Sonic Templars - HAC - Irvine (18/07/14)

With Sonic Templars easing ever closer to releasing the “weapons of mass distrust” ep this live outing in support of Culann in Irvine was the ideal opportunity to get a taster of the material live to see how hard it was going to kick.

In the past there’s been much said about them wearing their influences on the sleeves, and while comparisons to Radiohead and MUSE have not been unfounded, there’s undoubtedly a beautiful brutality to the music that Sonic Templars creates that allows them to push in directions that their musical heroes haven’t explored.

And it is this harder edged delivery that they have in place that allows them to be considered as something more than the sum of said influences.

With the music often building up to a wall of sound with harmonies layered over the top, it is not unusual to feel that everything is moving towards a point of aural destruction, that the song will peak and then fall apart into a mess of crashing chords and screams, but instead just as they reach the cusp of that they effortlessly maintain control, and then it’s a joy to behold them reigning in the power to redirect it all back onto safer shores.

That they can do it so often highlights that it is no mere fluke, and instead is the result of deliberating plotting the pace, and with that they reveal themselves to be a band that has a nuanced approach to song writing that many other acts should rightly be envious of.

So with that in mind was the show going to deliver on more of the same of which there would be no complaints, would they slip back a bit or could they take it to another level?

For those there it is the latter that they experienced.

With the addition of guitarist Stephan Crawford on board to share vocals the band have moved forward not just one step, but leaped ahead and begun to lay out the framework that should allow them to garner the beginnings of plaudits from further afield, and to draw to them a fanbase that could allow them to venture from the small pool they currently reside in to dipping their toes into a much larger one.

With tracks from there previous two outings making the cut into the set you can hear the progress made with songs such as Sweet Deceit from Minds in Transit and Mephistos Minions from BreakingSilence ripping the guts out of their studio versions and leading me to consider that a full length album recorded by the band now could do with some earlier tracks being revisited to be partially reimagined.

It is however on the newest material that the band really takes it up a gear and there’s a hunger in the delivery that screams that there’s plenty of fuel in the tank, and in many ways this new release is really just the beginning.

With a headlining launch on the horizon in Glasgow it is a show that I am comfortable in recommending.

Photograph provided by Mark Hickey. 

Sonic Templars - Lessons in my life

Sonic Templars interview

I'm sure that by now you guys will have read the Stonehouse Violets interview.
Care to comment?

Yeah we did, and laughed.
Not at them, but with them.

They're mates and it was like listening to Mike on a night out.

That being said it was a brilliant bit of self promotion and I admire the attitude they have, and it is similar to our own in so many ways.

If you don''t believe 100% in yourself then what is the point of doing it really?

As for yourselves do you share that same sort of self belief in what Sonic Templars can deliver?

We believe 100% in what we do.

Similar to Stonehouse Violets we know know how good we are.

The only difference is that we are more quietly confident in what we do, we tend to let the music do the talking.

But that's just a different approach.

There is no right or wrong way to promote yourself, as long as you have the belief and can back it up.

We feel that we are getting better and better with every passing song and gig, tighter as a band, and with stronger songs and lyrics.

You've been gigging a lot lately and getting some rave reviews and picking up fans at every show.

Up until a point that's sort of a necessity for bands as it's the only way to get your name and reputation as an act to see cemented in, but at the same time there must come a point when you consider that this part of the job is done, and it's then better to concentrate on quality rather than quantity.

Is that where you are at just now?

That's exactly where we are just now.

We spent the whole of the last year and a half doing exactly that: gigging as often as we possibly could to get our name spread about and established to an extent.

There were some great gigs, like supporting the View at a sold-out Grand Hall in Kilmarnock, but also some meaningless ones too as I'm sure any other band will tell you, like playing to the janitor sweeping up, but it had to be done to get the name out there.

We did a tour of Scotland last summer too to promote our debut EP which picked us up some new fans in Dunfermline, Perth etc..

But this year we made a decision like you say: pick quality over quantity.

