Gigs Of The Year

This year saw me attending more gigs than I did last year but there were still loads that I was unable to attend due to financial constraints or travelling with work.

Like last year the accolade of worst gig of the year goes to that spineless bastard Smith, not his band mind you,  who sounded great but the git himself who yet again decided that the crowd in Edinburgh did not deserve any effort on his part. Once more, thanks and I hope your feet continue to cause you problems you git.

There is no contest for gig of the year the accolade must go to the Boy Wonder who along with a very tight band put in a performance that even now thinking back on it has put a grin on my face but please, please, please Roddy don't leave it three years until you tour again!.

A mention must go to the Vaccines, not for the music, they weren't bad,  but just for the delight on Max's face throughout and my shoulders which have just about recovered from him bouncing up and down on for most of the 45 minutes they were on stage.

Roddy Frame - The Boy Wonders (Live at Ronnie Scott's)

The Vaccines - If You Wanna (Live from London)

The picture is of a not too patient son waiting for the Vaccines to take the stage at Latitude.

Nostalgia's Not What It Used To Be

So, I'm standing there with L, front and centre in the ABC and who comes and stands next to me? The one and only Vinyl Villain, pleasantries were exchange and I was introduced to the rest of his gang, after which he said " well,  are you going to review this then .  . . "  I explained that gig reviews are not really my thing, as I never remember set lists, running orders,  band members etc. But I capitulated in the end as what with him being away and having other things to concentrate on, you people would miss out on hearing how the Boy Wonder's first outing in over a decade with a band turned out. So here is my gig review.

Roddy Frame at the ABC in Glasgow was absolutely fucking wonderful.

Somebody once said nostalgia isn't what it used to be, whoever that was was talking through their arse either that or they have never experienced a Roddy Frame gig. At one point, during Oblivious I was fourteen again, at the school disco, stomach full of butterflies asking the girl of my dreams to dance. During Killermont Street, I was transported to my cold flat in Aberdeen, winter of my first year of Uni, homesick and longing for the security and warmth of home in the west.

It was pretty easy to track my development from petulant teenager to married middle aged man through the music being played last night.

I always come out of a Roddy Frame gig elated but also a little angry that a musician and wordsmith of such prowess has never been given the recognition that he deserves when other numpties from the eighties, take your pick, it's easy, got lauded with praise and sold shed loads of albums. Not that Frame seems all that bothered judging by the performance last night. He looked as if he was loving every single minute and he even made a joke about being on "the fringes of the post punk indie scene".

I must mention that the backing band were brilliant and it looks as though he has stolen at least half of Edwyn Collins touring band. The guitarist and also the bass player, neither of whos' name I can remember, which incidently has nothing to do with their ability but more of me having the memory of a particulalry forgetful goldfish these days,  seem to have either been put out on loan or have decided to jump ship. The keyboard player I have seen play with Roddy before but the drummer was entirely new to me. They dealt with the tracks which spanned Frame's whole career with the exception of Dreamland with the respect such classics deserve.

I have only two gripes about the evening.

Firstly, that there was only one new song aired, so no new album anytime soon!

Also the gig was over far too quickly no sooner had he taken the stage than he was off again , okay that is a slight exaggeration, they did play for over an hour and a half but it felt like about ten minutes. Personally and I don't think I was alone in feeling this last night, that they could have played for three hours and it still would not have been long enough.

Oh, and while I'm at it, I'm sure Mr Frame has a portrait locked away in an attic somewhere as he looks no older now than he did in 1990, the bastard!

Nostalgia isn't what it once was, last night it was so much better than that.

Roddy Frame - Rock God

The Boy Wonder Returns

There was reason to rejoice this week at the news that  Roddy Frame will be making a long awaited return north of the border this October. Not only that but he will be touring with a band , for the first time in over a decade. The starting up of all this nonsense was as a direct result of Mr Frame's last visit to Glasgow. So you know that momentous things come in the wake of a visit from the Boy Wonder.

This would have been reason enough to celebrate this weekend but it was also the 21st birthday of my oldest nephew, jesus, that makes me feel old,  who I think will have a rather sore head this morning.

Last night I really did morph into my father at D's party when I found myself saying " all this shit sounds the same" although my father would have been a bit more eloquent about it. What is it with the use of vocorders and "singers" on helium? I think that if  I ever met this David Guetta character I would resort to extreme violence. Still we did get two Stone Roses and one Strokes tune which I think was intended to placate the oldies. However note to any aspiring DJ's and young folk alike it is not ironic to like Shang A Lang, it is just a pish song by a dodgy 70s boy band, ok?

Oh,  and I also found out that one of my nephew's lecturers is a blogger familiar to a few of us. Small world isn't it!

Anyway here is a song from a bygone age when songs had real lyrics, real instruments and not a vocoder in sight.

Aztec Camera - Spanish Horses

Bigger Brighter Better

I had a bit of a Roddy Frame fest yesterday but decided to play the albums that I seem to over look for the more obvious choices such as High Land Hard Rain or Surf. So I played the final two Aztec Camera albums Dreamland and Frestonia and also the first much overlooked solo album the North Star. All 3 albums are brilliant both musically and lyrically. Why Roddy Frame is not more highly regarded is a mystery to me, it also makes me quite angry when you see some of the mediocre musicians and song writers that are venerated in the music press and beyond.

Here is as Roddy says on one of the live cds "an autobiographical song" from the afore mentioned North Star. I was going to post Sun from the Frestonia lp as it was rather pleasant up here yesterday but by posting it I would probably put the kibosh on that.

It has been far too long since we have had either any new material or a tour from The Boy Wonder.

Roddy Frame - Bigger Brighter Better

The Boy Wonder

Anybody that knows me, will tell you that I have a bit of an obsession for the boy wonder and will tell anyone who will listen, how criminally underrated I think he is and with the exception of a large part of Love that his output is singularly impeccable.

(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice was a track recorded for a special NME album Ruby Trax recorded to celebrate the magazine's 40th Anniversary. It is worth getting a hold of as some of the covers are very good indeed, the Manics - Suicide is Painless and the Jesus And Mary Chain's interpretation of Little Red Rooster and some downright mad The Fall's Legend Of Xanadu.

The second track was originally on Roddy's first solo album The North Star a forgotten gem. I saw copies of the cd for sale for 3 quid in Fopp the other week and couldn't believe that it was so cheap. This version comes from the Live In Osaka cd which can be purchased here.

Both tracks are rather upbeat in keeping with the mood this week.

Aztec Camera/Andy Fairweather-Low - (If Paradise is) Half As Nice

Roddy Frame - Reason For Living