Archive for September, 2008
Rocktoberfest 2008
Monday, September 29th, 2008
Glasgow was recently named a UNESCO City of Music. Which is all well and good, but you can’t help but think it’s one of those titles that’s only “prestigious” in the eye of the beholder – like the European Capital of Culture or the UEFA Cup winners – while the rest of the planet shrugs their shoulders with utter indifference.
As part of the city’s successful bid, it was shown that 127 music events are held in Glasgow in a typical week. Impressive stuff. And based on The Pop Cop’s experience of living and gigging in this city, we reckon October always happens to be the best month in the calendar for concerts.
Now, if Glasgow’s Lord Provost wanted to look really clever, he’d draw inspiration from a certain Munich beer festival and hail the entire month as a celebration of the city’s music scene. Then, ladies and gentleman, we would officially invite the world to join us for – you guessed it - Rocktoberfest.
The neat part is that there’s no need to do anything other than give it a name – there’s already at least one top-quality gig on every single night this October. We’ve got Noah And The Whale and Vampire Weekend, two of the biggest success stories of 2008. There are also stars-in-the-making aplenty such as Mumford And Sons and local boys We Were Promised Jetpacks.
If you look hard enough you’ll even find a stack of free shows, but the bargain of the month has to be the double-bill of Sons And Daughters and The Twilight Sad for just £3 on October 9, with King Creosote and Emma Pollock playing the following night for the same price – both gigs have been organised by the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.
Here’s how the (as yet) unofficial Rocktoberfest 2008 looks anyway….
b October 1: The Hold Steady, ABC (tickets) Cancelled, try this instead…
b October 1: Cajun Dance Party, King Tut’s (tickets)
b October 2: The Streetlight Conspiracy, Maggie Mays
b October 3: The Automatic, G2 (tickets)
b October 4: The Streets, Barrowland (tickets)
b October 5: Foals, Barrowland (tickets)
b October 6: The Subways, ABC (tickets)
b October 7: Ida Maria, Barrowland (supporting The Courteeners) (sold out)
b October 8: Spiritualized, ABC (tickets)
b October 9: Sons And Daughters, ABC (tickets)
b October 10: King Creosote, ABC (tickets)
b October 11: British Sea Power, ABC (tickets)
b October 12: Mumford And Sons, Nice ‘n’ Sleazy (tickets)
b October 13: Attic Lights, Zavvi, Silverburn (free)
b October 14: Glen Campbell, Royal Concert Hall (tickets)
b October 15: Baillie & The Fault, Oran Mor (free)
b October 16: We Were Promised Jetpacks, 13th Note
b October 17: Johnny Flynn, Nice ‘n’ Sleazy (tickets)
b October 18: Jenny Lewis, QMU (tickets)
b October 19: Bloc Party, Barfly (sold out)
b October 20: The Research, Stereo (tickets)
b October 21: Fall Out Boy, SECC (tickets)
b October 22: The Last Shadow Puppets, Carling Academy (sold out)
b October 23: Bombay Bicycle Club, Barfly (tickets)
b October 24: Alphabeat, ABC (sold out)
b October 25: Noah And The Whale, The Arches (tickets)
b October 26: Black Kids, ABC (tickets)
b October 27: Bryan Adams, SECC (tickets)
b October 28: Jersey Budd, King Tut’s (tickets)
b October 29: Vampire Weekend, Barrowland (sold out)
b October 30: Al Green, Clyde Auditorium (tickets)
b October 31: Lambchop, ABC (tickets)
4 The Streetlight Conspiracy – King Of The Let Downs
4 The Automatic – Recover
4 The Streets featuring Chris Martin – Dry Your Eyes
4 Pelle Carlberg featuring Ida Maria – I Love You, You Imbecile
4 Sons And Daughters – Ribbons
4 Mumford And Sons – Awake My Soul
4 Glen Campbell – Sing (Travis cover)
4 Bloc Party – Flux (German Version)
4 Noah And The Whale – 2 Bodies 1 Heart
4 Vampire Weekend – Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac cover)
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Let’s do launch
Friday, September 26th, 2008
We’ve never quite understood the motivation of hangers-on who would turn up for the opening of a jam jar. We’re ridiculously choosy with our free time but last night The Pop Cop was made an offer we couldn’t refuse with an invite to the official launch of The Picture House in Edinburgh. 
Let’s be honest, it’s not every day you get the chance to quaff quiches and compliment Fran Healy on his taste in sleeveless jumpers. (Lesson learnt: it’s harder than you think to take the piss out of a famous person’s dress sense to their face.)
While Travis’ appearance marked the airing of their new album Ode To J. Smith, there are a few other Scottish pop parties to sink your teeth into.
Indie tykes POPUP and their blonde bombshell of a drummer will be marking the release of their debut album A Time And A Place (out now on Art Goes Pop) with a free gig at The Captain’s Rest on October 4.
Mental disco-rock kids DANCE LAZARUS DANCE are heading to Oran Mor on October 3 to flog copies of the Lies EP (out October 6 on Predestination Records).
Another new release definitely worth getting your hands on is the the debut album from local folk-pop collective RAGS & FEATHERS called The Other Side Of Morning (out now on Lucky Number Nine Records).