We were getting loads of offers for gigs so we decided to pick and choose the ones that suited us best in terms of pushing the band forward.

We decided to do almost all gigs on a weekend, and make them more of an event, with loads of promotion and hype.

So, next steps. There's the co headlining gig in Pivo coming up and then what?

We recently won a showcase at Stereo, Glasgow.

It was a competition to pick the best band to support Jiezuberband and Preacher at o2 ABC in Glasgow on 27th April.

Over 200 bands applied to it, and then they were whittled down to just six to perform at the Showcase.

The bands themselves and UUC Management then picked the best band on the night, which happened to be us.

We're delighted with it because all the acts were fantastic, and some of who are doing exceptionally well.

We played a cracking gig though so we were confident about it.

It was a good way to make some new fans and contacts to.

Apart from that we are currently recording our 2nd EP entitled 'Minds in Transit'.

We've a batch of songs that we are extremely proud of, and its a natural progression from the 'Breaking Silence' EP.

The songs are more progressive than the last one, with a lot more thought going into arrangements and lyrics etc..

I'm not saying the last EP lacked attention to detail, but that's where we were at at that time and particularly myself as a songwriter.

But with 'Minds in Transit', everyone is involved in adding their parts onto the songs, Fraser has written a song too which will be on there as we felt it fitted into the vibe of the EP.

We're quietly confident that the EP will capture people's imaginations.

We've got an EP launch night planned for the 25th May at Nice n' Sleazys to, more will be revealed about that in the next few weeks, but there the date. It's out there now.

I don't know if you want to share the info, but I heard a wee whisper that there was some major players sniffing around you.

Is that true?

'Tis true, but I cant really discuss much about that just now, I'm not being wanky and I'd love to spill it, but I've been sworn to secrecy haha.

Then there's the fear that if you mention it publicly I could jinx it, or if it falls through be accused of being a bullshitter.

I've learned to keep some things close to my chest.

All I will say is that we have a couple of meetings coming up to find out more about the offers, so we will take things from there, but it's all good.

So what would that mean to the band?

As long as the deal was right then it would mean a lot to us. We have worked hard and feel we deserve the right deal.

There are so many other bands in our situation as well, hard-working and just looking for that 'right place at the right time' moment. We have been in total control of everything we have done to date and we will make sure it remains that way.

Artistic control is everything to us.

If it wasn't we could have already put ourselves into the hands of others to mould us into something that we're not.

We we released 'Breaking Silence' and we will release 'Minds in Transit' on Newtown Products.

Andrew from Newtown Products has been a big help to us, he simply puts out the music on the label without fuss or trying to steer us in any 'direction' which is exactly the way we like it.

Oh, I didn't know that you were doing it with Andrew.

I've always been impressed with his labels output. He has this great attitude towards the artists that he works with.

I think it's more a fans approach. He likes what he hears so there's no angle for him. He doesn't want to change anything at all.

Do you feel that approach is like a breath of fresh air?

It's definitely more of a fan's approach, and the fact that he's still out there playing in bands himself helps, so he approaches it from a songwriter/band member's perspective, and not a business one.

So I feel that this approach is a TOTAL breath of fresh air yes. There's no sinister marketing ploy, no 'strongly advising' that you should turn that guitar down or 'make that less heavy'. Just a respect for what a band/artist wants to put out, and that goes right down to copyright and artwork

I'm going to mention a very small negative point here that others have commented on to me and it's something that I agree with.

In the studio you guys have a very vast epic sound going on.

It's sort of like the sound of a band that needs the large venue/stadium space to breath in.
Yet while I have seen you live, and with a good sound it comes across well, there has been times that maybe club sized venues have failed to provide what you guys need to promote that aspect of the music.

Would that be a fair comment, and if so how do you feel about it when to an extent a part of the gig is out of your control and you are aware that the audience are getting a performance that due to technical restraints may fall short of what you guys know you can deliver?

That would be a fair comment yes, but I don't necessarily think its a negative comment (the bit about out-growing the club sized venues).

