Clinic, Errors, RememberRemember: 27 April

After our sun worshipping yesterday, Magnus and I went to see Clinic at Caberet Voltaire. The gig was part of the Tryptych Festival which puts on gigs and movies in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. We've been listening to them for awhile, and we managed to catch them in Glasgow awhile ago when they supported Arcade Fire. They were supported by the Errors (kind of forgetful electro-indie) and RememberRemember, who were also kind of forgetful, ironically. They did do this kind of cool sampling/looping/layering thing that was pretty interesting, and they had a very cool/nerdy saxophonist... but it wasn't really our sort of thing.

Clinic, however, were very excellent. We managed to get right down front, which in a small tightly-packed place like Caberet Voltaire isn't always easy. The crowd was pretty middle-aged and mellow (except for the beardy jumpy clappy guy next to us, but hey, he wasn't hurting anybody), and we had a very nice time drinking huge-ass Newcastle Brown Ales from the actual glass bottles (no bottle throwing at Caberet Voltaire!) and listening to some pretty sweet music.

Elbow and Two Gallants: 4 April

Awhile ago, we had a German intern at my work called Martin. Martin has very good taste in music, and we often spent our tea breaks talking about this band or that band. He was also a very good source of new bands for us, and gave alot of music to add to our collection.

One of the bands he introduced us to is Two Gallants. Magnus fell immediately in love with them, and they soon became one of our 'most played' on iTunes. Well, we were having a look at upcoming gigs on the internet, and lo' and behold, Two Gallants are touring with the band Elbow... and Glasgow was one of their stops! So of course we had to go. We wanted to avoid having to leave early again like at the Sky Parade gig, so we stayed over at a nice hotel right around the corner from the venue. Yeah, we're pretty rock and roll.

The gig was at the ABC on Sauchiehall Street. This is where we first saw the Best Band in the Entire World, the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I thought it was a great venue then, and Friday night only confirmed this...it's a fantastic place to see a band. A bit bigger than I would normally like, but still intimate enough. The staff are all friendly, and best of all - there are ample ladies loos!

Well, this gig absolutely blew us away. Two Gallants were very nice indeed, and played a very nice, if short, set. But the big surprise was Elbow. They were incredible. Absolutely amazing! It ranks equal to the first time we saw the Black Keys as my most moving music experience ever. Here are a few photos we took from the evening. I took loads of Two Gallants, but I was too busy being blown away by Elbow to remember to take many photos.

Two Gallants

Two Gallants. These guys moved around so much, in most of the photos, they are only blurs!

Elbow. Wow.

Elbow.

And lastly.... this was the weird-ass print on the wall in our hotel. WHAT?! I mean really - what?! I'm pretty sure I had nightmares.

Sky Parade and Dilettantes: 24 March

Last night, Magnus and I took the train to Glasgow to see a couple of bands, Sky Parade and the Dilettantes. We have been listening to alot of 60's-inspired 'neo-psychedlica' bands recently, and we came across Sky Parade while scoping out new bands on the internet. They were supported by the band fronted by a guy from our Favourite Band in the Whole Wide World, The Brian Jonestown Massacre. They were playing at a skeezy little place called the Barfly, and hardly anyone was there. It was awesome. Unfortunately, we had to leave about 20 minutes into Sky Parade's set to catch the last train back to Edinburgh, which was a shame. They were very cool.

This is the first band that played. It was only their third gig, but they did a great job. We can't remember their name, but I thought it's kind of a cool photo. I keep trying to get good gig photos without resorting to the flash, but I don't know how! So I gave up on the shaky unfocused shots, and used the flash for the rest.

The Dilettantes, fronted by Joel from BJM. They played really well, and their music is very cool, but I'm afraid Joel's vocals are a bit crap. The guy on the right sang a couple songs, which was a huge improvement.

More Dilettantes.

Sky Parade. Very very cool.