Listings:Kirsty McKeownlists the best of

the upcoming events.

Reviews:We review the best

of the recentevents and releases.

UWS Ayr:We look at UWS’s

brand new Ayrcampus , and their music

department.

#UNRAVEL:Mikey Reynoldslooks at the new

art exhibition by FOUNDand Aidan Moffat.

ConTEnTsFrom The Editor...Hello and welcome to

the first edition ofWestpoint Magazine! Ouraim is to bring you a newview on culture and enter-tainment in the West ofScotland. You might arguethat there’s a plethora of

magazines that are on “our patch”, but we’vefound that outlying areas, like Ayrshire, Ren-frewshire and Dumbartonshire are often ig-nored in most of the national publications -and this is our mission.We want to bring you the best from every-thing in the West of Scotland, from newbands such as our cover story Vukovi, fromTroon, to Hamilton author ... who is self-pub-lishing her own book. We’ve scoured thelength and breadth of our small corner of thiscountry to find a wealth of entertainment andcultural content, across all different forms.As well as our features and interviews withsome of the best talent in entertainment thatwe have to offer in the West of Scotland,we’ve also got reviews from the best eventswithin the West of Scotland in the last fewmonths, so you can be sure that you nevermiss a thing with us here at Westpoint.We hope that you enjoy this, our first effort tobring together an effective collection of writingon West of Scotland culture - our crack teamof writers have slogged long and hard to bringyou the best of what’s happening. We’vebrought together our collective interests and talents to put together this edi-tion, and we hope that you choose to continuewith us on our journey.

Mikey Reynolds,Editor

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2News:The latest onentertainment andculture in Glasgowand the West.

4WestPointInvestigates:Bruce Orrock andPaul McRae look atimportant issues.

6Vukovi:Mikey Reynoldsspeaks to the hotnew Scottish act.

8BrewDog:Bruce Orrock visitsthe brand newBrewDog bar inGlasgow’s West End.

10Wrestling:We look at theresurgance ofScotitsh professionalwrestling.

12Oracle:Sam Nicholson talksto the Lanarkshireacoustic duo.

13Kathleen

McKinstry:Kirsty McKeownspeaks to theHamilton children’s

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Editor: Mikey Reynolds

Sub-editor/Designer: Barbara Millar

Writers:Bruce OrrockSam NicholsonKirsty McKeown

Paul McRae

One of Glasgow’s most lovedplays this month celebrates it’s

25th anniversary.The Steamie, written by Rab CNesbitt star Tony Roper, is comingback to Glasgow’s King’s Theatrefor a special 25th anniversayrproduction.Running from the April 30 through

until the May16, the

production is being produced byRoper himself.The critically acclaimed show hasbeen a favourite in Glasgow for thelast 25 years, and is now eventaught in schools.Tickets for the performances rangefrom £13 to £31, and tickets areavailable through the King’s Theatrewebsite, or from the official boxoffice at the theatre on Bath Street

in Glasgow City Centre.

nEWs

AIDAn MoFFAT AnD

FoUnD EXHIBITIon

oPEns In GLAsGoWAground-breaking collaboration

between former Arab Strap manAidan Moffat and Edinburgh bandFOUND opens this week at SWG13in Glasgow’s West End.#UNRAVEL is described as aninteractive exhibition exploring the“reliability of memory” and featuresa selection of instrumentalsperfortmed by the band, andspoken-word monologues read byMoffat.The exhibition is part of GlasgowInternational Festival of the Artsand runs from Friday April 20 untilMonday May 7.

The official opening of the exhibittook place this past Saturday (April21) with a live performance ofsome of the monologues and piecesprepared for the exhibit by Moffatand FOUND, with support fromfellow Glasgow act Miaoux Miaouxand a DJ set by S-Type. One yearin the making, the #UNRAVELproject has been financed by grantsfrom Creative Scotland’s VitalSpark program and New MediaScotland’s Alt-w fund.FOUND have gained a reputation asone of Scotland’s more innovativebands since their formation in

2007, and have previously won aScottish BAFTA for a previous pieceof work, a robot built from acupboard entitled Cybraphon,whilst Moffat has been one of theforemost faces in Scottishunderground music, through hiswork with Malcolm Middleton inArab Strap, and collaborations withStuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, andmore recently, his Scottish Albumof the Year nominated work withBill Wells.Turn to page 14 for ourinterview with FOUND memberTommy Perman about

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A s T E A M I E 2 5 t h A n n I V E R s A R Y !

WICKERMAn

AnnoUnCEs 2012

LInEUP

WickermanFestival, one of

Scotland’s topfestivals, this weekannounced thelineup for the 2012edition of the event.Taking place inDundrenna, nearDumfries, the eventis now moving intoits 11th year, andhas announced ahost of acts thatseem sure to makethis year as much ofa success asprevious years.Spread over twodays, the headlineacts are Americanpop rockers ScissorSisters andhomegrown ScotsTexas. Joining themare names rangingfrom fellow ScotsThe View andKassidy, along withfolk rockers NewtonFaulkner and TheLevellers.Festival organiserHelen Chalmerssaid: “We areincredibly excited tobe unveiling thisyear’s line-up whichis classic Wickerman– an eclectic mix ofestablished,

emerging and retroartists that willdeliver somefantasticperformances acrossthe two days of thefestival. From Texasstirring theSummerisle crowdinto a sing-a-longfrenzy with theirincredible set ofhits, to the fun andinfectious energy ofthe Scissor Sistersor the very best newtalent in the SolusTent – Wickermanoffers two days offantastic music forall tastes and ages,all blended with ourrelaxed, fun,friendly festivalatmosphere.”As ever, there is awhole host of eventsbeing stages acrossthe full Wickermanweekend, includinga fun fair, firewalking, woodcarving, and ofcourse, the worldfamous burning ofthe Wickerman toclose the festival onthe Sunday evening.Tickets are on salenow for the festival.

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Authority and street art donot often go hand in hand,

but Australian Street ArtistSam Bates has worked on afew projects with Glasgow citycouncil in an attempt to lowerthe rate of graffiti on city land-marks.The young artist is responsiblefor the Commonwealth Gamesmural on the Kingston Bridge,The Renfrew Ferry and theCentral Rail Bridge.Bates’ latest project depicts fa-mous paintings by artists likeMunch and Van Gogh, but witha couple of twists, on the wallsof an abandoned building in

the city centre.One such twist on Da Vinci’s‘Mona Lisa’ presents a ladyholding a can of Irn-Bru, sittingin front of the Clyde Audito-rium and has come to beknown as ‘The Mona Lassie’ bylocals.It is an ironic twist that it takessomeone writing and drawingon walls to avoid much of thesame thing, but there is a bigdifference between graffiti andstreet art as Bates himselfsays: “This is a positive versionof graffiti, one almost every-body can enjoy.”

