Whigs and Rakes
Whigs and Rakes / The Bad Books / Hookers for Jesus / Playground Tactics – Cool Cat Club #2 – Beat Generator Live!, Dundee – Saturday 28th July 2012
Some reflections on Saturday night.
From the top, Whigs and Rakes were every bit as good as we’d hoped. They played half of their LP, leaning slightly towards the heavier stuff. Which made the contrast with ‘Stairs’ all the more compelling.
But the interplay between the White brothers gives the band a real dynamic allowing Kitty to do her thing over the backing. There’s no doubt that they’re a talented bunch and hopefully it won’t be too long before I see them again.
My enthusiasm for the Bad Books is well documented on these pages and this was possibly the most enjoyable show I’ve seen them play, if for no other reason than it was the longest at 8 songs.
But equally THEIR enthusiasm for the show seemed at a high as I’ve never seen them play with such exuberance. That was clear when rather than go wandering through the crowd at the end after vaulting the barrier, Graeme effectively chose to do a jubilant war dance in front of the audience. Yeah, jubilant just about sums it all up.
Hookers for Jesus
Hookers for Jesus delivered a varied set, some songs fairly backing heavy, another simply Graeme on acoustic accompanying Andy. They were a completely different proposition to the rest of the acts on the bill taking the show off into less well trod path and into the darker corners of the human psyche.
I really enjoyed Playground Tactics without knowing anything about them beforehand. But there was a real charm about them, no doubt in part due to the fact that every song seemed to pretty much just stop dead. At one point what sounded like it was going to be an intro to a song turned out to be a very short instrumental! Perhaps a work in progress at the moment but that is undoubtedly part of their appeal.
Playground Tactics
So I think we managed to deliver another great evening of music. OK, both myself and Andy are biased but then when you put on bands you like (with the odd surprise thrown in, usually for me!), it’s difficult not to feel really positive about the music.
But what gives me the biggest buzz about doing this, is the fact that hopefully some people came along on Saturday and discovered some great new acts. Nothing could make me happier than people coming away raving about the out of town bands.
If there was a disappointment it was that another 20 people would have made us happy. The fact the show cost us a little is not a huge worry – for us. But from a wider perspective a few extra folk would have a) given the venue more custom and b) would have allowed us to give the bands a bit more than they asked for. An ambition to push for next time.
Whigs and Rakes played:
1. Swim 2. Silhouette 3. Verena Terrace 4. Come On Talk! 5. Take 6. Stairs 7. We’re Not All Human Here
Whigs and Rakes are playing Stereo in Glasgow on 27th September and also are appearing at the Doune the Rabbit Hole Festival on 24th August.
The Bad Books played:
1. Summer of Lunches 2. Seedlings 3. (Unannounced new one) 4. BOP 5. Year of the Cat 6. A Rough Wooing 7. Everyone’s Going To Be OK (Except For You) 8. Victory Lap
The Bad Books are playing at Henry’s Cellar Bar on Wednesday (1st August) alongside Sebastian Dangerfield and Kill The Waves.
Photos from the show starting to appear here.
Manic Pop Thrills 