Rose Parade - Sell out B*st*rds

There are two words that when put together elicit equal amounts of joy and sadness.

They are sold, followed by out.

If we aren't going to go down the path of talking about artists who have allegedly sold out their credibility for stardom.

Then what we are left with is the proclamation of the two words together regarding an event being now ticket-less.

On the one side of the coin are the artists who know that people are going to make the effort to come and see them, and a busy night rather than playing to one man and his dog, is ahead of them.

For the venue the words are accompanied by the ringing of their tills.

For a promoter the sound is one of a sigh of relief, and for those with tickets there's a smug little voice reminding them that shelling out early for a ticket was a good idea.

On the other side of the coin are those who thought that they would just leave it until the night and pop in.

The ones who know that they had the chance to attend, but let it slip through their fingers.

With them sharing sad faces are unfortunately the people who simply didn't have the means at their disposal to grab a ticket and are now a tad pee'ed off that the night has arrived and they are still skint.

I feel for the later, but I'm not so fussed about the former.

And tonight is one of those nights that draws out all those feelings.

Rose Parade actually sold out weeks ago, but tonight is the night where all the work they have put into recording their debut album is revealed.

The excitement is mounting and with three excellent supports in place it's all shaping up to be a 'you had to be there' gig.

I'm fully expecting to indulge in a weekend of reading posts from people on the social networking sites that mention how utterly fantastic the gig was.

I would advice people to pop in as early as they can so that they can grab a bite from the much loved menu that the 13^th Note has prior to them securing a space with a prime view.

I can feel it in my water that this is going to kick off in a spectacular manner.

The Imagineers/The Limoncellos/Julia Doogan/Alan Frew - Su Casa - 15/11/12 (Ayr)

I'm not sure if it's a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but it was nice to be back in Su Casa again.

The light, warmth, and smells of coffee and cake emanating from the venue were akin to a positive siren song that was guiding us from the cold and dark evening outside to the safe haven inside.

So who were we to decline the offer.

Once seated it wasn't long before Alan Frew opened up the evening with a short, but exquisite set.

I haven't seen Alan perform recently, and while I have always been impressed with his material, voice and musical ability, it seemed to be that there was another little touch of magic this time out.

Something that you can't really put your finger on.

It's possible that his recent short tour of the north of Scotland has revitalized him, but whatever it is I'm sure most would agree that this was a set that displayed Alan's many talents in a very flattering light.

With some new material that he has been working on with Mark Rafferty on the horizon it is certainly looking like the future is full of promise.

Unfortunately any bonhomie that Alan had woven into the room was swept away with what could have been the most unsatisfying performance I have ever seen in Su Casa.

Julia Doogan, while technically singing well, looked as if she would rather be anywhere else other than with us.

If there was an award for heavy sighs and the dramatic rolling of eyes to convey a degree of disgust then this was a gold medal performance.

Any talent that Julia has was vastly over shadowed with the poor attitude that was on display.

For all intents and purposes it felt as if the audience had arrived just in time to miss an argument, but had to sit through the uncomfortable aftermath that's heavy with the fallout.

This was also the second time that I have seen her perform a without a set list, and it seem obvious that having one would have allowed the performance to flow far better than it did.

Without it we were left having to squirm as she half spoke to herself about what she should play next.

It was an awkward appearance and one that I wouldn't like to see again.

When this happens you sometimes have to ask yourself if your own lack of enthusiasm is misplaced, unbalanced and even unfair, but as the night progressed others commented similarly so make of that what you will.

Following on from Julia were local band The Limoncellos who were making their debut in Su Casa

It was a performance that they would probably rather forget as one technical issue led to another and another, but their set was nowhere near as bad as they may think it was.

I would personally rather see a band that can bring a bit of passion to a performance, even if they are stumbling through difficulties, than a note perfect but sterile one.

There was plenty to get your teeth into as they stumbled through their set, and that's a good thing.

If a band can maintain the attention of an audience even when things aren't going well then consider what the reaction would be if they nailed it.

In among a few original they placed a couple of covers that displayed a range of influences.

First was some Springsteen and then the leftfield choice of Radiohead.

Both appeared to polarize the audiences opinion of the band, but once again I could argue that this is a good thing.

At times a band should challenge those they are there to entertain and that's certainly what The Limoncellos did.

Hopefully we will be hearing more from this band in the near future as there's something there. 

Maybe a spark that could be lead to something rather special.

The Imagineers, who finished the night, are still knocking it out of the park for me.

With each performance they incrementally get better and there's no sign of them slowing down or dropping the ball.

The semi acoustic style suits them and they effortlessly ran through all the what can now be called fans favourites as well as slipping in some rousing renditions of both Shackles and Albert Einstein that both appear on their latest ep.

That they aren't gracing the charts and playing here, there and everywhere, across the globe is a mystery to me.

Few would disagree that they are an act that tick all the boxes.