GLAsGoW GRAFFITI PRoJECT

GFT WELCoMEs ConTEMPoRARY

CInEMA BEGInnERs FoR nEW CoURsE

The world famous GlasgowFilm Theatre is throwing it’s

doors open to anyone with aninterest in contemporarycinema.Their new ‘ContemporaryCinema for Beginners’ courseopens this month and aims toprovide an introduction to allaspects of contemporarycinema for those with aninterest.Those enrolled on the coursewill receive tutorials on how toeffectively comment on newreleases, as well as given aninsight into the history of film-making.Glasgow University lecturer Dr.Christopher Gow will guidepupils of the course through

the exciting world ofcontemporary cinema, with thefirst film up for discussion beingBreathing on Wednesday May16.Each week, the course will lookat new film releases andconsider them for artistic merit,as well as their entertainmentvalue, with the aim of enablingthose enrolled to becomeexperts in the world ofcontemporary cinema.The course costs £71 and runsfor over two months. Places areextremely limited to justsixteen though, so anyone withan interest in the world ofcinema should hurry down tothe GFT and enroll on thecourse as soon as possible!

THE EssEnCE oF BEAUTY In KELVInGRoVE

Glasgow’s premier art venue,the magnificent

Kelvingrove Museum throws itsdoors open for lovers of fineItalian art this month.‘The Essence of Beauty: 500Years of Fine Italian Art’ runsuntil August 2012 and displaysover 40 paintings, from the14th until the 19th century.The exhibition also includesdecorated arms and armour,fine sculpture, wonderfulVenetian glass and fineceramics, all of which provide abroader historical and artisticcontext for the paintings. 

All exhibits, including thepaintings’ frames, have beenspecially conserved inpreparation for the exhibit.Some of the paintings have notbeen displayed for many years,and several of these lookdifferent from the last timethey were shown.The exhibition is sponsored byAnderson Strathearn Solicitors,and will be accompanied by aseries of events organised inconjunction with the ItalianCultural Society.Tickets for the event cost £5,or £3 for concessions.

INVESTIGATES...

DEsoLATIon RoWAs the East End of Glasgow gets spruced up for the 2012 Commonwealth

Games, Bruce Orrock looks at the hidden corners of the East End, and speaksto a resident who feels that she, and her area, have been negelected...

Walking through the streets ofParkhead today, you are greetedwith scenes all too common for theeast end of Glasgow, neglect andpoverty. Broken glass strewnacross play parks, senseless graffitimasking the old buildings and thealien sight of a discarded syringereminds you that Parkhead isindeed on hard times. Yet thisdishevelled, derelict and desperatearea is now gearing up forGlasgow’s commonwealth games in2014. With such an important andillustrious event taking place in andaround Parkhead, change in thearea is inevitable and alreadyunder way. But with all the cashinjections  in the area, are thepeople of Parkhead’s voices beinglistened to?Margaret Toner, who has lived all ofher 56 years in Parkhead, is anactivist for Parkhead and itscommunity. She tuts in disgust atthe mess of the childrens play parkwe are walking past. “I used totake my kids here 20 years ago toplay; it’s just such a shame thatwe’ve lost these things now.” Margaret - or Mags as she prefers– is one of the many residents herethat feel they are being left behindby the council. It’s easy to see whymany have reacted negativelytowards the games, with over £100million being poured into thecreation of Sir Chris Hoy’sVelodrome in an area with streets

littered withboarded-up

shop windows. It’s a stark contrast,to say the least. And with CelticFootball Club’s home stadiumdirectly across the road, it’s all tooeasy to feel trapped in a dystopiasurrounded by paradise.It’s hard to believe today, butParkhead was once a thrivingcommunity. A discovery of coal inthe area transformed Parkheadalmost overnight into a bustlinghotbed of industrial works. Famedfor their fine steel, Parkhead Forgeemployed their workers from thearea. Mags grew up on BodenStreet, about five minutes from theForge. Although strictly off-limits tothe children of Parkhead, Mags wasoften playing nearby. “When it gotdark during winter, the Forge wouldstill be open and make a hell of aracket. The sky at night would lightup from the forges flames,something I’ll never forget.”Fast forward 150 years or so andParkhead’s Forge was closed downand converted into a retail centre.With the closure of the Forge,unemployment skyrocketed andthe once frenetic Parkhead beganits downward spiral. Although theretail centre was a great attraction,the surrounding area was left tofend for itself and over a decadeParkhead fell into disrepair. Thecommunity also succumbed to thepitfalls of poverty – drugs becameprevalent along with crime rates.The picture houses shut down, thecafés closed their doors and eventhe pubs began shutting up shop.

This is the Parkhead of today.It’s not even the neglect, but alsothe blatant disregard for the peopleof Parkhead that has piqued Magstemper the most. Following manyevictions in the area for newdevelopments for the games, manyresidents received nocompensation from the council. Thebacklash from the community thatensued has created Parkhead’s‘anti-eviction alliance’ that Magshelps run. “This community isspecial to me and it’s incrediblyclose to my heart. The council aretreating us like fools and this placeis too special for them to ruin it forus.”Parkhead has a decorated history,and has  a vibrant community ofstrong characters. With the gameson the horizon, it seems as thoughthe ball may begin rolling anymoment for Parkhead’s communityto get a revamp that it desperatelyneeds. Although no work hasstarted, Parkhead Cross has beengranted around £4 million to spruceup the place. The listed buildings inthe area are also due to get afacelift, but no date has beenannounced. People like Mags knewthat Parkhead was, at the veryleast,  worth fixing. Hopefully whenthe Commonwealth Games arrivein 2014, the people of Parkheadwill be able to show off their richculture without the blights thatcurrently adorn it. And with anyluck, Mags will be able to takepride in where she will always live.4

The 1980s brought about massyouth unemployment, a financialcrisis for almost everyone in thecountry, with a Conservativegobernment making sweeping cutsdesigned to “save the country” -sound familiar?With the news yesterday thatBritain has entered into the first‘double-dip’ recession - going intorecession again soon after leaving -fears that another generation ofteenagers could become a “lostgeneration” are rampant.However, the young unemployed inClydebank are hoping that a newcouncil program will give them theoppurtunity to gain experience inthe world of work for the first time.West Dunbartonshire council have anew programme which will give 250apprentices the opportunity to gainwork through the council’s ModernApprentice programme. Clydebank as an area is regardedas an unemployment “Black Spot”so this is good news for the area asit has been as the Dumbartonreporter stated last month thatWest Dunbartonshire is the worst

place to try and find a job. A figure around £2.8 million is saidto be invested into this schemewhich will bring the 250 jobs to thearea’s local businesses andvoluntary work sectors as well withthe scheme to bring in theapprentice workers.Peter Welsh from the ScottishCampaigns unit of Trade UnionUNITE commented:“It is getting to the point, where itis the West of Scotland which isequally an unemployment blackspot as well as across the UK.Particularly youth unemployment,this is an issue which is spirallingout of control. Those aged 16-24year old there are 22.5% of themout of work and this is the highestlevels since the records began in1982 and so the creation of anyjobs at this time for youth is great.” However fury over the suspectedwages that these apprentices willreceive has been voiced. It isalleged that out of the 250 newjobs 200 of the workers would bepaid £10 per day and only 50 wouldbe earning more than £2.65 per

hour (£6.50)This has led to criticism of thescheme as it would create morepoverty in the West Dunbartonshirearea than that of which therealready is and critics have said thatthe young people would almost bebetter off on job seekers allowance. Welsh continued: “UNITE are long term campaignersfor fair levels of pay for apprenticesand here at UNITE we are veryrespectful of the fact that youshould be paid for the job you aredoing, regardless of your agerange. We are very much awarethat if people want a qualitystandard of life then they musthave a quality standard of pay, andthis is something which wesupport.” The 200 apprentices earning the£10 per day wage would receivethis with their JSA of £57 per week. Although the new apprenticeshipsare not the best paying by anymeans, positivity can be taken as itis putting 16-24 year olds into fulltime work.  

