If you haven’t been to a gig on a boat, you haven’t lived. Especially a boat which is mostly glass, meaning when the sun is shining, it’s truly spectacular. Glasgow’s Renfrew Ferry is just such a place. It’s quite busy this evening for this charity gig. A rather eclectic line-up is matched by a rather eclectic crowd, some there for the music, some there for the causes (Erskine and Guide Dogs for the Blind.) But in the end, any event which centres around bands will stand or fall by them. You can be as polite as you like, but if you are faced with a tuneless racket in the name of charridee, you’ll be sorely tempted to stick a fiver in the bucket and head off in search of something good.
So there’s pressure. Good job then, that they manage to deliver. First up are the First National Band, described by the MC as Americana, which they are in that peculiarly Scottish way, but they owe as much to Big Star as they do to Uncle Tupelo. Glorious harmonies match the sunny atmosphere and there are choruses you could take home to meet your parents. It’s evocative of a lot of great bands, particularly Teenage Fanclub’s more Gram Parsons moments, and it’s great. They cover Buffalo Springfield which is always a risk; it can dwarf the rest of your set. The fact that it doesn’t is testament to how strong the rest of the songs are. They play a punchy, sharp 30 minute set. It’s a good start.
They are followed by The Underground Jam. Don’t be fooled by the name; they are a Jam tribute band. And, thankfully, they are a very good one. The songs are, of course, wonderful but you knew that already. What is important with any tribute act is how they are delivered and on that front, they don’t disappoint. All the classics are belted out and they really get the crowd going, which is what they are supposed to do. It’s a cracking set, ending with an encore of ‘When You are Young’. Top fun, and as valid as From the Jam, frankly.
Red Track are next up, hotly tipped and in that first great rush of a new band. It’s a really interesting time to see a band when they are in this stage of their career, when they are in a van and taking on the world, like the last gang in town. that’s an apposite feeling, because there is a strong Clash influence at work here. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. They have a ferocious energy on stage and a way with a great rock song. They could easily be a band most likely to. Keep an eye on them.
Finally closing the evening are Vigo Thieves. A four-piece from Lanarkshire, they provide a suitably loud and involving end to the set. It’s pop and it’s rock and it’s great. The songs are well-formed and the crowd lap it up. The band are young, and quite sweetly shy, but they end the evening on a high and certainly have a lot of potential.
So a good cause and good music. It leaves one feeling all warm and fuzzy.
Filed under: gigs Tagged: | last national band, red track, travisfest, vigo thieves
