June 19, 2013: Adam Stafford’s song Please is free to download – it’s taken from his second album Imaginary Walls Collapse, out on July 15.
Arches are previewing their debut Broken Clocks EP with snippets of the tracks on YouTube ahead of its release on August 11.
BrewDog are opening up their post-AGM live music bash at Aberdeen’s AECC on June 22 to the public, with the £5 entry fee getting you Fatherson, United Fruit, The Little Kicks and Kitty Daisy Lewis.
Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has sold out its 15,800 capacity in record time, more than six weeks before the event on August 2-3.
June 18, 2013: The View have released Seven Year Setlist, a greatest hits compilation which also features new songs Dirty Magazine, Kill Kyle and Standard, which comes with this video.
Glasvegas have unveiled the video (introduced by William Shatner) for new single If via NME.com - it’s taken from their third album Later…When The TV Turns To Static, out on September 2.
June 17, 2013: Four SAY Award nominees are playing free live sets at HMV Glasgow Argyle Street this week – Stanley Odd and The Twilight Sad are on June 19, while RM Hubbert and Admiral Fallow are on June 20, the day of the ceremony. Each gig runs from 12-2pm.
Mogwai will perform their Zidane soundtrack album live at Glasgow’s 220 Broomielaw on July 21.
Applications are open for songwriters to apply for The Gathering, an annual competition run by Burnsong. Entry deadline is June 30.
Alphabetical Order Orchestra have unveiled new song Butterflies.
The New Mendicants – a project formed by Norman Blake and Joe Pernice – release their debut Australia 2013 EP via One Little Indian on July 8. It includes covers of each of their other bands – Teenage Fanclub’s I Don’t Want Control Of You and Pernice Brothers’ Amazing Glow, as well as a version of This Time by INXS. The duo play Glasgow’s Mono on July 15.
June 14, 2013: CHVRCHES will release their debut album The Bones Of What You Believe on September 23. They have also unveiled a video for single Gun.
Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, Aidan Moffat, Eugene Kelly, Emma Pollock and Remember Remember will play at Glasgow’s Platform on July 27 to support the campaign to save the Sighthill Stone Circle from demolition. You can read more about the issue on The Skinny.
June 13, 2013: Friends In America are streaming Quietly Quietly from their forthcoming debut record What It Is To Be. Its release coincides with the band’s launch gig at Glasgow’s Broadcast on June 26.
Friends In America have also been added to the Wickerman Festival bill on July 26-27 as part of the GoNorth Festival tour line-up along with Friday acts Three Blind Wolves, Prides, Blood Relatives, Hector Bizerk, Lidh, Pinact, Be Like Pablo, Eugene Twist, The Deadline Shakes, Plastic Animals, The Velveteen Saints and Maask; Saturday additions are Casual Sex, The Yawns, Garden Of Elks, Willie Campbell, Alarm Bells, The OK Social Club, Book Group and Jemma Tweedie.
Shambles Miller has released his new single Deadpool on a mini-comic which contains a download code. It’s all explained in his Vine video.
Rick Redbeard and RM Hubbert are playing a free gig at Mugdock Country Park bandstand on June 16 from 2pm-4pm.
June 12, 2013: Belladrum have announced a host of new additions to its festival line-up on August 2-3 including Alabama 3, Malcolm Middleton, We Are The Ocean, Baby Strange, Withered Hand, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, Anderson McGinty Webster Ward and Fisher, Shutter, Vasquez, Davy Cowan, Woodenbox, The Oxides and Be Like Pablo.
Young Aviators have unveiled a video for new single Forward Thinking via Clash, taken from their debut album Self Help.
Nina Nesbitt has a video for the title track of her Way In The World EP, out on July 22.
Capitals also have a video for A Spectre Is Haunting Europe.
The Grand Gestures have revealed new track Regret Is A Dish Best Served Cold featuring RM Hubbbert, taken from the collective’s forthcoming album Second, out on September 8.
June 11, 2013: All five of Aereogramme’s Acoustic Tour CDs have been put on Bandcamp. The collection features 23 mostly acoustic tracks, 10 of which are unreleased.
Highlights of various performances from last weekend’s RockNess, including Fatherson, The Vaccines, The Futureheads and Alabama 3, are on the Festivo YouTube page.
Werd (SOS) has unveiled a video for My State Of Mind, taken from his Untitled Scot album.
June 10, 2013: New releases include Boards Of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest; Algernon Doll – Citalo-pop; Poor Things – Hurricane Poor Things EP; The Birthday Suit – Covered Up; KT Tunstall – Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon.
Early-bird tickets are on sale for The Riverside Festival, a new outdoor dance event being held on the banks of Glasgow’s River Clyde on August 24, organised by Electric Frog and Pressure. Acts confirmed for the three stages are Boys Noize, Len Faki, Josh Wink, Slam and Optimo.
June 7, 2013: Bwani Junction have unveiled new song Papa Candy.
The full line-up for the BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park is The Recovery!, Roman Nose, The LaFontaines, Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun, PAWS, Baby Strange, Fat Goth, Discopolis, Departures, Saint Max and the Fanatics, Animal Noise, Astroid Boys, Story Books, Propellers, The Adelines, Emily Burns, Model Aeroplanes, Big Beat Bronson, Steel Trees and The Lake Poets.
Herculean have released their debut EP The Falling Thunder.
June 6, 2013: Discopolis will headline the BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park on July 13. TITP have also unveiled a promo video featuring a ‘fan’ interviewing Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, who have released their Late March, Death March EP – you can hear the alternate version of its title track on SoundCloud.
June 5, 2013: The Great Hip Hop Hoax, a documentary about two Scots who fooled the music industry into thinking they were American rappers (and the subject of a feature on The Pop Cop in March), will be shown at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, with screenings at Cineworld on June 26 and June 27 and Odeon Wester Hailes on June 28.
June 4, 2013: BMX Bandits documentary Serious Drugs is finally out on DVD after its original release date was held up by several months of production delays. You can order it via Bandcamp.
goNORTH takes place in Inverness on June 5-6 with daytime seminars and evening showcase gigs, all free to attend. Check out the festival programme (which includes Rachel Sermanni playing the HIE Opening Reception at 6pm on Wednesday), the Independent Label Fair from 12pm-4.30pm on Thursday and the live music schedule which includes a Scottish Bloggers Showcase part-curated by The Pop Cop featuring Plum, The Yawns, Friends In America, and Garden Of Elks.
June 3, 2013: New albums out today include Quickbeam – Quickbeam; Camera Obscura – Desire Lines; Capitals – A National Service; Birdhead – Pleasure Centre.
Galleries will release their debut album No Miracles on July 29, followed by a launch gig at Glasgow’s Bloc on July 30. Click here to get one of the tracks, Great Comets (of 1910), for free.
June 2, 2013: Vigo Thieves are celebrating after winning this year’s MD Cup football tournament, beating The Twilight Sad team 4-0 in the final.
May 31, 2013: The 10 shortlisted albums for The SAY Award are: Admiral Fallow – Tree Bursts In Snow; Django Django – Django Django; Human Don’t Be Angry – Human Don’t Be Angry; Karine Polwart – Traces; Lau – Race The Loser; Meursault – Something For The Weakened; Paul Buchanan – Mid Air; RM Hubbert – Thirteen Lost & Found; Stanley Odd – Reject; The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know (public vote). The winner of the £20,000 first prize will be announced on June 20.