We are always pushing to get towards the bigger venues anyway, I'm not saying we don't enjoy the small venues because its great to be right in the faces of a baying crowd.

But maybe the style of songs we are writing are a subconscious reflection of our statement of intent: to play the bigger stages, we thrive there.

Some of our songs are straight in-your-face guitar-driven rock sung with attitude, and then particular songs, like 'Breaking Silence' and 'Temptress' suit the smaller venues due to the aggressive, stripped down sound they have, but we do have more of the songs with the vast, epic sound you mention.

I wouldn't want to dilute or compromise the sound we get in the studio for they songs though just for that reason, because that epic sound brings them to life, so it IS disheartening if the venue size falls short of capturing what the band can sound like on a bigger stage, the only way around this is to pick the right venues. This is so important because the sound of a venue can make or break any band.

The vast epic sound you mention will be a lot more prevalent on 'Minds in Transit' too, that's the direction we are moving in.

Would you ever consider just taking the bull by the horns and doing something similar to Jiezuberband and booking a big venue with the attitude of not just using it as a pr stunt, but to do it because you know that a stage like the ABCs with its state of the art sound system that they have would just push everything right out there and really provide the best space possible for the band?

Would it be a realistic prospect or, would you look at the costings and such and think that it would be a do or die throw of the dice for the band?

It's nice to dream, but in the real world pushing things to financial ruin and then seizing victory from the jaws of defeat are often just to be found in film scripts.

I admire what Jiezuberband and Preacher have done.

They have obviously been planning this for a long time, and with the stage they are at as bands felt that they can pull it off.

We are unfortunately not at that stage yet but I would never say never about anything relating to our limits as a band.

So for us at the moment it's not a realistic prospect, but I would not rule something like that out in future.

If we felt we had the financial means and the support of a solid fanbase to pull it fo then we would grab at it.

Right now we are putting any money made from gig tickets straight into the recording money pot, we also have a video in the pipeline then a potential tour, so all money is being used for they purposes just now.

We all have an idea in our heads and are looking at taking it all step by step.

One day we will with a bit of luck on our side be able to look back and say 'we did that'.

Not that others did it for us, or that we took an easier road, but that we did it all with like minded people like Andrew from Newtown Products.

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Stonehouse Violets

From a wee chat this is what comes of it.

Similarly if you have a drink with Mike of Stonehouse Violets then there is no way of knowing how the night will end up.

You have been warned.

ItsaXXXXthing - So who is the best band in the world Mike. Go on share it with us as you have told me often enough?

Mike - Well it's us isn't it? We are the best band in the world!

When I say that I mean in my opinion of course, but fuck it. Unless you truly believe that you are the best then what is the point?

If you are going to do anything in life you have to give it one hundred percent and believe in yourself.
I don't need anyone telling me that we are good.

I already know that.

So you are better than everyone from The Beatles to Oasis to the guys that can fill stadiums just now?

Well let's just say we are in the same niche as them. People just don't know it yet.

We are the Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, Primal Scream, The Clash and every other band who defined the rules for themselves.

There's a rule book that people keep talking about.

I've got it in the toilet, but not as reading material.

It saves on buying toilet roll and I reckon I'm half way through using it.

That's all the rock and roll rule book deserves.

Me wiping my arse on it.

So is this a front. Sort of a swaggering Oasis thing?

Not at all.

Oasis had the right idea though.

It's like this. If you want something then it's rare for anyone to just give you it.

That's a life lesson right there.

If you want something you have to take it.

The more you want it the harder you will work to get it and the more you will hang onto what you have got.

Fuck anyone who gets in the way of what we want.

It's dog eat dog.

We will work with anyone who wants to help us and as long as the deal is fair for all parties then it's not a hassle, but without wrapping it all up in bullshit we know what we want and we want to keep our eye on it, and if anyone wants to get in our way then their name goes down in our wee black book.

What?
Like a hit list. Ha?

