Sounds in the City
Glasgow has established an international reputation for its pulsating live music scene, but with up to 100 bands playing across the city most nights of the year, the choice can be overwhelming and the quality can vary wildly. In her regular listings column, Shannon Travers, host of a new independent internet TV show that highlights emerging Scottish music talent, suggests some choice upcoming shows to suit a range of budgets and tastes. This week:
Guillemots
Mystery Glasgow venue | Thu 21 Apr| £15.00 (ticketmaster.co.uk)
Guillemots are a strange lot. Their music might bear some resemblance to Coldplay’s, but a typical live show features such eccentricities as the prominent use of a typewriter and almost unrecognisable freeform jazz or R’n’B versions of their best-known songs.
In April, the band will play four ‘secret’ gigs in Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London. The venues will not be made known to those with tickets until the day of the show, for which the band are also apparently planning ‘unique and exciting’ surprises. Intriguing stuff…
Emerge NME Radar Tour
King Tut’s, St Vincent St | Mon 9 May | £9.00 (ticketmaster.co.uk)
The NME’s ‘Radar’ brand is dedicated to highlighting little-known local bands and musicians to a national UK audience through their magazine, website and TV/radio channels. The most successful Radar artists are invited on an annual tour, which often proves prescient in predicting the next big thing – just ask La Roux, Hurts or Maximo Park. The class of 2011 includes blues-guitar-playing singer Anna Calvi and LA rock band Grouplove.
Obvious Outcome
Nice N’Sleazy, Sauchiehall St | Sat 26 Mar | £5.00 (pay on door)
An unsigned teenage electro-rock band with members from across Scotland, Obvious Outcome bring back memories of Idlewild and are well worth checking out in Sleazy’s. Support bands at this eclectic show include Scragfight, who describe themselves as ‘retired female ninjas’, and gentler, folk-influenced Glaswegian band Natalie Pryce.