Capitals debut album A National Service is streaming via Glasgow Podcart ahead of its release on June 3.
The Enemy, The Beat, Roddy Woomble, The Moulettes are the first acts confirmed for Loopallu in Ullapool on September 20-21.
May 30, 2013: Pre-sale tickets are available for Sigur Ros at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on November 18.
Admiral Fallow will play Edinburgh’s Queens Hall on August 13.
Washington Irving have released a video for You’ve Seen The Last Of Me featuring footage from their most recent UK tour.
May 29, 2013: The third annual MD Cup, a five-a-side football tournament for Scottish music types run by Miniature Dinosaurs, takes place at Stirling’s Forthbank from 2pm on June 1. The 10 teams competing for the trophy (won for the past two years by We Were Promised Jetpacks) are Miniature Dinosaurs, Admiral Fallow, Brown Bear & The Bandits, The Twilight Sad, Fluorescent Hearts, Vigo Thieves, Washington Irving, Pronto Mama, John Wean and DF Concerts.
We’re Only Afraid Of NYC have released their debut album Patterns.
Scarlet Shift launch their debut album Found with a gig at Glasgow’s Arches on June 1. Lead single Clouds features guest vocals from Vukovi’s Janine Shilstone.
Kevin Harper is streaming two bonus tracks from the limited edition version of his debut album Kingdom Of Wires.
May 28, 2013: CHVRCHES are streaming fantastic new single Gun, released on July 15.
Kitty The Lion have changed their name to Blood Relatives and unveiled a video for Dead Hip, taken from their debut album, out in September.
Camera Obscura’s fifth album Desire Lines is streaming in full via NPR ahead of its release on June 3.
Free tickets are available for the City of Stars launch party featuring Bwani Junction, Rise Kagona (The Bhundu Boys), Auntie Flo and writer John Lwanda at Glasgow’s Arches on May 30 by emailing guestlist@lakeofstars.org to confirm attendance.
May 27, 2013: The SAY Award public vote runs until midnight tonight, offering the chance to pick your favourite album from the longlist of 20. The record with the most votes will secure an automatic place on the shortlist of 10, with the other nine titles being chosen by a judging panel.
New albums out today include Woodenbox – End Game, Sparrow And The Workshop – Murderopolis and The Pastels – Slow Summits.
People, Places, Maps are to split up. They will release their final batch of songs before bowing out with a hometown gig in Dunfermline on July 26.
May 25, 2013: The first wave of acts confirmed to play the Belladrum festival’s GoNorth Seedlings Stage on August 2-3 has been announced – Cleavers, Prides, Roman Nose, Blood Relatives, Red Ronson, Ranald, Dylan Tierney, Crystal Seagulls, Three Blind Wolves, Garden Of Elks, The Oxides, Fat Goth, St Max And The Fanatics, Fake Major, State Of Flux, Bear Arms, Little Fire and Lionel.
Sarah Hayes’ debut EP, Mainspring, is streaming on Bandcamp ahead of its release on May 28. She has Glasgow gigs scheduled for The Old Hairdressers on May 29 and The Wee Chill festival at SWG3 on June 29.
Boards Of Canada have unveiled new song Reach For The Dead, taken from forthcoming album Tomorrow’s Harvest, out on June 10.
May 24, 2013: The line-up for King Tut’s Summer Nights, which runs in the Glasgow venue from July 15 to August 1, has been revealed. The headliners are The Recovery!, Sunshine Social, TeKlo, Alarm Bells, Taffy, Sienna, So Many Animal Calls, Michael Cassidy, The OK Social Club, SOS, Departures, Fake Major, Prides, Waiting For Go and Arches. Other acts worth checking out include Cherri Fosphate, The Clock, The Youth And Young, Campfires In Winter, Kevin Harper, Discopolis and Father Sculptor. There’s also a Pop Cop DJ set on July 25.
Quickbeam song Grace is available for free download – it’s taken from the band’s self-titled debut album, out on June 3.
Giant Fang has unveiled a video for Aqualung.
May 23, 2013: A Music Open Day is being held at Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree on May 26 with a programme that includes three music industry panels, a soundcheck workshop and live music from Revere, Uniform, Leanne Smith and Marionettes. Free tickets to the evening show will be available to anyone who attends the free seminars during the day.
The Wickerman Festival has added Admiral Fallow, Chic ft Nile Rodgers, Dreadzone, Waylayers and Greg Wilson to its line-up on July 26-27.
Algernon Doll track Anti-them is available for free download – it’s taken from second album Citalo-pop, due for release on June 10.
May 22, 2013: The Basement Coffee House in Ayr has been shortlisted by NME as Scotland’s representative in a public vote to find the best small venue in Britain. The 80-capacity venue opened eight months ago.
Tomorrow’s second instalment of the Dewar House Experimental Batch series sees Edinburgh’s Caves host free live music from Kid Canaveral, The Last Battle and Adam Ross (Randolph’s Leap). There will be 550 tickets available on the door on a first come, first served basis.
May 21, 2013: Camera Obscura song Fifth In Line To The Throne is available for free download in exchange for an email address. It’s taken from the band’s fifth album Desire Lines, out on June 3, and pre-ordering it will get you another track, Do It Again.
Book Group have released their debut EP, Homeward Sound.
Sparrow And The Workshop’s third album Murderopolis, out on May 27, is streaming in full via DIY - one of the songs, The Faster You Spin, is also available for free download.
May 20, 2013: Garden Of Elks’ debut EP, Extended Play, is available to buy and stream.
The Clock have a video for their excellent song Everything’s Eventual, which is released on May 28. They have Glasgow gigs lined up at Broadcast on June 1 and Roxy 171 on June 20.
May 18, 2013: The 16-strong T Break line-up for T in the Park on July 12-14 has been unveiled - Arches, Blindfolds, DARC, Fake Major, Hector Bizerk, Honeyblood, Machines In Heaven, Michael Cassidy, Poor Things, Pronto Mama, Seams, Sunshine Social, The Merrylees, The Velveteen Saints, Vasa, Waiting For Go.
Anna Sweeney has announced she is taking a full break from music and has cancelled her scheduled appearance at Wickerman in July as she relocates to Reading for work in June. Another musician swapping Scotland for England is Plum, who is moving to Brighton in July.
May 17, 2013: The stage times have been released for the 35 acts playing Stag & Dagger across seven Glasgow venues on May 18.
Franz Ferdinand’s fourth album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action will be released on August 26 – check out this brief trailer.
Frightened Rabbit recorded a cover of Best Coast’s The Only Place for Australian radio show Triple J. The band release their Late March, Death March EP on June 2.
The Mouse That Ate The Cat song When I Wake Up is available for free in exchange for your email address.
The title track of Adam Stafford’s forthcoming second album Imaginary Walls Collapse is streaming here.
May 16, 2013: The Discopolis remix of Bwani Junction single Civil War is available to download for free from SoundCloud.
Born To Be Wide’s next seminar at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus on May 30 is on the topic of goNORTH, with a panel featuring broadcaster Vic Galloway, goNORTH duo Amanda Millen and Alex Smith and Chasing Owls frontman Ben Sunderland explaining how musicians and delegates can get the most out of the annual Inverness convention. Tickets are free.