Nah. We just list them under the title 'Fuckers' and we wont tolerate them.

When things pick up for, us as they will, there will be the 'fuckers' hovering around for a slice of the pie and if their name is in our book they aren't getting a slice.

The good guys are on our team and they are the ones who are welcome to jump aboard for the ride.

Fair enough then. So who is on the list?

You will see them outside the gigs looking for a guest list pass and asking people if they know who they are.

No one will be giving a toss.

What would you say to the people who would say that I have heard this all before from shit like Towers of London?

That it's just the arrogance of a front man?

Ha. Remember them? They are an example of a band who can talk the talk but couldn't back it up.

Once people see us live they know that they have nothing to do with us.

I don't feel embarrassed about blowing our own trumpet.

For me this is just facts getting expressed as I see them.

If some people disagree then that's fine.

They're wrong, but they are allowed to be wrong. Ha

I suppose of people want to take what is really a confidence in myself and the bands abilities and think it's arrogance then I can see where they are coming from, but it's our job to make music and play shows that make them see that the claims I'm making are true.

It's not really a case of empty boasting.

What about the mainstream music press. Has there been any interest?

Not so far, but we aren't trying to kick their doors in.

I've not read the NME since fuck knows when.

I couldn't tell you anything about it.

Who else is there?

Q, Mojo?

Do they feature new bands?

Every time I see them in the newsagents it's Led Zep on the cover, or Bob Dylan.

So you aren't interested in them featuring you?

No, that's not what I am saying. Exposure is exposure after all, but the whole music business is crumbling.

For every label that is in dire straits there's a million bands putting out their own stuff, and for every mainstream magazine there's a million blogs like this one.

It's all changing.

I guess what I mean is that I don't care.

If it's the NME that want to agree that we are the dogs bollocks or joe blogger from fuckyermaw.com then fair enough.

Do you think the confidence you have could put people off?

Well I hope not. To go back to the start of the interview when I say we are the best band about I mean that with all my heart.

The thing is that I think that every member of every band should think the same way.

If you say it out loud then you have to deliver on it. It urges you on.

We can play with bands who have members who we would call mates, but it's like professional boxers going into a bout when we step on stage.

We want to knock them out in the first round and they should have the same attitude about their performance and go for it.

Once the gig is over then we are mates again.

Like the boxers we can shake hands and hit a club for a drink together.

Remember that baseball film with Kevin Costner in it. It's like that. Believe in it and make it happen.

I don't have room for entertaining self doubt in my head.

This band I am in is the best and we will do everything that we can to maintain control of our own destiny.

When someone asks us why we are doing one thing or another then we just tell them straight.

Take gig bookings.

Now someone could look at us playing a 200 capacity club as the headliner and think why aren't they supporting a major band in a 1000 capacity venue.

The reason is that we could get a crate of beer for the support slot and play in front of the eighty people who have turned up early enough to catch us, or we can blow the roof off of the club in front of people who are there to see us, and with a good deal with a promoter we can then go home with some cash that can then be used to record, pay for professional photographs, get a van and a hundred more things that will help us get out to more people.

We want to play for people, entertain them on our terms.

It's an attitude that others should go with.

But similar to how you wouldn't knock back an interview with the NME you would still consider a major support slot?

Well yes. If we liked the band. We would probably look on it as the chance to see a band we liked for fuck all rather than winning over fans though.

Although we would still give the gig one hundred percent. We don't do substandard.

So what's next for the band?

L-R Stewart Sonic Templar and Mike Stonehouse Violet 

Your gig is on the cards. It's the Sonic Templars and us in Pivo. As you know it's going to be another sell out. The only tickets left are the ones in Tickets Scotland and they might be in single figures by now.

What do you think about The Sonic Templars?

They're brothers in arms. They know the score and they will bring it on. I love them.

All bets are off for the performance though. They will storm it and so will we.

Battle of the Titans mate.

See I'm not that arrogant. If I wasn't playing at the gig I would be down the front for The Sonic Templars.