A LosT GEnERATIon?As Britain slips into a double-dip recession, youth unemployment figures areset to skyrocket. Paul McRae looks at whether local councils, such as WestDumbartonshire, are taking steps to help the youth - and prevent them from

becoming another “lost generation”.

INVESTIGATES...

5

Mikey Reynolds talks to one of the hottest proerties inScottish music, Ayrshire rockers Vukovi.

Ayrshire has always been a fertile breeding ground for new alternative music – just take a look atthe bands the county has produced over the years, from stadium rockers Biffy Clyro to influential

indie band Trash Can Sinatras. Modern day bands are flying the flag just as proudly as any band in thepast, especially one of the latest bands to develop a cult following, Troon’s Vukovi.With a sound described as: “A fight between Rage Against The Machine and Skunk Anansie,” it’s easyto see why Vukovi have captured the minds of so many around Scotland – but it was a prettyinauspicious start for the band, as flame-haired frontwoman Janine Shilstone explains: “Basically, thethree boys were in a band called Wolves, and they were only together for like a few months beforethey felt like it wasn’t really going anywhere and they felt they needed a change.“Martin, the drummer, who I’ve known since primary school, was like, ‘I only know one girl that cansing, and there’s no harm in asking her’, so he Facebooked me and asked me if I fancied going alongfor a rehearsal…and that was it really.”From humble beginnings, things have began to move at lightning speed for the band. Support slots forLondon rockers Futures and fellow Ayrshire hopefuls Fatherson led to media coverage from Scottishmusic tastemakers Jim Gellatly and Vic Galloway as well as radio play on Ally McCrae’s BBC Radio OneIntroducing…in Scotland. Were the band shocked by the reception to their first few releases?“It was a total shock,” explains Shilstone, “We were just in the rehearsal studio for maybe a month,wrote a handful of songs, and we enjoyed it but we never thought it would get the reception it got. 

6

“After we released our first track, ‘Get Hot & Feel The Butterflies’ a month after I’d joined and it got onRadio One Introducing…In Scotland, I think after that we thought, ‘Maybe we should take this a bit moreserious’ because we didn’t really know where it was going to go.”For most bands, being featured on BBC Radio One would be a huge milestone – and Vukovi are nodifferent, especially since their first shot at nationwide exposure came a great deal earlier than most.However, as Janine explains, the band are indebted to Island Records’ scout Yvonne McLellan for theexposure.“We got an email saying they were playing us that night - Yvonne McLellan, the Island Records scout, hadpicked us as one of her ones to watch, A&R tracks. When we found that out, we thought, ‘Shit…this ispretty good’. I just happened to send the song to her - it was just totally out the blue, and we thought,‘Well, it must be alright if it’s getting that kind of play!’”As impressive as nationwide radio play is, the increasingly cut-throat music industry offers little chance forperformers to rest on their laurels – so what next for the Troon four-piece? Vocalist Janine lets us in on afew of the band’s plans: “We’re quite busy just now..”“We’re in the middle of filming our new music video for one of the tracks on our new EP, which is prettymental…a lot of hard work. We’re writing quite a bit, hoping to get a new EP or a single out in time for thefestivals. We’ve also got our first headline show at The Arches in Glasgow, which we’re really excitedabout!”Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Vukovi is their refusal to follow the “We’re dreaming of worlddomination!” path so often tread by new bands in the music papers. When questioned about what shehopes for the band overall, Janine keeps her feet firmly on the ground with her answer.“At the moment, as long as we’ve got a good team built around us – management, agent, press – andwe’re still trying to be ourselves, writing in the same way that we do, I think it’ll all fall into place. We’retrying not to think too much about major goals – obviously we’d love to do some major festivals, andhopefully get another big headline gig in Glasgow very soon, things like that are our goals for just now.”All going to plan, it seems like Vukovi could be the next band to write their name in the rich tapestry ofAyrshire music, alongside local heroes Biffy Clyro. With a perfect inspiration, attitude, and mostimportantly of all, a perfect sound, the band seem set to go far.

7

8

Brew Dog have stirred thingsup in the brewing world as of

late, creating insane beers andtailoring their bars to the mosteclectic of clients. As a company,Brew Dog has flourished -opening bars across the UK andwinning prestigious awards fortheir quality-crafted ales. Since2007, the company hasrevolutionised the industry byadding their own flavour to thecraft. Created by two 24 yearolds, Brew Dog has done sometruly marvellous work in such ashort space of time.The sweet smell of orangeshangs in Brew Dog’s bar inGlasgow. Marcus, the beerspecialist at Brew Dog, had justran through a list of around 10beers with me, none of whichwere under 7% alcoholiccontent.“Trashy blonde is our biggestseller, it’s a pint full of fruit andreally tasty considering howstrong it is.” Marcus went on to explain theprocess of what makes theseBrew Dog beers so special as hewas pouring the golden nectarinto a chilled, frosted glass.“James and Martin spent a longtime looking for the rightbalance of flavour in all of these.It’s really their work that makesthis place special.”‘James and Martin’ are JamesWatt and Martin Dickie, a pair of29-year-old beer aficionadosthat were sick of bad beer. Theydecided to create Brew Dog to

fix the stagnant market ofpopular, watered down beer.Brew Dog Glasgow overlooksKelvingrove art gallery in thewest end, an ideal location forthe left field brewery to guideweary travellers home to theirbeer-mecca. With a robustclientele of families, studentsand professionals, as soon asyou walk in you’re greeted witha warm embrace. Board gamesare readily available, along withsome great home cooked grub.All of that is nice, but it’snothing special. The level of

expertise in such a welcomingbar makes for a uniqueexperience though, and you’releft feeling like you’ve just takena master class in the history ofhops. Marcus was also verygenerous with free samples oftheir numerous varieties of ale,which helped.So then, Brew Dog is a highlyinnovative operation, ran byyoung and insightfulentrepreneurs. Moreover, it feelsas though their passion hasbeen bottled along with theirpotent brews, making you smilewith every sip. But there’s a lot

more to smile about at BrewDog than just their beer. As acompany, they strive for ethicalexcellence in everything theydo. All of the ingredients neededfor the beer is harvested locallyand ethically, and they useabout 35 times more hops intheir brewers compared toindustrial breweries. Brew doglove their beer so much thatthey willingly lose moneythrough expensive ingredientssuch as Motueka and Simcoehops.Leaving Brew Dog is difficult –with such a friendly, laid backatmosphere it really is astruggle to leave. The bar is anexcellent stop off if you’re a fanof beers and even if you don’tit’s such a unique experiencethat it’s absolutely worthspending some time talking tothe likes of Marcus and learn allabout their wondrous craft. BrewDog has made beer fun again –and although they do stockridiculously strong beers it isn’tabout getting black out drunk.It’s this notion of being able toenjoy a drink without regrettingit in the morning that is BrewDog’s best feature. With any luck, they will continueto change the face of beer, andmaybe the face of drinkingculture in Scotland, and continueto revolutuonise the businessworld with their quirky, andinventive approach to beer, andto business itself.