AC/DC have backed a campaign to erect a bronze statue of their former frontman Bon Scott in his hometown of Kirriemuir in Angus. Community music group DD8 Music hope to raise £50,000 via Kickstarter by June 5.
Kite And The Crane’s debut EP, Found In The End, is out on Bandcamp.
May 15, 2013: Biffy Clyro have a video for their new single Opposite.
The View are playing a one-off show at Glasgow’s King Tut’s on June 12 for the Sunday Mail Centenary Fund.
Adam Stafford is launching his second album Imaginary Walls Collapse with a gig at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on July 5 with support from Siobhan Wilson and Robbie Lesiuk.
May 14, 2013: The Wee Chill will mark its 10th anniversary with a two-stage bill at Glasgow’s SWG3 on June 29 for the West End Festival. The line-up features Malcolm Middleton, James Yorkston with Sparrow & The Workshop (collaborative debut), Aidan Moffat (spoken word), Three Blind Wolves, Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire, Miaoux Miaoux, Fake Major.
Tommy Perman, who recently left FOUND, has unveiled his new solo project ComputerScheisse – check out These Beautiful Minds, the title track of his debut EP, out on July 15 through Phuturelabs.
RockNess have announced more acts for the festival on June 7-9 including Fenech-Soler, Fatherson, Public Service Broadcasting, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, Niteworks and Jemma Tweedie.
Too Many Fireworks Records will donate all profits from sales of Variations Of Chopin, an album of contemporary interpretations of the composer’s music, to the fundraising campaign for drummer Robbie Cooper, whose cancer fight was documented on The Pop Cop.
May 13, 2013: New releases out now include Young Aviators’ debut album Self Help, Eagleowl’s debut album This Silent Year, and Cherri Fosphate’s new Burning Youth EP.
May 10, 2013: The live schedule for goNORTH in Inverness on June 5-6 has been unveiled – it includes a Scottish Bloggers Showcase hosted by The Pop Cop, Peenko and Song, by Toad featuring a four-band bill of Garden Of Elks, Friends In America, The Yawns and Flutes.
May 9, 2013: The documentary Hunting For Remoteness details The Magnetic North’s visit to Orkney – where frontman Erland Cooper is from – for the making of their debut album. It will be released on June 24 alongside a reissue of that record, Orkney: Symphony Of The Magnetic North. You can watch the trailer here.
Alphabetical Order Orchestra are streaming their first song, The Architect. The band is made up of My Latest Novel members Chris Deveney, Gary Deveney and Ryan King.
A Band Called Quinn have launched a crowdfunding campaign to support performances of their multimedia show Biding Time (remix) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
May 8, 2013: Three Blind Wolves have released their new album, Sing Hallelujah For The Old Machine.
May 7, 2013: Adam Stafford’s new single Please is streaming online – it’s taken from his second album Imaginary Walls Collapse, out in July.
May 6, 2013: The T in the Park Roadshow is bringing free live music to Scottish towns this month – it stops at Glasgow today for The View at Kelvingrove Park (1pm) and Buchanan Street (3.30pm); Edinburgh on May 10 for Vigo Thieves at Queen Margaret University’s Student Union (noon), Dundee on May 11 for The LaFontaines at Overgate Centre (noon); Aberdeen on May 12 for Sienna at Aberdeen University (noon); and Ayr on May 18 for The Redettes at Ayr Railway Station (noon).
Fake Major have a video for Fiction, a song on their Have Plenty Of Fun EP. Fellow Comets & Cartwheels artist Finn LeMarinel has a new video for Garden, taken from his debut album Violence.
Capitals have released a sampler of all the tracks on their debut album A National Service, out on June 3.
May 3, 2013: Episode 11 of BBC ALBA’s Rapal music TV programme is on iPlayer and features Cara Mitchell, Brown Bear & The Bandits, Three Blind Wolves and Anna Sweeney.
Steve Mason has accused Samsung of plagiarising the video for The Beta Band’s 2004 single Assessment for their new television advert. Both show historical figures running down a beach and helicopters circling overhead.
May 2, 2013: Young Aviators’ debut album Self Help is streaming on Electric Honey’s SoundCloud ahead of its release on May 13.
May 1, 2013: Travis have a video for Where You Stand, the first single and title track of the band’s seventh album, out on August 19.
Fake Major’s debut EP, Have Plenty Of Fun, is available for download.
My Latest Novel have gone on hiatus, with three of the members forming Alphabetical Order Orchestra - look out for music from them next week.
Kobi Onyame has a video for his new single The Real Part 2.
Trapped In Kansas have unveiled new song Collapse Rebuild.
Rob St John’s new AA single Charcoal Black And The Bonny Grey/Shallow Brown is out now.
April 30, 2013: Boards Of Canada will release Tomorrow’s Harvest, their first new album in eight years, on June 10.
Quickbeam song Immersed is available to download for free from DIY – you can also listen to snippets from every track of the band’s self-titled debut album, out on June 3.
Discopolis have unveiled the video for their new song Falling (Committed To Sparkle Motion), out on May 5.
April 29, 2013: The SAY Award will stream each of the 20 longlisted albums for 24 hours through their app, starting today with Miaoux Miaoux’s Light Of The North. You can read The Pop Cop’s feature here.
Panda Su’s new song MAPS is available to buy now on Amazon, while Bwani Junction’s new single Civil War is on iTunes.
The Boy Who Trapped The Sun has a video for new song California ahead of his May tour in Scotland.
The Pastels have a video for Check My Heart, taken from their forthcoming new album Slow Summits, out on May 27.
Frank Turner covered Frightened Rabbit’s The Modern Leper for Jim Gellatly’s In:Demand Uncut session.
April 27, 2013: Episode 10 of BBC ALBA’s Rapal music TV programme is on iPlayer and features two fantastic unreleased songs by Beerjacket as well as The Holy Ghosts, The Merrylees and Ray McCartney.
Travis, Johnny Marr, Hurts, James Skelly, Jack Savoretti, Willy Mason, Foy Vance, Steve Mason, Milo Greene and DIIV have been added to the T in the Park line-up, which has now been separated into day-by-day splits.
Edinburgh venue The Forest Cafe, which has been banned from hosting live music due to council restrictions, are looking for acts to play their new monthly event, the Forest Big Night Out at Old St Paul’s, which launches on May 23. Email foresteventsedinburgh@gmail.com for details.
April 26, 2013: The Burns an’ a’ that! Festival will feature live music as part of Weekend in the Park at Ayr’s Belleisle Park on May 25-26. Rose Parade, Little Fire, Pronto Mama and The Bluebells are among the free acts; Justin Currie + Rachel Sermanni play a ticketed gig on May 26.
Other newly-announced concerts on sale include Lana Del Rey + Kassidy at Glasgow’s SECC on May 16 (replacing her two dates at the Academy on May 15/16) Bombay Bicycle Club at Edinburgh’s Liquid Room on June 7, Belle & Sebastian at Inverness’ Ironworks on July 1, We Are Scientists at Glasgow’s Oran Mor on July 29, Kid Canaveral + Ballboy at Edinburgh’s Liquid Room on August 10.
Kid Canaveral + The Last Battle + Adam Ross (Randolph’s Leap) also play a free show at Edinburgh’s Caves on May 23 with 300 tickets on the door on a first come, first served basis as part of a Dewar’s event.