I want to take over the world, but so do they.

I wouldn't right any of us off as it may well happen.

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Steve Diggle - Maggie Mays - 23/02/13 (Glasgow)

Diggle and some weird fella.

Ali Kennedy sports a Dead Kennedy's 'Too drunk to fuck' t-shirt and as he took to the stage I thought we might be about to get some vitriolic acoustic punk rock, but it wasn't to be on the cards.

Instead a friend commented that it sounded like acoustic improv and that sums it up.

In fact it's the perfect description of the performance as it did come across as if much of it was being made up on the spot.

The young guy has a superb voice, and as musicianship go he knows his way about his guitar, but the lyricism of his own material falls far short of matching his other talents.

Barring a passable cover of Buffalo Springfield, that was carried by his vocal, the rest was rather dire.

The closing song that had a repetitive refrain about how we have to eat and take back the street, while maybe heartfelt, was embarrassingly basic.

The sort of thing that a kid toying with anarchy would write on the back of a jotter with every A in the prose being circled.

While some would be quick to claim I am being harsh in offering a less than flattering opinion it seems fair to say that if anyone is going to pay to be entertained then we should expect a certain level of talent.

It's a different story if it's an open mic night, or a bunch of local musicians putting on a free show to get some live experience, but this wasn't the case.

Everyone has to start somewhere, but Ali Kennedy fell far short of being ready to open for Steve Diggle.

Give it a year and maybe he would be, but at this moment in time it's all filler and no killer.

The Beat Movement were to offer us some timely salvation with their retro mod set that pulls all the best moves of the Small Faces in together with a liberal does of The Who.

The four young guys in the band make a sound that was fresh decades ago sound startling vibrant in the present.

The original material they have is already of a standard that they could very easily fulfil the support duties to some larger bands, and in time, once they have an albums worth, then I would fully expect them to be a solid headliner in their own right.

With a rendition of Del Shannon's Runaway, that sounded like an out take from a session that Steve Marriott would have led, and the Small Faces classic Watcha gonna do about it added to pad the short set out it was really a case of all systems go for the band.

There's some apparent choreography involved in the Townsend styled jumps and windmills that proliferate the set, and while entertaining enough they seems too structured to feel genuine.

It's possible that instead of working on them they should use the moves when the mood takes them and see if that can match the effortless way they invoke the exuberance of the sixties.

Sonic Templars along with Diggle himself were who we were there to see and once again they didn't disappoint.

Like Brit Pop take on Muse or even Radiohead they are another band that are on the cusp of leaving the support slot behind them.

The songs, the attitude, and a sense of self belief that all bands have to possess to get anywhere are all in place and the next 6 months to a year should provide them with that pivotal moment when a band goes from being being big fish in the pond to migrating to the bigger pool with more national attention coming there way.

Easily a faultless show for them and one that they should be proud of.

Unfortunately they were to be followed by a sub standard band of Strokes copyists called Younger.

Everything about them screamed Julian and the boys and I would have probably appreciated them more of they just dropped the pretence and gave up on the B quality strokealike songs and just covered the bands material.

In fact I can't be arsed writing any more about them and you can read what you want into that.

Steve Diggle, who I consider to be the beating heart of Manc legends Buzzcocks, was on fine form bringing us his acoustic take on the bands back catalogue and his own solo material.

I never get tired of watching him when he is with his bandmates and the enjoyment that I have always got out of seeing a Buzzcocks show easily transferred over to a Diggle solo slot.

There's just something about the guy that seems to convey a lust for life and it's quite infectious.

It's hard not to sing back the woohooos of Promises with a big grin on your face and it was at that point that I thought to myself that this exact moment is what going to live gigs is all about.

There's a great sense of communal love in Maggie Mays from those present and my only complaint would be that the venue should have been packed to the rafters.

Maybe next time because he undoubtedly deserves to be playing sold out venues up and down the country.

Here's a guy who has participated in providing us with songs that are for many of us the soundtrack to our lives. 