Finally, Glasgow’s longest-running indie shindig Pinup Nights are celebrating their 5th birthday party with a glam-themed party on Friday, October 3 at The Flying Duck in the city-centre. PATRICK WOLF will be manning the decks and The Pop Cophave two free tickets to give away, so just email thepopcop@gmail.com before September 29 with your name and address if you want to be in with a chance of winning them.
4 Popup – Love Triangle
4 Popup – Chinese Burn
b September 26, The Tunnels, Aberdeen
b October 3, George Square, Glasgow (Scotcampus Freshers’ Festival)
b October 4, The Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (free)
b October 23, The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
b October 24, The Doghouse, Dundee
b October 25, The Crow Bar, Paisley
4 Dance Lazarus Dance – Faxing Me, Faxing You
4 Dance Lazarus Dance – Take That, Jesus!
b October 3, Oran Mor, Glasgow (tickets)
b October 23, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
4 Rags & Feathers – Hey Yous
4 Rags & Feathers – The End Of Melancholy
b October 3, The Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (supporting Bodies Of Water) (tickets)
b October 7, Medina, Edinburgh
b October 26, Ashton Lane, Glasgow (OXJAM event)
b December 7, Pollockshields Burgh Hall, Glasgow
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“The whole experience was stealing my love of music”
Sunday, September 21st, 2008
On June 3, Glasgow-based MAKE MODEL announced that Lewis Gale – the band’s founder, co-singer, principal songwriter and guitarist – had quit with immediate effect.
No explanation was given but signs that all was not well in the Make Model camp were apparent in May following a slew of cancelled gigs including support slots with The Fratellis, We Are Scientists and The Futureheads.
Gale’s decision to leave was disastrous for Make Model. It cost the band their deal with EMI, who dropped them and ditched all plans to release Products Of Kin, the debut album they had already recorded.
Scheduled festival appearances at the likes of T in the Park and Glastonbury were immediately shelved but the rest of the band vowed to carry on, although as yet there have been no tangible indications of activity.
Now, Gale has spoken to The Pop Cop to reveal for the first time where it all went wrong…
How hard was it to tell the rest of the band you were quitting?
It felt like I was breaking up with five girls one after the other. It was the longest and most painful day I’ve had in a long time. There were tears. I kept mine to when I was driving from destination to destination [to tell the band]. I was pretty low. You don’t start a band expecting it not to get to the point where you get your first record out.
Why did you leave?
The whole experience was stealing my love of music which is something I’ve had since I was five years old. I just trusted my instincts and got out earlier rather than later. Make Model was originally a part of my dealing with a lot of bad things in my life. But it started to be a source of bad things as opposed to a place to escape it. You shouldn’t do something if you’re not happy doing it. There’s no reason to compromise yourself for the sake of others.
Were you made to feel guilty about quitting?
I’ve probably done that more to myself than anybody else could. At the end of the day it was a band that I started. I don’t regret the decision I made but I regret how it might have made other people feel around me. I never intended to hurt the people that I did but part of life is accepting that that’s what happens.
Was there any fallout from the band having to cancel their support tour dates?
I don’t think anyone would have minded a great deal. It’s not like people were buying tickets to see Make Model support The Fratellis. We were there to try to pick up a new audience. To be honest, I’d happily say that four local bands in each town probably got a chance to play to 2,000 people. It may appear ungrateful that I chose not to do those things but at the end of the day they’re just part of the job. If you have a good live agent you’ll get shows. The novelty of that wears off quite quickly.
How did you find life on a major label?
It was very difficult. Make Model got such a high-profile deal within the industry that it always felt like EMI were freaked out and didn’t really know what to do with the record once they had it. They couldn’t decide on what singles to put out and it was a really laborious process working with them. To be honest, it was a very small part of my reasoning for leaving the band.
What will become of the album Make Model recorded?
It’s probably not going to see the light of day. That makes me sad as it was the first time I had ever written songs and I’m really proud of them. I’ve heard of a few people getting hold of copies. I’d love for people to be able to share it and hear it. A lot of genuine joy went into writing the songs and I think people found it quite refreshing. I may even make the endeavour myself to make it available. I’m still in the middle of legal stuff so I have to be careful. EMI spent a lot of money making it and despite the fact they don’t want to put it out they will be guarded over it being distributed freely.
Have you been in touch with any of your former bandmates since you left?
I’ve been for coffee with a couple of them and they’re going strong, I think. From what I can gather they’ve been writing, regrouping and I respect the decision they made to take some time out and carry on as Make Model. I sincerely wish them all the best. I have no animosity towards them for who they are outside of Make Model, none at all.
What have you been up to since leaving the band?
I went back up to the Highlands for two or three months. I became really keen to reconnect with my family, especially my grandparents, who are a huge influence. Around that time my granny was ill and I hadn’t seen my mum and dad that much. I then went to Toronto for five weeks. I hung out with a lot of the guys in the hip-hop scene there. I also got to meet all the Arts & Crafts guys and Justin Peroff and Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene. It was good to talk to people you regard as heroes.
I’m currently living in Brighton – it’s wicked. I’m working with a Birmingham-based band called Calories and they’ve just made an album which I’m doing some mixing on. I’m trying to push myself in different areas. I’m thinking about moving into songwriting, producing and getting more into the business side of things.
4 Make Model – Czech Neck
4 Make Model – Saturday Night Obsession
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