April 25, 2013: Seasick Steve, The Pigeon Detectives, Julie Fowlis, Meursault, Washington Irving, PAWS and The LaFontaines have been added to the Belladrum Festival line-up on August 2-3.
Washington Irving have released Palomides Volume 1, the first half of their debut album.
The View are streaming Kill Kyle, one of two new songs on their compilation album Seven Year Setlist, out on June 17.
April 24, 2013: The showcase list of artists picked to play goNORTH in Inverness on June 5-6 has been announced. For the third consecutive year there will be a bloggers’ showcase stage hosted by The Pop Cop, Peenko and Song, by Toad. More details to follow soon.
Kilmarnock’s Dirty Weekender will feature 45 acts over three venues on May 31 to June 2 including Fridge Magnets, Bwani Junction, The Ok Social Club, Ross Leighton (Fatherson) and Chris Helme.
Poor Things’ new single Morgan is free to download – it’s taken from their Hurricane Poor Things EP, out on June 10.
Similarly, Cherri Fosphate are giving away Wool from their Burning Youth EP, out on May 11.
April 23, 2013: Glasvegas will play Aberdeen’s Garage on June 27, Edinburgh’s Liquid Room on June 28 and Glasgow’s ABC on June 29.
Reverieme’s second album With Up So Floating is out now.
Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire have announced they will release their self-titled new album through Middle Of Nowhere Records in July.
Herculean have a video for Red Weather, taken from The Falling Thunder EP, out on June 7.
April 22, 2013: Stag & Dagger have added Phosphorescent, Rachel Sermanni, Randolph’s Leap, French Wives, Fake Major, Prides, Chris Devotion & The Expectations and Donald Macdonald & The Islands to the Glasgow festival’s line-up on May 18.
Episode 9 of BBC ALBA’s Rapal music TV programme is on iPlayer and features Brown Bear & The Bandits, Cara Mitchell, The Open Day Rotation and John Wean.
Texas have unveiled a video for The Conversation, the title track from their first album in eight years, out on May 20.
Bronagh & The Boys have released their debut single Green, taken from A Young Heart EP, out on May 19.
April 19, 2013: Kassidy’s Barrie-James O’Neill and his girlfriend Lana Del Rey have recorded a cover of Summer Wine (made famous by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood), backed with a video featuring handheld footage of the pair in Los Angeles.
My Bloody Valentine, Trash Talk, Fidlar and The VirginMarys have been added to the T in the Park line-up.
April 18, 2013: Pre-sale tickets are available for Regina Spektor at Glasgow’s Academy on August 20 and Kings Of Leon at the ciry’s Bellahouston Park on August 15, the latter being part of the Glasgow Summer Sessions.
The Mirror Trap have unveiled a video for Westminster Ghost Story, the first track to be taken from their second album Stay Young, due out this autumn.
April 17, 2013: Midnight Lion have changed their name to Prides and expanded to a trio with the addition of Kitty The Lion’s Callum Wiseman on guitar and vocals. To coincide with the announcement, they have unveiled wonderfully addictive new song Out Of The Blue.
T in the Park have added Local Natives, Lucy Rose, Swim Deep, Theme Park, Lewis Watson and Sons & Lovers to the festival on July 12-14.
April 16, 2013: Doune The Rabbit Hole have announced that this year’s festival will take place at the new location of Cardross Estate at Port of Menteith in Stirlingshire on August 22-25. The line-up features Clinic, Meursault, Rachel Sermanni, Alasdair Roberts, Washington Irving, The Pastels, PAWS, Beerjacket, Rick Redbeard, We Are The Physics, Randolph’s Leap, Siobhan Wilson, Panda Su, Shambles Miller, Jo Mango and TeenCanteen. See here for full day-by-day splits.
April 15, 2013: James and Twin Atlantic will headline the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival on August 2-3. Other acts on the bill include Admiral Fallow, Fatherson, Rick Redbeard, Noisettes, The Horrors and King Charles.
April 13, 2013: Edinburgh’s live music scene has suffered yet another setback with Forest Cafe having its live music licence reviewed, causing the immediate postponement of gigs there, starting with the Solas Showcase scheduled for today.
Newsnight Scotland featured a report on the music industry on April 10, prompted by the Wide Days convention in Edinburgh. Watch the segment on BBC iPlayer, with contributions from Stanley Odd’s Dave Hook, Plum’s Shona Maguire, Chemikal Underground’s Stewart Henderson, Wide Days organiser Olaf Furniss and journalist Nicola Meighan. The interviews were conducted by Galleries drummer Andrew Black.
April 12, 2013: Episode 8 of BBC ALBA’s Rapal music TV programme is on iPlayer and features Niteworks, The Holy Ghosts, Miaoux Miaoux and The Merrylees.
Eagleowl have unveiled Not Over, the first offering from debut album This Silent Year, which will come out through Fence Records on May 13.
Dear Lara, aka David Lan, has released his debut EP Plans as a free download.
April 11, 2013: Capitals’ debut album A National Service will come out on June 3, with those who pre-order it (from just £5) getting an immediate download of any of the record’s 11 tracks, one of which is Reliever.
The View will release singles compilation Seven Year Setlist on June 17 – the album features two new songs, Dirty Magazine and Kill Kyle.
Several Scottish acts have posted tracks from forthcoming new albums – check out Washington Irving – Wandering Wits, United Fruit – Taste I Can’t Give Up and Hector Bizerk – Orchestrated Madness.
April 10, 2013: Promoters Cry Parrot will host their 6th Birthday Party at Glasgow’s Glue Factory on April 26 with a gig featuring Sacred Paws, Hector Bizerk, Tut Vu Vu, Ultimate Thrush, Ela Orleans and Sad City.
Three Blind Wolves are previewing Slow Summer Deer, taken from their Sing Hallelujah For The Old Machine album, released on May 6.
Where We Lay Our Heads single Keanu Leaves is out now.
Great Cop are giving away new song Stop Hiding as a free download.
April 9, 2013: Mogwai guitarist John Cummings uploaded a photo of himself at Glasgow’s George Square yesterday where more than 300 people gathered, inspired by his band’s 2011 song George Square Thatcher Death Party.
Hi-Arts, which promotes arts in the Highlands and Islands, has issued notices of redundancies to all 10 of its staff in the wake of funding cuts.
April 8, 2013: Fridge Magnets will play a ‘silent gig’ at a secret outdoor location in Glasgow on May 15 (6pm) – tickets can be won through organisers Deezer. The band will perform inside a mobile perspex box with the 300-capacity audience able to hear them through headphones.
Kassidy have released new mini-album People Like Me.
April 7, 2013: Song Of Return have launched their Singles Club project on Bandcamp through which they’ll be selling unreleased tracks. Month 1 contains Torn Between The Tides (see video) and Enough.
Cairn String Quartet, who were profiled on The Pop Cop in March, have unveiled their orchestral cover of Kid Canaveral’s Low Winter Sun.
Travis have made new song Another Guy available to download for free through their website. It also has a video.
April 6, 2013: The following 16 HMV and Fopp stores in Scotland will remain open following Hilco’s takeover – HMV: Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, East Kilbride, Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh Princes St, Glasgow Argyle St, Glasgow Buchanan St, Glasgow Fort, Inverness, Livingston, Stirling; Fopp: Edinburgh; Glasgow Union St; Glasgow Byres Rd.
Bwani Junction have a video for new single Civil War, out on April 29.