Now that's something damn special, and so was the gig.  

Outstandifold and the Wettygrippers - Bakers - 26/01/13 (Kilmarnock)

Long time reader, first time contributor, so go easy on me.

I'm doing this for a friend - let's call him Willie Bolland, as that's his name – because he told me he was supposed to review the gig, but then he got drunk and went home long before the show started.

He didn't even make it to the doors opening.

A full scale weekend on the lash is now apparently something that he used to do because after a few pints on the Saturday afternoon he was finished.

A casualty of the post lunch bevvy.

By the time The Aboriginals walked onto the stage in Bakers I expect that Willie was either in the land of nod, or watching reruns of Coronation Street with his elderly mother who he still lives with.

He will regret that because he missed a fantastic wee local band.

Getting the ball rolling with a very impressive cover of the Arctic Monkeys 'you look good on the dance floor' that they managed to fill with all the youthful sarcasm that the song deserves was a good start, and while their own material that followed it wasn't quite up there at the same level of quality it wasn't far off it either.

Not far at all, and snapping at the heels of a band like the Arctic Monkeys isn't a bad place to be.

Out of a run of young local bands that I have seen over the previous six months it is these lads who are standing out as being the ones to watch.

There's some second hand post punk thrashing going on that will be picked up from them listening to the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand I suppose rather than some of the older acts, but then there's also some of the twist that Oasis brought to a more traditional rock attitude that most bands can't seem to avoid any more that gives the whole sound a lot more accessibility to it.

Praise has to be forwarded to the bands front man who carries himself like a rock star.

This attitude, along with a good voice, is the main difference between what The Aboriginals are doing and what their peers are getting up to.

There's no apparent discomfort on stage and it seems obvious that when he steps onto it that he claims it as his own.

Best young band that I have seen in a while.

The Longhorns aren't a young band, and that's obvious as they know exactly what they are doing on stage.

It's a hand in glove performance that only comes from laying down the music over a long period of time with the same people surrounding you.

Each of them know exactly what they should be doing, and when they should be doing it.

A friend said that they hadn't played for about a year, but you wouldn't be able to tell.

The music itself could be roughly claimed to be classic rock.

Not heavy rock, but classic rock.

The sort of sixties rock that delved into RnB and spawned the short lived pub rock scene before delivering punk and then a second wave of mod bands.

It's all there in what they are playing and while that might seem like a big messy pot of influences it's not.

It all makes complete sense and when I was told that this may have been their last gig my heart sunk.

Good bands like this should never retire.

They should keep popping up every once in a while to show the younger guns how it should be done.

They are really everything a good band should be.

Sonic Templars have been taking one confident step forward after another for a while now and all the hard work is paying of.

Very often I've thought that locally there is always one band who will drop the ball in a line up and my attention starts to wonder, but this was by this point three on three as they were hitting it hard.

Plenty of referencing was firing about the company I was in.

Muse got name checked as did Radiohead, but equally so did Blur, Jeff Buckley and some bands from much further back who are described as being Brit legends.

Once again there's a huge pot pourri of influences in display, but again there's nothing jarring about how they are all mixed together to promote what the band are wanting to get out there.

It is very easy to imagine them on a much larger stage in front of an enormous audience.

Club and pub environments are far too restricting for them.

What they play needs a great deal of room to breath in and walls are just a restrictive force holding it all contained in far too tightly.

Put Sonic Templars on before a band like Muse in Wembley and five minutes after them exiting the stage all their merch would be gone and their fan base would have multiplied by a ridiculous amount.

They have a co headlining gig coming up soon with Stonehouse Violets in Glasgow that Mainy from this blog is hosting and I'm not missing it.

The chance to see a full set from them rather than a limited support slot is one that I will recommend to all and sundry.

The headline act of the night is already a favourite of mine, and while some bands start off very seriously, but you can't help but see them as a joke, they are working arse from elbow and started off as a joke between mates and ended up through the quality of the musicianship being a band you can laugh with rather than at.