BREWING UP

A STORMIt’s only taken them two years, and now acompany born in Aberdeenshire has takenthe brewery world by storm, and recentlyexpanded to the west coast. Bruce Orrockpaid a visit to see what the fuss was about.

9

once a British institution, professional wrestling has been disregarded as a joke for many years

now. But all over Britain, ‘sports entertainment’ is alive and well, and Mikey Reynolds finds out

what draws people in, some thirty years after wrestling was last shown on prime-time TV.

Professional wrestling has been, for over twentyyears, almost solely the domain of American

organisations, sending their programs to televisionstations over here – but most forget that, onceupon a time, professional wrestling was a Saturdayafternoon tradition, with the whole family hunchedaround a television set to see the latest exploitsfrom halls in Blackpool, Birmingham and more.Modern wrestling is a world away from those days– but companies like Adrian “Lionheart” McCallum’sPro Wrestling Elite are making strides to bringprofessional wrestling back to the people.

Based in South Ayrshire, running shows in locationsincluding Ayr and Cumnock, the company is fastnearing it’s first anniversary – but what does ProWrestling Elite offer that you won’t find on showsby the plethora of British wrestling promotions?“What I’m hoping to do is put on a show thatshowcases some of the very best talent fromScotland, England and Europe as well. Some of theguys on the show will be the same that people cansee all the time, but what makes my show differentis how they’re used. There’s going to be a fantasticatmosphere because the people are going to beused in situations that haven’t been done before.”“I’m hoping to mix it up a wee bit, put the spotlighton and give the opportunity to guys that might notnecessarily have been given that opportunity

elsewhere – for example, I’m taking a young guy,Noam Dar, he’s from Ayr and as good as he is andas much as he gets out and about he hasn’t reallybeen given that main event opportunity on aScottish wrestling show, and I’m going to createthat for him.”The main challenge that faces a wrestling promoteris trying to get the fans through the door.Professional wrestling is a strange beast – it isn’tsport, because the outcomes are pre-determined,but it doesn’t really fit in with the entertainmentbracket. And even for those that don’t shirk at themere mention of ‘sports entertainment’, as it hascome to be known, a certain stigma relating to theBritish wrestling events of old.“In my experience what I find is that even if you’renot really into wrestling it’s just such a fantasticnight out. There’s only so many things in the worldthat can offer you a live experience like a wrestlingshow can – you’re there live, the crowd’sinteracting with the wrestlers, it’s a greatatmosphere.”The athleticism involved in pro wrestling issomething that, much like the actual eventsthemselves, often goes overlooked. But for Adrian,he believes this could be something that continuesto aid the renaissance of professional wrestling.

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once a British institution, professional wrestling has been disregarded as a joke for many years

now. But all over Britain, ‘sports entertainment’ is alive and well, and Mikey Reynolds finds out

what draws people in, some thirty years after wrestling was last shown on prime-time TV.“It’s an impressive thing to witness because the guysthat are on the show, and the ladies as well, put onquite a spectacle of athleticism as well, some of thesethings that the people do in the ring are actually veryimpressive. Even if you’re not into wrestling, give it a trybecause you’ll have a really, really good night, you’ll getinto the atmosphere, you’ll get into the athleticism of it,you’ll just have a good night all in all.”Another challenge facing a promoter like Adrian is theplethora of shows available to a wrestling fan in Britain –and all of incredibly varying quality. From Land’s End toJohn O’Groats, every weekend there will be a scores ofwrestling events in local halls and centres. But whatmakes Adrian’s shows stand out from the crowd?“What I’m hoping to do is put on a show that showcasessome of the very best talent from Scotland, England andEurope as well. I’m flying a guy in from Germany for theshow. Some of the guys on the show will be the samekind of guys that people can see out and about all thetime, but what makes my show different is how thoseguys are used. There’s going to be a fantasticatmosphere because the people are going to be used insituations that haven’t been done before.”“Very often you find in wrestling shows all across thecountry that as good as the shows are, you see thesame faces, the same matches against the sameopponents time after time. I’m hoping to mix it up awee bit, put the spotlight on and give the opportunity toguys that might not necessarily have been given thatopportunity elsewhere – for example, I’m taking ayoung guy, Noam Dar, he’s from Ayr and as good as heis and as much as he gets out and about he hasn’t reallybeen given that main event opportunity on a Scottishwrestling show, and I’m going to create that for him.”Wrestling has come a long way from its roots asSaturday afternoon granny entertainment – but it stillhas a long way to go. Companies like Adrian’s ProWrestling Elite are trying to improve the image of whatwas once one of Britain’s favourite sports – andhopefully, one day, we’ll see British wrestling back ontelevision screens around the country, enjoyed by all thefamily.

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Oracle are a small band with a big sound. The format they use is simple; two people, a guitar and a voice whichwill make you melt.Leio Houghton and Heather Sinclair came together so that Heather could write a song for her boyfriend. Theresult was, “You’re an angel,” which can be found on Soundcloud. Five years later the duo are still writing andplaying together and have decided to release their debut EP – ‘Remember Last Summer,’ on ITunes thissummer. According to guitarist Leio: “We were talking about all the good times with our friends and decided to make thealbum a tribute to all of those times.”The album will be a nostalgic look back at growing up together and being with the people who mean the mostto you.“We don’t listen to other bands and think, ’I want to write like them, we take all our influences from everydaylife, hence the name, ’Remember last Summer.’ We planned to make the first album more upbeat but we maydelve into darker areas later.” Sadly, problems with the producer mean that the EP has not been fully recorded yet and the band may have topush back their release date, however, they still have high hopes and big plans for the launch and the life of theEP.“We plan to have a full band, exclusively for the EP launch, we’ve even got a Djembe player.”There is a definite power in Oracle’s music that will be imprinted in your mind. With the EP in the works, to bereleased this summer, they are well prepared to take the world by storm.

ORACLE: A SMALL BAND WITH A BIG SOUNDSam nicholson chats with the lanarkshire duo about their new ep, and five years together...