Rachel Sermanni and Emma’s Imagination are among the acts playing the Kintyre Songwriters Festival in Campbeltown on May 24-26.
Quickbeam will launch their debut album with a gig at the disused Govanhill Baths in Glasgow on May 31. They will be supported by Fake Major whose debut Have Plenty Of Fun EP comes out on May 1.
April 5, 2013: Spotify director Mark Williamson will give the keynote speech at next week’s Wide Days event in Edinburgh as part of a session on the business of streaming. The full running order is here.
Episode 7 of BBC ALBA’s Rapal music TV programme is on iPlayer and features Anna Sweeney, Cara Mitchell, Discopolis and Paul McGranaghan.
Dot JR has uploaded new song Waterfalls to SoundCloud.
April 4, 2013: The Tiree Music Festival will take place in An Talla on July 20-21 with a bill that includes Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire, Washington Irving, The Youth And Young and Brown Bear & The Bandits.
Galleries’ fantastic new single Midnight Rush is out now.
Casual Sex have made a video for their debut single Stroh 80. They play Glasgow’s Nice ‘n’ Sleazy on April 5 and Oran Mor on April 7.
April 3, 2013: Comlongon Rocks have added a third day of live music to its line-up at Comlongon Castle in Dumfries & Galloway on May 17-19. The festival’s line-up features Three Blind Wolves, Emma’s Imagination, The OK Social Club and Saint Max.
Chem 19 are offering three days of free recording time to five Scottish acts through their Creative Scotland Demo Fund. To apply, musicians (under-25s only) should email a link to some demos and a bio to info@chem19.co.uk with the subject Chem19 Demo Fund Enquiry before April 26. Chosen acts will also take part in a live showcase.
Siobhan Wilson + Julia And The Doogans + Jo Mango will play Glasgow’s Roxy 171 on June 26 as part of the Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs Peenko night at the West End Festival.
April 2, 2013: Acts confirmed for The Insider Festival in Aviemore on June 21-23 include Rachel Sermanni, Karine Polwart, Hector Bizerk, Urstan, David Thomas Broughton, Miaoux Miaoux, Pete Roe, Jonnie Common, Adam Holmes And The Embers and Sparrow And The Workshop.
Up-and-coming acts can apply to play the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway on July 17-20 through their One Step Further competition which is open to musicians aged 18-25. To enter, artists need to email office@hebceltfest.com with the subject HebCelt New Talent Submissions and include links to three songs, a biog and high-res photo. Closing date is April 12.
April 1, 2013: Quickbeam’s self-titled debut album will be released through Comets & Cartwheels on June 3 – check out the video for lead track Immersed which will be available as a free download on April 29.
We Were Promised Jetpacks will headline the second night of the three-day Solas Festival in Perthshire on June 22.
Minor Delilah will be giving away copies of their new EP, Only Dust Can Hear You, to anyone who attends their launch gig at Glasgow’s Classic Grand on May 3.
03
Jun
Shut the folk up!
Earlier this week I went to Bar Bloc to watch two of this country’s finest acoustic acts, Beerjacket and Reverieme, perform as part of a free night called The Glasgow Slow Club, which takes place every Tuesday. This is how the organisers describe it: “…we like to slow everything down, sit back and relax. The venue will change a bit from normal, some mood lighting, candles, carpets, cake and warmth.”
For Beerjacket aka Peter Kelly, any feelings of relaxation and warmth were swiftly sucked out of both him and the audience. He spent his entire headlining set trying to be heard above the din of chatter coming from the bar area, and every gap between songs saw him become increasingly exasperated as he appealed in vain for a little bit of quiet. There were plenty of folk there to watch the live music, but all enjoyment in hearing these wonderful songs soon evaporated underneath a combination of the rest of the pub’s ignorance and what felt like an on-stage meltdown.
In this post, both Peter Kelly and Aberdeen-based acoustic singer-songwriter Amber Wilson express their feelings on the thorny issue of talking during gigs.
PETER KELLY
“I can see there are lots of you… and I can hear there are lots of you. But I’m going to play some songs… and they’re kind of quiet… this music is called Beerjacket.”
I see my fingers move along the neck of the guitar but there’s no sound. I’m singing but I’m mute. I get frantic and my foot threatens to break the floor. Around me, beery heads are thrown back, exhaling booming laughter and primal yells. A terrace chant floats in the air. A glass shatters at my feet.
The song ends. Distant applause rests on a shelf below the noise. There is always noise.
And I am compelled to acknowledge it. The crowd noise is not the elephant in the room – it is a herd of elephants… drunken, belligerent elephants, thoughtlessly trampling my beloved words and music under their feet.
I’ve been here a hundred million times before and I’ve never found a solution to the problem or any way to simply cope with the struggle. Friends have advised various socially acceptable strategies to deal with noisy crowds’ socially acceptable ignorance, but one suggestion is especially popular: “Ignore it”.
This I just can’t accomplish. Ignore ignorance? Not me. Once the elephants enter the room, I cannot… no, I will not rest until I’ve pointed them out to everyone else there. The only ones left unaware of the elephants in the room are the elephants themselves. Before long, I’m dropping bitter asides between songs (“technically I’m not being antagonistic if they can’t hear me…”) , twisting lyrics into put-downs (“meet me at the bar that never closes… its mouth”) and eventually saying goodnight and drawing the last dagger of the evening: a sneering “thank you very much”.
So what is the answer? Maybe ‘Silence please’ signs, like in libraries. (Why do books get that respect when it eludes actual living, breathing, singing human beings?) Maybe we should have armed security guards keeping the peace. Maybe the performers should be armed. (Actually, some may already have resorted to this measure; the notoriously noise-sensitive Josh T Pearson reportedly pulled a knife on a rowdy crowd member during a show at SXSW)
Arguably, the most obvious cause of the phenomenon of ‘gignorance’ is alcohol. Without coming off as too pretentious or a killjoy, surely it’s a pretty terrible idea to sell alcohol and art in the same place? It’s long been a bugbear for me that my chosen medium of music carries with it so many assumed licenses of behaviour. If I was a painter, would I be cool with others adding their own careless strokes to my work? The only marked improvement of music-pubs in the past few years is that people can no longer smoke and shout over you at the same time indoors. (Should I count myself lucky?) Does the atmosphere at music concerts really benefit from an injection of alcohol?
But you know what I think the problem really is? Music has become a side order in the dining room of the heart. It’s always there in the background: it’s on your television while you watch Waterloo Road, it’s telling you to answer your mobile phone, it’s on the radio with a loud man talking over it (maybe that’s where pub idiots get the idea)… it’s too seldom at the forefront. Is it not enough anymore to do nothing else, but just listen to a song?
Beerjacket – Cave (live) – taken from The Peenko Sessions #5
June 14, Oran Mor, Glasgow (tickets)
June 19, Brel, Glasgow (free)
July 14, Stereo, Glasgow (tickets)
Beerjacket photo © Fiona McKinlay
AMBER WILSON
I get panic attacks before every gig because I am so terrified I won’t deliver and the crowd will think I’m shit and not listen. When they are loud and don’t pay attention, it’s really difficult not to take it to heart. I die inside and just want the ground to swallow me up.
After putting your heart and soul into writing your music and spending hours practising for a performance, only to have to compete with a wall of noise… it leaves you feeling like it was all for nothing.
