, jangly, rocky, sometimes poppy, sometimes Country-ish band from Liverpool with the kind of songs that build and build into a crescendo, much the way U2's more atmospheric stuff does, garnished with some very nice slide work from their lead guitarist.
Now, where do we go from here? In my last instalment, we left off at the Battle of the Bands on Friday December 21 in the Stornoway Town Hall - and I told you all about that.
So then, the following day after Battle of the Bands, on Saturday December 22 we're back in the Woodlands Centre with another amazing night of local talent - opening with a richly melodic acoustic set from three fourths of Your Distant Cousin sounding at times like a cross between the Beatles and Jimmy Eat World, with some excellent three part vocal harmonies.
This was followed by the phenomenally witty, entertaining and downright talented singer/songwriter Iain Shaw taking the stage with the pronouncement: "The fun stops here!"; then delivering an endearing and powerful solo set of self penned tunes that hint at a hybrid mix of ragtime, blues and alt.indie in much the same way The White Stripes did on their second offering De Stijl. Hopefully with the release of his debut album in 2008, Iain'11 gain the wider recognition he deserves!
Then a home-for-the-holidays set from The Boy Who Trapped The Sun (a.k.a. Colin Macleod) who's been honing his songwriting skills down in old London Town for the last umpteen months and boy did it show in the new songs, kicking everything up a few notches or so from his already impressive repertoire of world weary story tunes!
Then a very, very R-A-R-E treat indeed in the form of the legendary duo Memphis

Louie and the Rockin' Firebird of Death
accompanied by a superstar, supergroup of a band line-up in the form of Robin and Wattie Dun Ringle (on keyboards and bass/backing vocals respectively) and Iain 'Bomber' Morrison from punk band the Rong (who feature on Sad Day We Left The Croft) on drums; ripping through a lexicon of raw, rockin', swampy, garage nuggets - some self-penned, some classic (in every sense of the word) covers and one very groovy psychedelic Gaelic space jam. Now that's entertainment!
All quiet 'till Christmas Eve where, in Pointers, there was an all ages gig featuring some of the bands from Battle of the Bands 2007 - kicking things off with a full band rocking set were Psyatica, followed by duo Salsa Heaven with their moody Nirvana unplugged meets Guns N' Roses semi-acoustic Hard Rock. Then there was something quite different - atmospheric and experimental that shoots out of the speakers when duo Ten Speed crank it up - I'm really interested in seeing what they do with this and where they're gonna take it!
And wrapping things up, filled with rollicking Rock n' Roll attitude were Addiction for the Uncommitted, fronted by Ryan Smith (from Sunrise Not Secular), prowling the stage and working the crowd like he was in some huge rock arena...and why not...Nice one!
Thursday December 27 - the big honcho end of year blow-out in the Legion and the first year all four bands on the bill, performed ALL their own original material. Don't know about you, but I was impressed!
The night started with the ebb and swell of The Rubato Project's high plains drifter, early Pearl Jam grunge meets the dark underground Prog-Metal of Tool. A quick gear change and we have Manor Park Elite with their take on the power-trio via New Wavy angular, slash and burn chording; then a welcome return to the stage from one of the Islands most dynamic live bands Dragging The Lake, banging out some very powerful new tunes and some well loved DTL standards, followed by headliners Crash My Model Car with a steady stream of sophisticated stadium ready, rootsy, anthems that I think would go down a storm if the band took to the road in North America (the O.C. played 'em!).
Yes, a most enjoyable night and one swiftly followed by a great, great night in the Woodlands Centre on Saturday December 29, that started out with a very Festive feeling and perfect for the occasion Traditional set from Crash My Model Car's Iain Morrison on pipes and whistle with Ali and Martin joining in; an acoustic set by Charlie Clark from Our Lunar Activities; a joyous, bouncy, glorious set from dotjr the James Reeves solo country-ish, very radio-friendly project who on this evening had as his band Derek Healey on guitar, Ivor on bass and Niall MacRae from Manor Park Elite on drums; and ending with a rousing, semi-acoustic (Iain was playing acoustic guitar and that's about as acoustic as it got) set from Crash My Model Car.
Onto New Year's Eve which just turned into a sheer full-on, full-scale, musical-madness, adventure starting in Pointers at

around 7pm with that mysterious, masked duo Nipslot giving us their elongated prog-metal epic about the singer's mother slaying Godzilla (didn't quite catch the title of that one) featuring duelling Punk Metal guitars, a Death Metal accordion solo and some atonal avante harp (harmonica) which was immediately followed by the total 'he who dares' reckless abandon of hyper-Uber Punks Fault and Fracture; storming the stage like Iggy and the Stooges gone completely berserkers!
An unscheduled, but most welcomed appearance by three-fourths of The Rubato Project doing a heavier than thou Tool cover - lovely! A galloping, shiny, polished set of Celtic rock from Sunrise Not Secular with some very tasty duel lead guitar work - and winding things up with a raucous, furious set was Manor Park Elite.
It's just after 23:00hrs and I'm flying down the road to the Anchorage in Leverburgh to catch the last big show of the year/first big show of the year - Crash My Model Car and Our Lunar Activities.
Shortly after midnight and we're just rounding the bend at Leverburgh and it looked like the sky was filled with lightning! Wasn't until we were actually on the pier road that I realised it was a massive, massive fireworks display. Amazing! Everyone standing outside enjoying - what a party!
Missed the first set from Our Lunar Activities but caught Crash My Model Car doing what I thought was one of their best sets ever; and the sound in the Anchorage ,is just phenomenal, pristine! Our Lunar Activities were in top form as well, all psyched after their recent recording trip to LA, with the new material sounding superb -. What a night!
Then low and behold, what do we have here? Just when you think it's safe to go back into the water...Good Lawdy Miss Clawdy...and Good gawd awmighty! Someone's finally picked-up the stick and gone and started a blues band in the Western Isles!
It was like bein' back home in the Windy City for just one night - Friday January 4 down at the Carlton Lounge - a classic two guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals line-up ala the Allman Brothers, Black Crowes, etc - with stinging double lead guitar and a bump n' grind rhythm section any barrelhouse would be proud of - with just the right amount of swirling keys and jook joint harp on top - Ball And Chain is their name, Rockin' the Blues is their game - . and well worth checkin' out!
Anyways - gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs - I guess there really was that many then! Was it a good time? You betcha!
Oh, and before I forget, here's a wee tip for all you would-be gig promoters out there - laminate your posters! A laminated poster always lasts longer and looks a whole lot nicer.
So, that's it then, Dudes and Dudesess, Coves and Blones, and all you groovy people out there. Believe it or not! - I've written one-199 of these here musical travelogue thingys - Let's see where the music takes us in 2008.
A Happy New Year to all and to all a Good Night.
Jori