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KKiirrssttyy MMccKKeeoowwnn ttaa llkkss ttoo aa HHaammii ll ttoonn wwrr ii tteerr wwhhoo hhaass ttaakkeenntthhee pp ll uunnggee,, aanndd ssee ll ff--pp ii uubb ll iisshheedd hheerr ff ii rrsstt bbooookk

FFrroomm CCooffffeeee HHoouusseettoo PPrr iinntt iinngg HHoouussee.. .. ..

Ernest Hemingway soughtinspiration in one, JK Rowling

wrote the majority of her booksin one, and now, up-and-comingchildren’s author KathleenMcKinstry is about to launch herfirst book “The Haar” from thecomfort of her favouritecoffeehouse, well, if she can findthe time in her, increasingly busy,day to organise it, that is: “For the book launch, I haven’tgot anything official, it will just bea quiet affair, and just have somesignings, that sort of thing. Ithink most of my sales will be atthe book festivals over summer.But one of the reasons I decidedto have the launch so early wasto give me time for the BritishLibrary to pick it up and for bookfestivals and shops to know it’sthere.”McKinstry originally worked as anurse for around thirty years, andcompleted a master’s degree inadvanced health care at theUniversity of the West ofScotland, Hamilton. So when shelost her job due to governmentcutbacks she set about writing,something that had alwaysinterested her:"I've been writing since I wasabout twelve or thirteen, justshort stories and poetry mostly,to start with and then I was offduring a period of illness, a wayback in 2005. Myself and Lucy,my dog, walked the west

highland way and one day shejust ran off into the mist and itstarted giving me an idea for akid's story, what would happen ifsay somebody saw a mysteriousdog on the west highland wayand followed them through themist?"This idea became “The Haar”, thefirst in the Dalriada series, whichfollows the adventures of a youngrunaway who follows amysterious white dog thoroughthe mist and finds himself in 6thcentury Dalriada, the south westof Scotland. The book will be self-publishedunder the company Celtic VineBooks, which McKinstry set upherself:“I set myself up as Celtic Vinebooks, created my ownpublishing company. My storiesare all professionally edited by

literary consultancies so I’mhoping that once I’ve learned allmy mistakes and a lot moreabout publishing, I can startpublishing other peoples. So it'sreally a plus that I can encouragepeople to just reach out and dowhat they've always wanted todo, I always wanted to be awriter and this is my way of doingit” Another way that McKinstryhopes to help and encouragefellow writers is to becomeinvolved with a writing group thatis currently being set up inHamilton:“I going to be teaching otherpeople to do what I've done, thatis to just step out and do it. Ialways wanted to be a writer andnow the paperback is out on thetwenty-first, my first book. The most overwhelming thingwas getting started. I would startsomething from the beginningthen it would peter out and i goback to the beginning and startediting things and start seeingthings that needed changing, if icould give any advice to anywould be writers it would be justget a bit of rough paper and justwrite at the top, it doesn't haveto be perfect and then write,write, write, it doesn't have to bethe beginning just start writingchunks until you get your fullbook then you can go back andedit. Just let rip.”

What do you get if you mixmusic and art? Edinburgh

band FOUND have spent most oftheir career trying to discover justwhat the result would be – andthey’re exploring it even more with#UNRAVEL, their collaboration withformer Arab Strap man AidanMoffat, which opened in Glasgowthis past week as part ofthe International Festivalof Visual Art.Tommy Perman of FOUNDdescribes the project as,“an interactive soundinstallation that exploresthe unreliability ofmemory”, the exhibition isthe project of a year’sworth of work from bothTommy and his band, andone of Scotland’s mostenduring songwriters ofthe 90s and 2000s, AidanMoffat – but how did thecollaboration betweenformer art schoolstudents and a man froma decidedly lesseducational backgroundcome around?“FOUND were asked topitch for a CreativeScotland Vital SparkAward,” explains Tommy,“One of the aims of the

Vital Spark is to get people fromdifferent disciplines workingtogether. We were keen tocollaborate with a writer and AidanMoffat felt like an obvious choice aswe're big fans of his music, andwe're both signed to ChemikalUnderground. Ziggy gave Aidan acall and explained our hair-brained

scheme and luckily for us he wasreally into the idea.”“I want to say that Aidan's a totaldiva and a nightmare to deal with .. . but the truth is he's been anabsolute pleasure to collaboratewith. Aidan's main challenge forthis project was to write 10 shortstories each associated with a

different 7" single. Hethen had to writemultiple versions of eachstory taking the externalinfluences into account.”“There are 16 variationsof each story giving atotal of 160 differenttracks in the #UNRAVELinstallation so I'm sureyou can understand thatit was quite anundertaking. When Aidansent us the stories I wastotally blown away. Hereally got into the spirit ofthe project and it wasfascinating readingthrough the differentversions of each storyand looking at how he'ddealt with effects externalinfluences might have onyour memory. I reallylove his clever use oflanguage – it's concise,unfussy and with plenty

“#UNRAVEL is an interactive sound installation thatexplores the unreliability of memory. It centres round arecord player and ten 7" records. The 7"s are all wellknown singles from the 60s to the 90s, you're likely torecognise most of them. Visitors are encouraged tochoose a record and play it on the turntable. As soon asthey drop the needle onto the vinyl the installation willjump into action, but instead of hearing the music of therecord you've chosen, you'll hear a short story by Aidanassociated with that record. The stories aresoundtracked by brand new music composed by FOUNDand performed by a series of mechanised acousticmusical instruments (a percussion set, some tubularbells and a combo organ).”“If all that wasn't bizarre enough, each time you listen toyou might hear a different version of the story. Thestories react to a range of influences. There are twoexternal influences that visitors to the exhibition cancontrol (Audience and Opinion) and two that theydefinitely can't (the time of day and the weather). Thestories vary depending on the conditions at the time.The #UNRAVEL installation also cares what you think - ifyou Tweet some kind words about it then you'll hear aconfident version of a story but slag it off on Twitter andit'll get depressed and you'll hear an insecure version.”

FF OO UU NN DD HH AAVV EE BB EE EE NN BB LL UU RR RR II NN GG TT HH EE LL II NN EE SS BB EE TT WW EE EE NN MM UU SS II CC AA NN DD AA RR TT SS II NN CC EE 22 00 00 77 --AA NN DD TT HH EE II RR NN EE WW EE XX HH II BB II TT II OO NN II SS NN OO DD II FF FF EE RR EE NN TT,, AA SS MM II KK EE YY RR EE YY NN OO LL DD SS DD II SS CC OO VV EE RR SS .. .. ..