It also pisses off the people who really have paid to listen. I went to see Iron And Wine in Edinburgh in March and I was stuck in front of a group of noisy drunkards who paid no attention whatsoever. I’d waited years to see him and they ruined it for me.
I don’t understand why people would pay to come to a gig then chat through all of the songs. I mean, you don’t buy a ticket to a movie just to talk through it, do you?
Last weekend I played the Kintyre Songwriters Festival and the organisers really had it sussed. The sounds from the stage was fed through to the bar (which was in a separate room) meaning that the drinkers could stay there if they wanted to and still be able to listen. It was a fantastic gig with a great atmosphere. The Captain’s Rest in Glasgow and Duke’s Corner in Dundee have also been personal highlights for me.
If it wasn’t for my mum, boyfriend and friends egging me on and believing in me, I probably would have given up gigging a long time ago.
June 19, Albert Hotel, Kirkwall (St Magnus Festival)
Amber Wilson – Detlef Schrempf (Band Of Horses cover)
Amber Wilson photo © Ashley Penny
31 Responses to “Shut the folk up!”
June 3rd, 2011 at 12:50
The best method I’ve found to deal with chatter in crowds is to fight it with silence.
Find a part of a song that needs quiet and mute yourself, those paying attention will go along with it until the awkwardness feeds to the chatters.
Theres nothing quite like hearing an independent voice somewhere out there saying “oi mate shut the fuck up”, and then you can continue with a new sense of control.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:00
It is the biggest downside of live gigs.
I attend to listen to the artiste, to enjoy the experience and savour the music, not to be bombarded with inane chatter or people yelling out requests. As Walter Trout said in a show at The Ferry once to a loud mouth: “Hey, I don’t come and shout at you at your work.”
But the words on this post have made a huge impact as this is the first time I have heard the complaints from the performers themselves – and my heart goes out to them.
I’m not a musician but writing, practising, performing can’t be easy, and not made any easier by thoughtless, (often) drink-fuelled audience members determined to talk and talk ever louder. And don’t get me started on those who blether on their mobiles during shows.
Obviously, artistes don’t want to confront or be seen as precious so I don’t know what effectively can be done. You’ve either got good manners and act with respect or it’s something the noise brigade need to learn. Certainly, I’m never slow to ask someone to “keep it down” if they are spoiling my enjoyment.
I sincerely hope that Peter and Amber get the respectful audiences they deserve in the future.
Good luck with the music, too.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:06
if you don’t like it, don’t play in bars!
if you can’t shut them up then maybe you’re not as great as your friends tell you you are!?
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:14
PETER KELLY
Yes you are sounding like a pretentious knut. Maybe folks enjoy their own chat and banter rather than your pretentious and in my opinion boring music.
End of the day, it’s a busy bar. Maybe the organiser should move elsewhere, maybe you should have realised that not everyone if going to give you their full attention.
Maybe you should pick your shows more carefully!
Obv this ain’t an isolated incident. I’ve been at accoustic gigs in the past and people have chatted, a few dirty looks put em in their place. As for the artist, yeh, choose your venue and gigs wisely.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:16
I have to say, Amber Wilson has it bang on the money and Peter Kelly has missed the mark by a country mile.
Peter’s thoughts on this subject are caked in self-importance and an assumption that his music is worth stopping everyone elses social catch up. It’s a free gig in a pub, people will drink and talk because they probably planned to go to their local despite his performance in the corner.
Amber raises the point that it is totally out of order at an actual gig (ie. tickets sold to see someone in particular). The same behaviour at these events is akin to talking through a film. It’s unacceptable and it is an obvious faux pas.
I find both Amber and Peter’s music great but i’d be annoyed as fuck if someone tried to stop me talking/drinking in my pub so they could force their music on me.
Moral of the story – Man up and pick your battles.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:17
Talking at gigs is incredibly annoying. Slowclub at Bloc is a great night and they have done very well with it, but perhaps they should take it somewhere else – downstairs at the Black Sparrow for example, where the audience would be there specifically for the acts playing and respect them as such. Bloc is a busy and lively bar – not really suitable for this kind of music.
I’ve had a few arguments with people talking at gigs – notably almost coming to blows with two total wankers at The Shins at QMU some years back. Some real tossers at an Elbow Academy gig as well.
What can you do? These people are paying their money. Even at Roddy Hart at Oran Mor last week large sections of the audience were having to say SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH several times.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:25
@Anonymous. I no longer play in Bars as it’s to be expected that you wont be everyones cup of tea in that environment – I’m talking about actual gigs where people have paid to apparently come and see the artists. x
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:29
(Dear ‘Anonymous’)
Bars, pubs and venues (all of which serve alcohol) are the only places we can play live music, aside from the streets. Perhaps you think the only place for music is festivals? It doesn’t seem to matter how good you are, or how hard you’re trying, there will always be some arseholes in the crowd not willing to give you the time of day, even if you’re at a gig/concert in a large venue and specifically there for the band.
I was at this gig. The music was not so loud on the other side of the room that people were refrained from talking at a normal level. Instead, I could hear one booming voice after another. It is rude and disrespectful to continue shouting over someone’s performance.
I, for one, thought music was defined by personal taste, so I’m not sure what you mean by ‘not as great as your friends tell you you are’. After all, people still pay lots of money to see Coldplay. Not only that, but I’d expect my friends to be my biggest critics, if it were me playing. In MY opinion, Peter played the best he possibly could under the circumstances. Those being that he couldn’t hear anything from the monitors, couldn’t hear what it was the audience were hearing and could barely think over the background noise. Now, Bloc is a nice pub. Unfortunately I’ve had a similar experience there, though luckily I wasn’t a solo acoustic player. I couldn’t hear a thing from the monitors over the noise around me, nor did I feel confident enough in myself to ask people to shut up – though I did ask them to shut up at Peter’s gig.
Then again, perhaps it’s all about what kind of person you are. For example, even if I didn’t enjoy someone’s music, it doesn’t mean I’d sit there and talk loudly over them when they are the entertainment for the evening. I’d talk in a lowered tone, go outside, or choose a different place to be. Perhaps other people could choose one of these tactics.
It’s no indication of how good an artist is to base it on how many people in one crowded pub are paying attention. I think Louise and Peter did a fine job trying to fight it and it pained me to see Peter taking it to heart and to see him struggling, but I enjoyed the music nonetheless.
Yours,
A fan of music.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:30
There is no easy solution to this. I tend to encourage people to laugh and shout and have a good time when I’m playing. That’s why I have amplification, though I could probably drown most people out just by battering my acoustic and shouting.*
Some artists it really bothers, though musician reaction tends to swing between total apathy to crowd noise and a level of preciousness not normally found outside Noh theatre. It would be a little insensitive of me to suggest that the latter group just need to develop thicker skins, the issue is obviously more complex than that, it just seems to be a matter of guaging when and where it is appropriate to talk loudly to your friends. And even on the bus some people don’t seem to possess the manners to do this.
*Dave’s suggestion of being deliberately quiet and awkward until people self-consciously shut up also works, and is a good way to get folk in the crowd on your side.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:33
Well said Jef x
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:40
With regards to Joshua T Pearson, he certainly never pulled a knife in Stereo a few months back when he played and he managed to get perfect silence for the majority of his set. Okay, this was playing to people who had bought a ticket to see him but it was also Glasgow on a Friday night.
