19 Feb - Tsunami Benefit @ SECC, Glasgow.

10,000 people packed into the Scottish Exhibition Centre tonight to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami that devastated much of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and the Philippines on Boxing Day. All artists, stage crew, ushers, drivers and even security guards worked for free and even the tickets didn't incur their customary "booking fee".

The line up seemed impressive with Mogwai, Idlewild, Teenage Fanclub as well as Scottish favorites Travis, Texas and Franz Ferdinand and as such the tickets sold out in 2 days, making around £300,000 for the very worthy cause.

As the night was for such a good cause I'm not going to be my usual critical and cynical self, instead below are my high and low points of the evening.

High Points

• Idlewilds acoustic performance was superb.
• Mogwai's whole set, superb.
• Travis who finally got the crowd rocking.
• "Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam"

Low Points

• SLAM...why were they asked to do a set exactly? Totally out of place.
• Belle and Sebastian did themselves no favours by having sound problems, but this is not the first time this has been the case and I firmly blame their sound guy who is obviously mince.
• Teenage Fanclub's set was disappointing, I don't understand why bands play new songs that no-one knows at a gig like this, from that performance they are a shadow of the band that released Bandwagonesque.
• The Mull Historical society's Colin MacIntry now looks like Leo Sayer but still believes himself to be some sort of musical god, when this clearly isn't the case.
• Seeing Billy Sloan in the flesh and not punching him for being such an arse.

OK, more low points that high points but I'm glad I went and the deep fried pizza after went down a treat after. Now I think it's time for bed.

Goodnight. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Al

NME Awards

In my younger days, I would read the NME religiously and buy into any band that they decided to push but now I am much more choosy, maybe cynical and when once these awards were important, for me they now lack the edge and aren't as "alternative" as they once were.

There weren't that many surprises really but nothing that really offended me and it was interesting that Franz Ferdinand continue their amazing year and also that it was another empty awards ceremony for Snow Patrol. The superbly named "Godlike Genius Award" that has previously gone to Alan McGhee, The Beatles and John Peel went to New Order and who could argue with that.

Special mention must go to John Peels wife and son who attended the awards ceremony to collect the "Hero of the Year" gong for John. This was a very brave thing to do and Fergal Sharkey gave a beautiful speech that resulted in a standing ovation and more than a few tears.

Award shows are not my cup of tea as one mans Beatles is another mans Busted but at least rather than being decided by a group of industry bigwigs, these awards are voted by the readers of the NME, but then the winners list has probably more to do with editorial decition rather than raw talent and originality.

Al

17 Feb - Arab Strap @ King Tuts, Glasgow.

Tonights gig was a sell out and arriving late was not a good idea. I got in at 9.25 missing the support act apart from his final 3 chords and a bit flustered after an insane drive through the maze of road works that currently litter Glasgow . I don't like missing the support bands and especially tonight as the support was by my good friend Peter Kelly or Beerjacket as he is known (see album review below). But I'm sure I'll be at the next Beerjacket gig and so should you!

I was very much looking forward to seeing Arab Strap again. The last time had been a couple of years ago at an acoustic gig in the vegetarian restaurant/pub Mono and it was a little disappointing. However, there was a excited buzz in the crowd and they certainly didn't disappoint this time. If you are unaware of Arab Strap, they have a very gentle musical style which contrasts sharply with a gruff Scottish vocal delivery of some outstanding lyrics.

Although I was completely knackered, it was a good night and I decided to enjoy the gig from the safety of the bar, maybe I'm getting too old for this!

Peace

Al

T in the Park phenomenon

Tickets for this years T in the Park festival went onsale on Saturday and two days later the tickets have almost sold out. This is strange as the majority of the line up has yet to be announced. Therefore, either the few bands who have been announced (Green Day, Foo Fighters, Keane, The Killers....) are massive draws or the music is beginning to take a back seat and like Glastonbury, T in the P has established itself as a good weekend away with music as an after-thought or cynically maybe the touting business is alive and well.

I'll not be going this year as I am something of a traditionalist and feel the line up is extremely important, but it would appear that I am in the minority.

Enjoy.

Al

14 Feb - SmytherJones @ The Glasgow Barfly

I'm updating this less than two hours after the gig as I've now got 3 gigs on this week! It'll be a busy one so on with the review.

We've played Barfly on a few occassions now and its a favourite venue for the band and tonight was no exception. The first 3 songs were delivered very tightly and all was going well untill "Conservative Nation No More" when a few errors led to a dodgy finish. The next song was plagued by sound problems but they recovered well with a strong ending with a cover of the Pink Floyd classic "The Wall".

A good night and a livley crowd that enjoyed the hospitality of the band room while The Coast played onstage, and as such I am unaware of how theior set went...sorry guys.

Next up Arab Strap and Berrjacket at King Tuts, roll on Thursday.

Good night.

Al

Beerjacket - Great Unhappiness

What a superb new collection of songs from Peter Kelly under the name Beerjacket. This is his second album in under a year and if I were you I'd get on his website and buy it from him before the third album come out! The highlight for me if Barricade and watch out for a couple of magnificent live photos on the album sleeve taken by me. Surely Mr Kelly will go places with this project.

Log on to his website at www.beerjacket.co.uk with all haste!

Al

The Bloody Brit Awards

Oh dear, oh dear, oh deary me...what has happened to this world we live in? All I will say is if Keanes album is the best of the year and Robbie Williams "Angels" in the best song in 25 years, I'm a Dutchman.

Oh how I wish people would not simply accept the music that record companies decide is good enough for us and have a little bit more interest in the music that is going on in the local area. There are loads of good bands playing in Glasgow just now (eg. The Flying Matchstick Men, The Multiplies, Kasule etc) and unless they get massive record deals and are played on radio1 no one will ever hear them, and that would be a tragedy.

Nice to see Franz Ferdinand win a couple of awards but I must say I prefered them when they were a top Glasgow "indie" band and not the media monsters that they have become, but I suppose thats what happens when you get signed.

Al

5 Feb - SmytherJones @ Furys

Its been a while but this was my first gig of the year, for purely economic reasons you understand. Unfortunately due to the excesses of Christmas and New Year I've missed The Dears, The Multiplie and Flying Matchstick Men and Adam Green! Shocking I'm sure you'll agree.

So the first gig of the year and its Furys again and this time it was the final of King of Bands competition with the band I manage, SmytherJones. I've probably said it before but I'll not apologise for repeating, but battle of the band competitions are terrible and do nothing for anyone taking part. Bands taking part and being knocked out may think they are rubbish whereas, and probably much worse, the winners will get an inflated ego believing themselves to be better than they really are.

Prior to the final we decided that this would be the last battle of the bands we would play and also the final night at Furys, this is our 4th gig there and there will be no 5th.

Without going into details as this will turn into something of a rant, we didn't win (not that I had expected to win or care for that mater) and The Peroxide Submarines were robbed in my opinion. Check them out if you get the chance!

Not the best gig to start the year on but as the song says things can only get better!

Happy New Year by the way,

Al