Take an old punk and an equally old fella who fancied himself as a Scottish Bono at one time, add in a youngish glam rocker who is hanging onto an androgynous Motley Crue fixation, and bolster the band with a dreadlocked bassist who may have took a wrong turning on his way to Bloodstock and a young singer/songwriter on drums and what you get is Outstandifold and the Wettygrippers.

These are five individuals who should never be allowed in a room together, but what sweet music they make.

Nothing should work, but everything does.

They are a rock band in every sense of the word.

Rock solid, rock hard and a bit of Rock Hudson to.

They are actually so tight that that they are water tight, and it's rumoured that double glazing companies are looking to sign them up as the next generation of all weather sealant.

The whole joke aspect of them is very obviously only skin deep.

They are far removed from being a parody band and if you removed the visual aspect of them and the in set laughs what you are left with is a very serious sound indeed.

As a hobby band of a sort they are seriously kicking the arses of those who see their band as a career option.

The forthcoming debut album that will be heard without the humour layered over it will be a surprise I expect.

John Kerr

Sonic Templars - Mephisto's Minions

Due to financial constraints, and maybe a lack of knowledge of how a video should be constructed, many young bands struggle to get a debut promo video completed that does their music any justice.

The whole process is a double edged sword.

In the music industry they are a required promotional tool, but a bad one can do so much more harm than good, and sometimes I have cringed at the footage that has accompanied a great song.

Forever more the images are tied in with the track itself, and all it does is suck away at the music.

Takes away far more than it gives.

The creating of a video that enhances the music is a bit of a minefield to navigate.

Thankfully that's not always the case though, and with some imagination Sonic Templars have sidestepped every single issue that I have about promo videos and took a concept and ran with it to promote the excellent Mephisto's Minions.

I have no idea how much it cost, but I suspect that they have worked within a budget that most established bands would set aside for a print run of flyers, and that makes it all the better as it's up there with anything that you would see run on television channel dedicated to music videos.

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Su Casa Beach tent - Live@Troon - 01/09/12

Troon as a town isn't exactly known as a hot bed of musical talent, but once a year it kicks the dust of its dancing shows and for a few days lets its hair down with a multiple venue festival that really does cater to the tastes of everyone.

Of the smorgasbord of talent available it was the Su Casa tent down near the beach that I headed to, and it was there that I had a glass half empty, or is it half full moment, as I stepped in and caught what was the end of Craig Martin Wards set.

On the half empty side I was annoyed at missing the bulk of his set as I like what he does.

There's a sense of humour that threads its way through his lyrics and gives them a little something extra that many solo singer/songwriting troubadours don't have.

It's not a case of them leaning towards being comedic parodies, but instead that he has the ability to put a wry smile into the content of the material that gives an audience moments where they can smile along in recognition of how absurd all our lives can be sometimes.

It's a nice touch.

It often surprises me that his name isn't more often on the lips of local music fans when they discuss who the big fishes are in the small pond.

On the glass half full side at least I didn't miss his whole set.

Following on from Craig was Jamie Mann who many of my musical acquaintances have urged me not to miss.

Initially I wasn't really keying into his music. The first song was well played and he has a very good voice that hints at Jeff Buckley without encroaching on the histrionics that he was apt to occasionally favour.

It was the lyrics that just didn't engage.

Then just as I was wondering what it was that others had seen in him that I couldn't he revealed all with his second song, and from that moment on simply got better and better.

By the end of his short set he had won me over.

His guitar playing is impressive. Nice finger picking with little flourishes that add to the performance and vocally he knows how to deliver a well crafted song.

From what I thought was a weak start he really managed to bring it all together and deliver an excellent performance.

Sonic Templars were to be the first band of the night that I would see.

Normally a full on indie rock band this was the stripped down version who were missing a drummer but had picked up a violinist.

Similar to Jamie Mann they are a much talked about act who I had yet to see.

The difference between them, apart from musical styles, was that I was impressed from the start.