The example outlined above is very difficult because its a very small venue with no discernable cut-off between stage and bar….and if its free entry and operating as a normal bar as well, it’s difficult to get a balance.
Not that I don’t have sympathy with Peter Kelly but I really don’t think he handled it well. In acting sneeringly and angrily, he was letting down the people who had actually bothered to come to see him. If they’re genuine fans, they’ll have sympathy and come see him again but floating fans who take the opportunity to see acts for free may find him ratehr ungracious and not bother coming again.
It’s a difficult one – Pearson used some great tactics like starting off a great story but then lowering his voice as the story continued and the audience hushed in line with him. I know the nature of the event above wouldnt really have allowed for that as the folk at the bar couldnt have cared less about the artist…but given taht was the nature of the event, it couldnt have come as a major surprise.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:50
Talking through songs/music is rude and annoying to the artist and the audience. To me it is irrelevant whether it’s free or ticketed , if you want to yak and you are at a free bar , show some consideration and go elsewhere , there is no shortage of bars and you have not lost any money as you didn’t pay to get in. I love Acoustic Edinburgh not just because they usually have great musicians but because most of the time the audience LISTENS , and on the few occasions where there has been an issue the audience or the host deals with the miscreants rapidly.
I know a well known performer who used to play standing venues (they suited his music) , now he only plays seated ones , I asked him why , “because at standing venues people talk through the quiet songs” , I had to agree but it’s still a damm shame he no longer plays standing venues due to the selfishness of a small sector of the audience.
Sadly the situation does not seem to be improving and I don’t know what the answer is.
June 3rd, 2011 at 13:57
I think we’re going about it all wrong thinking that talking while a band is playing is the issue.
Sometimes it is perfectly appropriate to talk and laugh with your friends while a band is playing (As an artist I enjoy and encourage it.) though probably not while a delicate-voiced acoustic performer is gently plucking his/her guitar.
It’s about manners, and having the sense to discern whether or not your actions are appropriate and, in a much broader sense, mass pockets of humanity have a problem achieving this.
June 3rd, 2011 at 15:09
Why on Earth is people trying to disrespect Beerjacket AKA Peter Kelly, he is a wonderful talent, his words are poetic heaven, he is an outstanding musician and super talented… the comment from the edjit “maybe your not as good as your friends say” what a complete arse…. not only do his friends agree that he is super good, he is a legend in the making, if you tore your arse away from the current shit culture of Scots which is drinking yourself into oblivion and actually read some feedback written about Beerjacket almost daily, then you would find that a huge majority of well respected music journalists and music people speak highly of him,,, he is awesome. so get a grip you plep all you have doen is insult yourself and prove you have the IQ of a dead dung beetle, moron.
it would be heart breaking having to sing and play through that disrespect, and moron dung beetle, what about the respect for the people who came to watch this Scottish musical GEM…and all they got was your dulcit untalented tones… away and play with your own instrament the one hanging from your head.
June 3rd, 2011 at 15:19
I understand that people get their backs up very easily about this on both sides of the debate, but maybe we should stick to being productive rather than mud-slinging.
June 3rd, 2011 at 20:12
The Liquid Ship’s also great for avoiding this. The Free Candy Sessions are free acoustic nights, but also secluded so it’s only filled with people who genuinely want to see the music.
Also, what Mark said^^, this has nothing to do with the quality of whatever music.
June 3rd, 2011 at 21:53
Dear “jef”
No, I do not think the only place for live music is a festival.
I was merely suggesting that those moaning about people not listening to them should choose their venues more carefully. It’s not hard to avoid playing in shitty places like bloc!
June 4th, 2011 at 10:35
Even as a gig-goer, this is a problem which I hate. Too many times have I been to a gig, where perhaps the performer isn’t all that loud and I can’t hear a bloody thing because of some fanny at the back shouting and laughing. Like Mr Beerjacket said, I’m not a killjoy, but there’s definitely a time and a place for that. Let the musician play their songs, and let the audience who coughed up their money hear them play those songs.
Another thing I’ve found is that it’s not actually the paying public who make all the noise. Two gigs that I’ve attended in the last few months, the noise has been made by members of another band! I went to see Mitchell Museum and the Scottish Enlightenment at Dexters in Dundee, and the band that opened (Dormant Figure) could be found cajoling at the bar throughout the whole Scottish Enlightenment set. So fucking frustrating that one of my favourite bands were playing and I couldn’t hear them nearly as much I’d like. So, just shut the fuck up please. Talk in between bands, or at least whisper.
Cheers.
June 4th, 2011 at 12:42
Hamish,
The Liquid Ship is, indeed, a fine venue for acoustic music. Underrated out its nut.
June 4th, 2011 at 15:41
I agree with Amber’s point about it being akin to the cinema, if folk have paid to see a gig then they should expect to be able to hear the performer.
I find Bloc a difficult venue though, as it is a bar rather than a gig venue, and a large proportion of the crowd are there cause it’s a pub and not for the music.
It’s understandable that folk will be in a pub – that has no entrance fee for music – just to be out for a bevvy rather than to listen. What I don’t understand is why if you are looking to go out for a drink and to chat to mates you would pick a pub with live music that you have no interest in listening to?
There are shitloads of bars in glasgow, but there was only one place you could see Beerjacket play last week, so the noisy fuckers should be have been told to shut it. They could do what they were doing anywhere, those there to see peter Kelly could not.
I personally find it rude when folk talk through a performer, and am encouraged to see signs in certain venues asking for quiet during sets now. I understand that it is a difficult issue when a gig is in a pub that is not solely a gig venue though.
@anonymous #1 wtf are u on about? where else are they meant to play? and it certainly is not just friends telling these two that they are great. You sound like an idiot for saying that
@anonymous #2 you can pick your shows as carefully as you want, but you can’t choose the crowd on a given night
June 4th, 2011 at 19:05
Having seen Beerjacket play live many times I consider him probably the best singer/ songwriter/ solo artist in Scotland.
The quality of the music is not in question.
To say otherwise would be foolish in my opinion although music is about preferences and opinions.
No artist will win every person over as differnt people like different genres but If you appreciate good guitar, good vocals and incredible lyrics it stands to reason you will love Beerjacket.
I do think people have the right to talk during band gigs but it makes me cringe when I see an acoustic or a quieter act having to battle against the elements of over the top chitter chatter.
I don`t think alcohol is to blame but rather the crowd/ venue.
Bars with free entry will bring people who are just catching up with friends and only a small percentage will go on to repect the music on show.
these people will be the polite, true fans of real music or people who happen to really enjoy whatever music is being performed but the chances are the majority will be Lady Gaga fans or someone simply going for a pint after work.
Making people pay at the door (even £2) is a good way of filtering the crowd although by no means completely solves the problem.
The venue is also just as important and the fact there is no proper seperation in Bloc between bar and `stage` means you need to be a loud act to pull it off and I`ve seen some cracking gigs in Bloc that have done just that.
For artists such as Beerjacket places such as Oran Mor, Pivo Pivo (who both have bars far away enough from the stage) are the way forward.
The hidden lane cafe gig that Peenko ran was also a fantastic and intimate setting.
