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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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THE
ST KILDA 7
MEET THE ALABAMA 3
Carling Academy, Glasgow,
May 21st 2005 - by Nick
Morgan
Normally
the thrill of the gig is that marvellous sense
of being there. In this instance however it’s
possible that it was getting there that provided
the greatest excitement, the A3
being the final icing on the cake of a fantastic
journey. And instead of cats and dogs my companions
were Maniac (Malt and otherwise) shipmates on
a voyage that started a week earlier on the
West Coast of Scotland.
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| Sailing
to Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides to view the site
of the SS Politician’s sinking we then (after
a few weather-foiled attempts) made an overnight
dash for that island on the edge of the world, St
Kilda (‘Ann is as ro do bhracaist!’
as the ancient motto of the St Kilda Yacht Club
would have it). Our return – in the teeth
of the gale that had pursued us like a pack of hounds
on our outward journey – was suitably epic,
and we finally blew into Glasgow on Saturday evening
like Outlaws from the frontiers of hell. Or at least
that’s what we thought. Our taxi driver said,
“St Kilda? Nice beaches eh? And bloody hot
at this time of year”. As Vivian Stanshall
once said, “sometimes you just can’t
win”. |
Robert Brown and Paddy Hill |
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Paddy
Hill, a member of that other numerically handled
and well beaten-up combo, the Birmingham Six, has
no doubt endured worse journeys than ours. Tonight
he’s on stage, along with Glaswegian Robert
Brown (cleared for murder after serving 25 years
in jail) appealing for support for MOJO,
the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation in Scotland,
and a favourite cause of the Alabama 3. And perhaps
he’s the right sort of guy to introduce an
evening dedicated to showcasing the new A3 album
(it’s out now folks) Outlaw. |
| So
from a content perspective the gig was divided between
some raucous renditions of old A3 favourites –
‘Mansion on the hill’, ‘Mao Tse
Tung said’, Peace in the valley’, ‘Hypo
full of love’ et al. – and a selection
from Outlaw, including ‘Last train to Mashville’,
‘Hello…I’m Johnny Cash’,
‘Have you seen Bruce Richard Reynolds’
(the previously reported homage to the Great Train
Robbers featuring – on the album - BR himself),
the remarkably mellow and soulful ‘Honey in
the rock’ and ‘How can I protect you’
(surely not a hit single boys – steady on)
and a full band version of the previously recorded
acoustic gem ‘Up above my head’. All
great stuff struggling against a recalcitrant sound
system that fell apart at the seams as the volume
was inexorably pumped up as the evening wore on. |
| The
night belonged partly to the diminutive and feisty
singer Devlin Love (Zoe Devlin), member of the Larry
Love Showband and regular support singer with the
A3. Her singing is really quite remarkable and she
stole the show on ‘Up above my head’
and ‘How can I protect you’. But of
course, back on his home turf (“Its great
to be back in Glasgow, Scotland, my favourite part
of London”) D Wayne Love moved into surreal
overdrive, regaling us with head nodding narratives
about his early years in Glasgow, football, sectarianism,
boy meets girl romance Glasgow style (“I met
a girl in Buchanan Street and said, ‘hey baby,
let me get into your pants’ – and she
said, ‘why should I when there’s one
arsehole there already’”) and just about
anything else that came into his mind - or mouth.
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Deranged and demented D Wayne (and the band) provided
a suitably diverting and bizarre entertainment to
draw our Odyssey to a close, when five minutes after
everyone else he finally left the stage with the
Trojan phrase “My name’s Mr Fancy Knickers.
Goodnight”.
Editor’s note: the St Kilda 7 refused
to be photographed for this review. The St Kilda
Yacht Club is a registered trademark. Nick Morgan
(photos by Nick's Nokia) |
Check
the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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There's nothing more down there... |
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