collaborator) goad each other on a lot of the time – especially when we're writing funding proposals. We seemto come up with these ridiculously ambitious ideas, mostly things that we have no idea how to achieve.”“When we found out our Vital Spark proposal had been successful we were elated, until it dawned on us thatwe were actually going to have to go through with the project. There then followed a gruelling 10 months ofgraft to get #UNRAVEL finished in time for the Glasgow International Festival. It's been tough but I think we've

got a great deal out of it and I hope that it won't beour last collaboration with Aidan.”With their art school background, it would be easyto pigeon-hole FOUND as the archetypal oddballoutfit, but the band are much more than art schoolgraduates with lofty ideas – as proved by theirnomination for the Scottish Album of the Year for2011’s Factorycraft. Their collaborator, Aidan Moffatis also shortlisted for the same award, for hisEverything’s Getting Older album, alongside BillWells. But for FOUND, there’s no choosing betweenart or music, as Tommy explains;“I wouldn't like to say that one is more important

than the other. I suppose that we go through phases where we're working on projects that could be seen asmostly art and then periods where we're writing, recording and touring a lot of music. Quite a lot of ourprojects have been a fusion of visual art and music. Our common interest in art and music is pretty much whyme, Kev and Ziggy started working together in the first place.”

of black humour.”#UNRAVEL is, as hinted at by Tommy, a completelyuser determined experience. Everything, from thesize of the audience, to the weather outside affectswhat version of Aidan Moffat’s ‘stories’ the audiencewill be treated to – and obviously, a project with somany variables was a massive undertaking for bothFOUND and Moffat. How did they cope with such animmense undertaking?“The short answer is yes,” answers Tommy, “Thelonger answer is, yes and no . . . I think that now theexhibition has opened to the public and we're gettingsome pretty nice feedback I'm really happy and willmost likely forget a lot of the trials and tribulationsthat we faced along the way. ““Me, Ziggy and Simon (Kirby – our longtime

““ QQ UU II TT EE AA LL OO TT OO FF OO UU RR PP RR OO JJ EE CC TT SS HH AAVV EEBB EE EE NN AA FF UU SS II OO NN OO FF VV II SS UU AA LL AA RR TT AA NN DDMM UU SS II CC .. OO UU RR CC OO MM MM OO NN II NN TT EE RR EE SS TT II NN AA RR TTAA NN DD MM UU SS II CC II SS PP RR EE TT TT YY MM UU CC HH WW HH YY MM EE ,,KK EE VV AA NN DD ZZ II GG GG YY SS TTAA RR TT EE DD WW OO RR KK II NN GG TT OO GG EE TT HH EE RR II NN TT HH EE FF II RR SS TT PP LL AA CC EE .. ””

TOMMY PERMAN, FOUND

It’s looking like #UNRAVEL could be just the beginning forFOUND, as they plan a host of new events and productions –including a potential physical release of #UNRAVEL and a tourwith fellow Scottish musician King Creosote towards the end ofthe year in China. There’s no telling where the band will go fromhere, but they’re certainly an outfit to keep an eye on.#UNRAVEL is open daily from 10am-6pm at SWG3, 100 EastvalePlace Glasgow, and runs from Friday 20th April until 7th May2012.

The University of the West of Scotland hopes tobecome a hub of the creative industries – and

it’s a hope shared by their students, particularly ontheir Commercial Music degree program. Taught atthe university’s state-of-the-art Ayr campus, thecourse has seen guest lecturers ranging fromGarbage’s Shirely Manson, Deacon Blue’s Ricky Rossand Senior A & R Manager for Sony BMG, DavidBates.We spoke to Kilmarnock’s own Andy K – real nameAndy Kerr – a third year student on the course, whoperforms both as a soloist and with The Sidelines.Andy first learned guitar at the age of 14, andbegan performing and writing his own music at theage of 16. He still performs as a solo artist but now most of hismusical output is with his band, The Sidelines. Con-sisting of Andy and a friend he met on the course,Sophie Rogers, the band take a unique look atmusic: “I would say there’s quite a difference in thesound between our recordings and our live sound aswhen we play live we play with two acoustic guitars.However, in the studio, we aim to use as many dif-ferent instruments as possible, from bass to keysand even adding in drum machine parts to bolsterthe rhythm.Both Andy and Sophie are in the third year of their

Commercial Music degree at UWS’ Ayr campus andAndy believes that the course has made a great dif-ference to his career: “Prior to joining the course Ihad no idea about how the industry worked andhow record labels and promotion worked. Now Ihave a clearer understanding of these areas. Thelecturers have also been very supportive and helpfulto me when I needed their advice.”“Our producer, Michael Stewart, is in the same yeargroup as Sophie and myself and I must say he’s hada big impact on the group’s recorded sound, I speakvery highly of him as his knowledge of many as-pects of recording groups seems to know nobounds.”Andy K has been performing since 2007, and de-scribed the high points of his music career so far as:“I’ve played to a sold-out crowd at the Magnum inIrvine, I’ve played alongside acts such as The Imag-ineers, Folé and Brown Bear & The Bandits andheadlined at Barrowlands 2.The future certainly looks bright for one of the newgeneration of Scottish musicians, both as a soloistand with The Sidelines, and with the support ofUWS’ Commercial Music program. The Sidelineshave two songs available for download on theirBandcamp page

(http://thesidelines.bandcamp.com). 

Western Talent: The Sidelines

UWS: Music Academy?Scotland’s biggest modern university has pledged its commitment to the performing arts - and it’s clear to see at the brand new 70million campus in Ayr, home to one of

Scotland’s few Commercial Music BA courses, and Mikey Reynolds speaks to students from the course as well as looking at some of the music produced.

16

Another talent produced by the UWS Ayr campus in the past few years has produced is Folé, who recently re-leased their 4-track EP ‘Better Sights’ for free on the internet.

The EP opens with Foley’s voice and guitar, before picking up, increasing the pace and introducing drums. Simi-lar in style to fellow Scots Frightened Rabbit, lyrically the song is about looking forward, as Foley sings, “Keepclimbing/Keep plowing along/’Cos I know we have Better Sights.” “Shakespeare Says” compares a romance toRomeo and Juliet’s fabled relationship. The song is the low point of the album, if there was to be one, its simi-larity to the opener makes it fade into the background and become the least memorable song of the four.The third track of the EP, ‘Randoms’, is the stand out track on the record. A scathing song describing the infi-delity of an ex-girlfriend, the bitterness sears through the song, with the ‘Randoms’ of the title being asked to“turn out the light” when they leave. The song finishes with a true singalong chorus -  “I am innocent/I am in-

nocent/Yes, I am innocent.”

The album ends with “Stitches”, the EP’s softest tracl. Foley’s soft guitars lead the enjoyable, if not life affirmingtrack – much like “Shakespeare Says,” it suffers from the power of the song before overshadowing it. The EP shows a tremendous amount of promise from Folé. If they can build on this

success, Folé will be a band to watch out for.

The brand new £70million UWS Ayr Campus

UWS: Music Academy?Scotland’s biggest modern university has pledged its commitment to the performing arts - and it’s clear to see at the brand new 70million campus in Ayr, home to one of

Scotland’s few Commercial Music BA courses, and Mikey Reynolds speaks to students from the course as well as looking at some of the music produced.

17

You Me At Six brought their ‘Sinners Never Sleep’tour to Glasgow last month on Tuesday March 27.