Alcohol + Live music is a good combination in my book but my advice would be to acoustic artists to stay away from free gigs unless it`s in a proper setting where their set will be respected
June 4th, 2011 at 23:06
Slow Club puts on great people but after i went a few times i’ll never be back. The last one I went to was to see Ajimal and I was mortified for the poor guy. It was the exact same as what Beerjacket is describing and he even went over and sat on the table of the offending group of rowdy girls and they still shouted louder to talk over / round him. Total ignorance.
June 6th, 2011 at 14:48
Is it any wonder people talk at gigs like beer jacket and roddy hart?? The music is dreary and are only getting to play gigs due to well connected pals…
June 6th, 2011 at 23:19
Folk chatting at gigs is of course a plague – there was almsot a punch up at Gruff Rhys a few months ago because a pair of wankers wouldn’t shut up.
Seems to me however that Peter Kelly should be choosing his gigs a lot more carefully. No disrespect to whoever the promoters are, but Bloc is a tough enough gig for a full band. There’s no stage and no control over Joe Public standing 6 feet away who in all likelihood will not give 2 hoots about your music.
Acoustic-wise the Free Candy Sessions at Liquid Ship are the obvious top quality benchmark. Gerry Lyons acoustic night at Sleazys also used ot have a nice atmosphere, but I haven’t been in years – is it still going?
Perhaps Mr Beerjacket should try to make his appearances a bit more of an “event” – pick a special venue, a good complimentary bill, control the ambience? Then again, I tried to apply this theory to an acoustic night at the RAFA about 5 years ago – an “all night show, in the summertime”, in the magical words of the magnificent Nick Drake – and it was just a bit dull….
June 13th, 2011 at 11:03
Folks hows things its Squirrel who runs the Slow Club. I know what you are all saying and I agree. Chatting at a gig is hell however silence is significantly worse.
We used to actively put notices out in Bloc asking folk to “shut the hell up” but no one read it and then it turned into a shushing night with a terrible atmosphere which even the free cake couldnt handle.
Do you know what the best thing about a crowd is? Its that point when you start singing and even though everyone is chatting away it slowly gets quieter and then you know that the whole room is listening to you, its called grabbing your audience. I’ve seen it happen often. I’m not saying Senior Kelly didnt btw I believe fully he can and that Bloc occasionally is fully of those who dont care enough to notice. All I’m trying to suggest is that silence in a show is horrible, silence is the absense of something and having no audience interaction would kill my sets.
One thing I would like to say is that there would be no venues or places for live music if it wasnt for Drink. No one would ever be heard or seen. Argue this fact all you like but venues do not survive on their own. We would all like this not to be a fact but it is, people do not enjoy evening parting with £3 for music and even if it was more than that on an entry fee venues would never generate enough cash to survive either that or no musicians ever get paid and I’m not for that option. So alcohol has to say for now.
One solution to the problem i have found is the louder acoustic acts do not have this problem. I find that a fair few acoustic acts sing and play really quietly and the PA has a fair amount of work to do. The art of projecting ones voice is lost. I have had acts on who needed very little amplification of vocals and their voices carried across the whole room, Jill leighton, Debbie Kate, Scott FB to name a few. Acts Like Mersault whos just project a wall of sound at you, i understand this is different with acoustic music but I have had poets and speaks stand there with just their voice and command a room of random drunk poeple who were poised on every word. I dont think Peter (Beer jacket) has this problem and even if he did the PA would be up louder.
One final note would be though, if people are talking just say to yourself. Fuck em, I’m perfesional enough to deal with this shite, take your free beer and money for the 30 mins of you time and enjoy the rest of you night. hahaha
June 13th, 2011 at 18:42
Singers should just sing their fucking songs and ignore everything else. Also, I nearly threw up a couple of times while reading this article.
June 14th, 2011 at 20:53
@Nicholas You seem to be missing the point Nicholas. It’s about respect (or lack thereof) – something you seem to know nothing about.
June 19th, 2011 at 04:34
I found Peter’s description rather painful to read. Amber did put her point across better and it was simple.
I understand the frustration of playing to a crowd that is filled with a loud bunch of people and how disheartening it can be. Usually you stop putting as much into it and by the end of it you’re left thinking ‘what was the point’. But the thing is, you have to get over it and not take it personally.
Even if one person is listening, you owe it to them to give it your best (its really difficult to do it when you’re struggling to hear yourself) but you can’t win them all.
People talking during a gig has no reflection on the quality of the band playing. Loads of folk flock to see the bands they love and listen intently while others go and end up chatting all the way through with their pals and still come out saying it was brilliant. I guess people do things in different ways. I think its up to the crowd to shut them up though.
While I have seen acts and been fortunate enough myself to hush a crowd that spoke over others – I do not agree that silence is a bad thing at gigs. Silence at an acoustic gig is heavenly and intimate and to suggest otherwise is completely braindead.
June 22nd, 2011 at 13:56
I’m a bit disappointed that the bit at the end of my interview wasn’t printed, I summed up by saying “At the end of the day I realise you have to take the good gigs with the bad. If it wasn’t for the not so great gigs, the really good ones wouldn’t hold such a dear place in my memory bank.” If that had been printed it would have made my piece less of a self pitying whinge fest. x
June 27th, 2011 at 13:42
I think everyone has made fair comment on the situation, there are always going to be gigs where people talk yet even though you wish to batter them round the head and say shut the fuck up its not usually going to be the best idea. If plonkers want to talk all the way through a gig then it’s them who are missing out on it. It’s a shame when a performer is more on the quiet side and people are straining to hear them through the din of people talking. There are definitely some gigs where it’s more accepted for their to be audience chatter and some where it would be wholly frowned upon. As a performer I think you’ve just got to be clued up about the particular gig you’re doing and what you might be able to expect attention wise and noise wise. If it becomes unbearable you can always stop playing, turn up louder or give a pal a wink to shush the noisy soul. You can always get off stage as well. It’s up to you. Masking tape might be another idea. I agree with the sentiment that if people want to listen they will listen, if a performer really holds the attention of the room usually everyone will stop talking. There are sometimes a few people who are so drunk they wouldn’t realise if a heard of elephants were charging towards them but hey bugger it, some gigs are great some are less great and it’s all about dealing with the experience as you live it. awoooooooo
November 22nd, 2012 at 10:41
I’ve said before, and often, that there should be some sort of etiquette that can be loosely applied to gig going.
Basic things.
If you don’t want to jump around and are the sort to get easily pissed off at being jostled then don’t stand at the front of the stage when Motorhead are playing.
Equally if you want to jump about flaying your arms like a lunatic while unleashing your inner tourettes then don’t stand at the back where people are chilling out.
It’s not that hard to take an overview of a crowd and consider where you will fit in to maximise your own enjoyment while minimizing how that enjoyment may detrimentally impact on those around you
As for the specific issue of chatter.
Well people are entitled to talk, but when, where and how loudly comes into it.
Asking a mate if he wants a pint between a song when he is standing next to you is fine.
Shouting ‘HO FANNYBAWZ, YOU FANCY A WANK WAE THAT SHANDY’ across a crowded room mid song of an acoustic set from a folk singer isn’t.
We can distill it all down to a lack of common sense with a side order of arrogant ignorance can’t we?
One of my personal pet hates is ‘the friends of the band.’
The ones who turn up to a four band bill and loudly talk through three acts and shush people when their mate is on.
That sort of attitude is one that is endemic in society though.
When we see it displayed at a gig it’s just a microcosm of the wider world.
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