They write excellent songs that are designed to get everyone to clap, stomp their feet and sing along to, their level of musicianship is beyond reproach, and damn, they even look good.

Record label executives should be in the car park bare knuckling it out over who gets to sign them up.

When I think about some of the bands that have had bidding wars surrounding signing them it just seems ludicrous that The Imagineers aren't one of them.

Give it a month or two to see what happens though as the new ep is once again what we in Scotland would commonly refer to as 'a belter'.

I have high hopes for these guys and I'm not looking to change my mind any time soon.

Tomorrow better belong to the Imagineers. 

Mark and the Mystics - Su Casa - 25/02/12 (Ayr)

It seems that it's been a long and difficult week for everyone I know.
So how better to finish it than with a trip to Su Casa in Ayr to see the début gig of Mark and the Mystics.
Well that was the plan, but it wouldn't be a night out without at least one spanner being thrown in the works.
This time it was that Kelly, Claire, and myself had travelled to a small place called Crookedholm to collect our brother in musical appreciation who is otherwise known as Robbie Mills.
Unfortunately Robbie wasn't there.
He was hanging about in a car park in our home town and waiting patiently for us to pick him up.
It was a simple mistake of some crossed wires, or as we would say locally 'numpties with tatties in their ears' but after a few cryptic text messages back and forth we were all reunited and still managed to get to Su Casa in plenty of time to catch Trusty and the Foe who were the first act of the night.
I've seen them a few times now and they've never failed to impress me, but tonight everything seemed to take huge leap forward.
It wasn't that they were playing better, but instead that the sound guy nailed it.
Every single note from their guitars weaved in and out with perfect clarity, and the vocals were perfectly balanced in the mix.
This was exactly how Trusty and the Foe should sound.
Imagine if Simon and Garfunkel were in their early twenties and just starting to play coffee shops right now.
If you can manage to wrap your head around that then you wont be far off from grasping where Trusty and the Foe are coming from.
It was a sublime set of folk inspired music and as the audience were appreciatively quiet when they were playing it made it all the more special.
Following Trusty and the Foe was Julia Doogan who has a lovely soft voice that expresses some timidity without sounding fragile or weak.
This was my first experience of her performing and I was quietly impressed with her folk pop songs.
There did appear to be some nerves on show, but in a way it allowed the audience to pull for her.
To quietly urge her on by allowing the atmosphere to be quietly supportive.
It all made for a very lovely experience.
Next on the bill was to be Melisa Kelly and her Harmless Thieves who have now appeared so often at Su Casa that they could be considered the house band, but similar to a few other Ayrshire acts you can never tire of seeing them play as every performance is different.
This time the Harmless Thieves are missing Jamie on Cajon, but are bolstered with a a couple of members who I've not seen play with them before.
One on saxophone and the other on acoustic guitar.
The dropping of one instrument and the addition of two more alters the sound dramatically, but it's not that it sounds better or worse, just different again.
Unsurprisingly the set is shockingly entertaining, and it will never get old reiterating what a soulful and barely tamed vocal delivery that Melisa has.
She could sing the phone book and still enthral an audience.
Mark and the Mystics, the headlining act of the evening, very obviously had to pull something rather special out of the bag to follow Melisa and her Harmless Thieves, but that's exactly what they did.
I was under the impression that what we were going to see would be the usual front man and backing band set up, but instead what we got was Mark Rafferty, Teri Booth and Terry Balfour, displaying their individual talents together as they effortlessly swapped instruments and the taking on of the role of lead vocalists.
It's difficult to put a finger on how they did it, but something that could have been a very disjointed affair was far from it.
As instruments changed hands and the differences between vocal deliveries became apparent it could easily have lent itself to soaring highs and crashing lulls in the performance, but there simply wasn't a hint of that.
Instead what we got to witness was three fine musicians managing to convey a great deal of camaraderie, and in doing so elevating what could be considered a jam session to something much more appealing.
It all sounds polished, but also organic. A finely balanced performance.
Even the changing of seats and minor technical hiccups come across as part of the performance as Mark uses them to display a quick and sharp wit that some stand up comedians could learn from.
To say that I enjoyed them would be an understatement.
I'd happily part with some hard earned cash to see them all individually never mind pay a paltry five pounds to see them all.
It's going to be interesting to see what they come up with in the studio and how they will be able to convey what they do in a live setting.
Su Casa host Little Fire was the man to finish the night off and that he did in fine style.
Recently he supported The Secret Sisters on their Celtic Connections appearance in Glasgow and later this year he has secured the support slot to Joan Armatrading.
So things are going rather well for him and once he starts singing his songs it becomes obvious why.
Everything revolves around the well trodden path of the boy meets girl story, but the reason that path is so well trodden is that the subject material is timeless and as long as it is put out there with passion then no one will tire of it, and that's what Little Dire does.
A fitting end to yet another great night in Su Casa.
February has just delivered one excellent gig after another. March has a lot to live up to.