The 6,000-strong crowd (mainly consisting ofdesperate mid-teenaged girls) in the SECC’s Hall 3was to be the bands’ biggest headline show to date.It could be said that expectations were high, butmany long-time (a.k.a above drinking age) fansresented the fact that YMAS had reached such a bigand bland venue. Nevertheless, it was granted thatthey were there for a reason.London ‘reggae rock’ band The Skints attempted tokick the evening off, but failed to gain any love froma crowd pining for the pop-punk they – or perhapstheir parents – had paid for. Floridian Mayday Paradefollowed and sounded average, playing a seven-songset consisting equally of tracks written by a vocalistwho left the group years ago, along with the onesthey have churned out more recently in a try tomatch them. They provided sing-alongs andexcitement for the eager audience, but if you areever after some Mayday action, stay at home andlisten to their debut record instead.The night really started with Kids in Glass Houses.The South Wales ensemble are known for consistentlive performances, and even an arena infamous formaking great acts sound bad they did notdisappoint. They pulled out some old favourites fromtheir first album, ‘Smart Casual’, and sounded asfresh as ever. The 80’s-pop vibe that has surfaced in

their latest album ‘In Gold Blood’ got the partygoing, and vocalist Aled Phillips never missed a notethroughout their 40-minute set.

YMAS stormed on with all spotlights blazing, openingwith the lead single, ‘Loverboy’, from their latestalbum ‘Sinners Never Sleep’. After complaining ofvocal problems via Twitter earlier in the tour, in thisfirst instance vocalist Josh Franceschi soundedstrong. They fired out a few from their previouseffort, ‘Hold Me Down’, before reverting to the newwith ‘Jaws on the Floor’ which, sadly, sounded a bitoff. It is a strong track on record, but even to amusically un-trained ear it was clear that the keyhad been played with. On the verses Franceschisounded low and growly with the chorus a bit pitchy.To the outrage of most longer-serving listeners, thetitle track from their first album ‘Take Off YourColours’ was the only older song in the set. However,they can be forgiven for this – times have changed

You Me At Six are a bandwho deserve success.

They make a good soundand held their own on this

massive occasion

YoU ME AT sIXsECC HALL 3

TUEsDAY MARCH 27

18

ALL nEW PEoPLEKing’s Theatre - Tuesday February 14

I never thought I would enjoywatching a man try to kill himself

so much.All New People opened at King’sTheatre this month after taking thestates by storm, a dark comedydealing with loneliness and suicide.It’s hard not to compare theproduction to Braff’s previous work.He already proved that he is morethan an awkward and geeky doctorwith 2004 film Garden State, whichhe also wrote. All New People,however, is another step forwardfor the star.The play opens with Charlie, playedby Braff, smoking his last cigarette,ready to end it all when threeunlikely characters come crashing,quite literally into his life.It is about four people who reallyneed each other, although they donot know it yet, finding each otheron one cold winter’s eve.All of the characters have a past,which they reveal to Charlie, andthe audience, throughout the playwith the use of flashbacks.The delivery style of theseflashbacks is what makes the playspecial. Large projector screensshow previously filmed footageover which the cast can talk.These cut-scenes are the onlytimes when other cast membersare featured. The play itself hasonly four actors allowing theaudience to focus on them moreeasily, and making each oneaccessible and easier to relate to.However, there are some flaws. Ofcourse there is a difference

between acting on stage and onscreen, however some points feltover acted.At one point where there is ascreaming match between Braffand co star Eve Myles, who playsstruggling estate agent Emma,adopting almost a slapstickapproach which, unfortunately,lowers the tone a little.For the most part though, the playbalances comedy and tragedyperfectly and should be marked asa triumph for Braff and directorPeter Dubois.However it must be said that thebreakout star is not Braff but PaulHilton, whose drug loving,character seems to be a contrast toBraff’s cleaner-cut one. However itdoes not take long to see that he ismuch more than that, proving thatlooks can be deceiving.Susannah Fielding plays the fourth,Kim, a ditzy blonde escort trying toreach her dreams of becoming asinger. Yet again it is proven thatlooks can be deceiving, and,without giving away the plot, don’tbe so quick to think she may befooling herself.An underlying note of the story isthat people who seem insignificantcan have the greatest effect onyour life. This seems to be acommon theme with Braff as heshowed with Garden State thatchance meetings change your life.All New People is a must for fans ofcomedy and darker tones alike as it delivers on all fronts. Sam Nicholson

sECC HALL 3

TUEsDAY MARCH 27rapidly for YMAS, and frankly therehave been plenty opportunities fortheir original followers to hear theolder stuff live.The set swung on with a mix oftracks from the latest two records,with ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ ballad‘Crash’ being the heartfelt highlight.The show ended with the “heavy”‘Bite My Tongue’, and Josh made afeeble attempt to fill in Oli Sykes’aggressive vocal – he saw it throughwithout tearing his vocal chordsapart, but it was laughable. Stick tothe melodies, Josh, because you aregetting pretty good at them.On a night like this, you could beforgiven for wondering what hashappened in the past couple of yearsto make this band so huge. Having aTop-3 album in the kitty and the factthat you can hardly turn on RadioOne without hearing them could bea lot do with it. But, rather thanbeing cynical, maybe it is becauseYMAS are a band who deservesuccess. They make a good sound,and they held their own on thismassive occasion. Where will they

take us next?       Barbara Millar19

FAITHLEss: PAssInG

THE BATonLive DVD

ReviewPASSING the baton saw the culmination of one of thegreatest dance bands careers of all time. Faithless, possibly the most influential dance acts tograce the world of music, spanning a career of 16years the pioneers saw the end of their career aftertheir last three sold out dates last April. April 8th saw the final time that Faithless would playas a band with their sold out Brixton Academy datewhich was broadcast around the world and filmed forthe final ever release from the London 3-some. The retirement of the band was speculated early in2011 however it was not until the 16th of March whenvocalist Maxi Jazz posted on his own website that theband would in fact end after the current tour and hesaid: "But, like when writing a song, you always justknow when it’s finished… this is and was the ThankYOU And Goodbye tour."The DVD features an entire 2 hour set of music and aninterview with Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. Featuring classic Faithless material such as“Insomnia”, “Mass Destruction”, “God Is a DJ”, “SalvaMea” and “We Come 1” and material from newestrelease “The Dance” with songs; “Happy” and “NotGoing Home” there is a vast array of material forevery fan from the ages of 20 , 30 or even 13. From myself, not normally a dance fan, Faithless havebeen in my life from a very early age and have stayedwith me throughout, and pioneer what change for anact of their style can achieve. It really is hard to fault this DVD from theperformance of the band, Maxi’s capability, even in his

50’s, to take an audienceby the hand and takethem through an amazingride, with political lyricsand general feel goodvibes that he creates withhis rap style vocal or eventhe set-list, it is clear that16 years on any venuethat the band play it istheirs, and their fans,church. Paul McRae

The opening strains of ‘The Shape of Things To Come’by The OK Social Club tell you everything you need toknow – they’re taking the happier elements ofScottish music, from Bis to Dananananaykroyd, andthey’re updating it for the 21st century.There’s certainly promise here. ‘Shape of Things ToCome’ brims with energy, and shows a nice change ofpace as the song moves towards its close.The single is backed up by ‘Twist, Learn, Kick andScream and ‘Twisted Young Gentlemen’. ‘Twist, Learn,Kick and Scream’ is pretty standard b-side fare, a nicesong, but nothing of note. ‘Twisted Young Gentlemen’

is the hidden gem of thiscollection.