The addition of the violin to the opening song opened the whole performance up and added something that would be hard to express.

It just allowed them to hit the ground running with a much fuller sound than I expected.

Sadly that was the only song to feature Amy on violin, but the rest of the set was equally as strong and the acoustic bass gave the music a solid peg for them to hang everything on.

It's very obvious that in essence they are a rock band, but delivering their songs acoustically doesn't give them any problems and the material is pretty solid.

By the time they reached the last song of the set it seemed rather obvious that if they had arrived with the intent of converting people to their cause that they had done so with some style.

Now I really do need to see the whole electric shebang.

Now what can be said about Colin Hunter and Calum Muir.

Both are very talented young men, and separately are more than able of taking a crowd by the hand and entertaining them.

My own preferences lean towards what Colin does on his own, but that's not a slight on what Calum does as he is equally as good.

It's just a subjective taste thing on my part.

Yet when they play together they appear to be able to bring out the best in each other.

That they have known each other for so many years obviously plays a part in it. Like some musicians who have shares stages for decades they can read the subtleties of each others performances and take turns in leading each other in different direction while maintaining a flow.

Taking turns to sing lead or backing vocals depending on what is required comes across very well. As does their ability to swap instruments to suit what the songs need.

It;s actually a really captivating performance that they should both be very proud of, but there is one issue I have with them and that's that this is often just a live experience.

Once they step off the stage the experience can't be revisited, and they really need to have a CD or something, anything, available for us so that we can take a piece of what they are doing home with us.

From Colin and Calum leaving the stage and The Holy Ghosts taking to it something seemed to change.

It got a bit darker, the tent got a bit busier and there was a feeling in the air that crackled with a bit of tension.

It's the sort of thing that would get dogs howling and people looking to the sky and asking when the storm was coming, and it's all the doing of The Holy Ghosts.

There's something dangerous about them.

Something rock and roll that puts a primal swagger in their step

When the crashed into their set all I could think was that when Liam asked Noel to join Oasis that they sat down and tried to think about all the things they wanted the band to be.

'Lets get some Stones in it our kid, a bit of The Faces, loads of The Beatles eh? The sneer of Lydon and fuck it let's throw in the seventies terrace stomp of Slade to'.

What they didn't realize that what they were describing was the Holy Ghosts as they live and breath right now.

Keeping on the subject of the Gallagher, or one of them anyway, I was reading the latest interview salvo from Noel Gallagher where he was quite rightly bemoaning that the record industry isn't a conducive to breaking rock and roll legends any more.

It's true.

I could go along with his view that the investments isn't there and even strongly agree that DJs with play lists to adhere to aren't really DJs.

Yet I'm not going to agree that everyone is following on from the lowest common denominator bollocks in the charts, and that there's no one with the ability to become the next rock and roll legend.

There's always going to be bands like that.

The Holy Ghosts prove it when they step onto a stage.

There's the whole history of rock and roll there, from the Faces playing the Speakeasy to The Clash playing stadiums, from the swagger of Jagger to the Johnny Cash kicking out the footlights.

This is a stadium band playing a tent.

Of course there's no guarantees that they will be the band to break big globally, or even nationally, but there's no arguing that they have everything in place to be able to do it.

Once their debut album is out I could well imagine NME journos prematurely ejaculating in a frenzy to be the first to say they have found the great white hopes for rock and roll.

For once they would be right, but the stains on their crotches will always look ugly in retrospect.

And then it all went a bit pear shaped.

As Little Fire stepped up the Holy Ghost loving audience did a runner to catch The View who were the main draw of the weekend.

Circumstances just dealt him a raw hand.

The draw of The View was just too strong and while he, and then Rose Parade played excellent sets it was to a decimated, albeit appreciative, audience.

It's nights like this that artists and bands show their backbone though and both Little Fire and Rose parade took it in their strides.

I suspect that once both acts have their debut albums out that less people would be drawn away from seeing them as much is on show to indicate that both will be very special.