All in all, ‘The Shape of Things To Come’ is a decentdebut single. ‘Twist, Learn, Kick and Scream’ is theonly song that doesn’tleave an impression, butother songs show there’spromise, and if this is‘The Shape of Things ToCome’  then maybe it’sworth keeping an ear tothe ground for these boys- especially ahead of theirdebut album release thissummer.Mikey Reynolds

oK soCIAL CLUB - sHAPE oF THInGs To CoME

Parkway Drive, from Byron Bay in Australia hit up theUK for the final run of shows promoting their 2010record ‘Deep Blue’. This is the third time that Parkway Drive has gracedour shores after releasing ‘Deep Blue’ and by far thebest show that I have seen them put on. Being one of the only metal-core bands that I cansafely say has a following as crazy as any moremainstream band in the world, people flock out tosee a parkway drive show, selling out venues in noless than a day-just lucky I could get guest listed. The band opened with the opening track of ‘DeepBlue’- ‘Unrest’ with what words can only describe asan unrest, the crowd’s reaction to the band hittingthe stage was simply crazy, with everyone floodingforward to get to the front. The band relentlessly tore through a set which didn’tseem like they were on stage for long- but I guessthat’s a good thing as if it felt that it was draggingon, clearly it wasn’t that enjoyable, well it was! Playing a mixture of material that they have notplayed on a tour from all the albums and even a newtrack from the fourth coming album which is set togo into production right after this leg of the tour isfinished, Parkway Drive are a band at the top of theirgame who clearly love the craziness of the Scottishcrowd and the energy that the band and the crowdput out there at shows is insane! Even if we do not see Parkway Drive in Glasgowagain for a long time, this was a show to rememberthem by until such times. Paul McRae

PARKWAY DRIVE - APRIL 19

21

Mcfly brought there ‘Keep Calm and Play Louder’ tourto Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium earlier this month.

For the past couple of years, things had gone fairlyquiet for Mcfly – but thanks to the reality-televisionsuccess for their troubled jungle-bassist Dougie Poyn-ter and dancing drummer Hurry Judd at the end oflast year, things have been on the up again. Rapidly.

Like every other show on this 29-date UK tour, the Au-ditorium sold outwithin hours. Now,you might scoff andsay this is only due totheir manic (and re-sistant) fan-base, butthey in fact know howto put on a corker of ashow.

The 90-minute set kicked off with the track ‘NowhereLeft to Run’ from their poor 2009 album ‘Above theNoise’. Despite this not being a favourite among mostof their followers, it sounded worthy and revived.

Soon after, the crowd were treated to a new numbercalled “Do Watcha” from the bands’ pending sixthalbum: this sounded different, but still with that truepop-undertone lead singer and songwriter TomFletcher has managed to maintain since the days ofBusted a decade ago. Like their last album effort tried

to do, it had a hint of electro to it – but far better, ob-viously.

Most of their set consisted of all their best hits (StarGirl, Five Colours in Her Hair et al) but which a fewsurprises including an acoustic rendition ‘No Worries’-a little known (but much-loved) B-side from 2005. Asolo track of Danny’s from the third album ‘Motion inthe Ocean’ – ‘Walk in the Sun’ – was also brought tothe table in the encore.

The winning piece of the nighthad to be ‘Red’, another newbie,which figuratively took the roofoff with its heavy riffs and bel-lowing vocal from Danny Jones.If this is what the next lot ofpop-rock from the group soundslike, You Me At Six (and all therest) should be taking some se-

rious notes.

Overall, Mcfly are a band to be respected after a per-formance of this calibre. As Fletcher pointed out, theyare in their ninth year and show no intentions of hang-ing up their plectrums. Okay, they have had a lull, butthey are back and look set to do their best work yet.

Mcfly are set to play T in the Park on the Sunday ofthe festival. Tickets are stillavailable. 

Things had gone prettyquiet for Mcfly - but thanksto their reality televisionsuccess, things have beenon the up again. Rapidly.

MCFLYCLYDE AUDIToRIUM

FRIDAY APRIl 13

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LIsTInGsArgyll and Bute:Isle of Bute Jazz FestivalMay 4-6Tickets: £40-45 (weekendpass price)Individual event prices varyVarious VenuesContact: 01700503640www.butejazz.comOne of Europe’s most popularJazz festivals is about to cele-brate its 25 anniversary witha line up including ChicagoTeddy Bears Society JazzBand, Jamie Brownfield Quin-tet, Fat Sam’s Band, RoseRoom and many more. Theevent kicks off with The JazzParade at Guilford Sq. on theSaturday (time to be con-firmed.)

Glasgow:O2 Academy Glasgow: Contact: 08444772000Jimmy CliffSaturday May 19Times to be confirmedTickets: £22.50

KeaneThursday May 24Door time 7.00pmTickets: £ 25.00

LeelandSunday June 3

Door time: 7.00pmTickets: £14.00

King Tuts Wah Wah Hut: Contact 01412215279Nina NesbittThursday May 178.00pmTickets: £8.44

The CrookesTuesday May 228.30 pmTickets: £6.94

Papa MMonday May 288.30pmTickets: £ 13.00

Maggie Mays: The MeatmenSunday May 5 and TuesdayJune 126.00pmTickets: Free Entry

DJ Lee CraigMay June 1211.00pmTickets: Free Entry

The BoxThe Shawn Halley Band, Lostsociety, Twisted Rainbow andNicky SmithMonday April 308.00pm-3.00amFree entry

Blues Open MicEvery Sunday8.00pmFree entry

Glasgow International Festi-val of Visual ArtApril 20 - May 7Tickets: free unless otherwisestatedVarious VenuesContact: 01412768384info@glasgowinternational.org

For two weeks a series ofevents will be taking place in

Glasgow celebrating it’s vi-sual art with a series ofevents, talks, tours and someworld-class exhibitions at lo-cations such as the GlasgowMuseum of Modern Art(GOMA) and Tramway as wellas at some local artists stu-dios. 

The Stand Comedy ClubRed RawEvery Tuesday Door time: 7.30 pm£2

Wicked WenchesWednesday May 2Door time: 7.30pmAdults: £6Concessions: £5

Members: £3Michael Redmond’s SundayServiceSunday May 6Door time: 7.30pmAdults: £10Concessions/members: £9

The Fun JunkiesWednesday May 9Door time: 7.30pmAdults: £5Concessions: £4Members: £2.50

Kirsty McKeown

JIMMY CLIFF, PERFoRMInG In

GLAsGoW THIs MonTH.CoMEDIAn MICHAEL REDMonD

PERFoRMs AT THE sTAnD In MAY.

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