Gigs

Jul 6 2008

Reviews

DOLLY PARTON ****

SECC, GLASGOW, JUNE 27

Country music is all about heartbreak and hard times but Dolly delivers it with a feel-good factor. She bounced on wearing the most rhinestones I've ever seen under one roof. Even the men in her band and instruments were covered in them.

The other things to shine were her tales of her hard but happy life in the Smoky Mountains, told between her renditions of hits such as Jolene, Nine To Five, I Will Always Love You and Islands In The Stream. All were sung to the delight of the cowboy hat-wearing, 10,000-strong crowd.

Dolly may be 62 but she looks amazing and wasn't shy about telling the crowd how she kept the life-sized Barbie look fresh, admitting: "I have it all nipped, sucked and tucked". Liz Cowan

RADIOHEAD ****

GLASGOW GREEN, JUNE 27

The non-stop rain meant the crowd were soaked but their spirits weren't dampened thanks to the warm glow generated by gentle songs such as Nude, All I Need and Faust Arp.

There wasn't much chat from frontman Thom Yorke but musically he was on top form. Songs from current album In Rainbows featured heavily, with an excellent version of Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi and Jigsaw Falling In Place.

Older material was sparse but included the beautiful No Surprises, a rocking Karma Police and Fake Plastic Trees, which prompted a mass singalong. Thrilling closer Idioteque left the wet but happy crowd on a high. Avril Cadden

MY BLOODY VALENTINE *****

BARROWLAND, GLASGOW, JULY 2

Back together after 15 years, the seminal rockers played in near darkness and handed out earplugs to help fans survive the noise and feedback.

They also meant each instrument was loud and clear during this set of classics, which included Only Shallow, When You Sleep, Soon and You Made Me Realise, which ended with 20 minutes of feedback. It was emotional and challenging - just how music should be. David Pollock

JASON MRAZ ***

ABC, GLASGOW, JULY 2

Showcasing tracks from his third album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, this was a set of polished, smooth funk.

Latest single I'm Yours impressed thanks to its relaxed, reggae feel, as did the horn playing on a version of Seals & Crofts' Summer Breeze.

Mraz's Eminem-style rapping, dodgy scat singing and lyrics are not up to much but his infectious melodies and flawless arrangements will help him find chart success. Leo Forde

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND ***

KING TUT'S, GLASGOW, JULY 1

The Welsh emo-rockers treated fans to material from forthcoming album Memory And Humanity.

You Can't See The Forest For The Wolves, Waterfront Dance Club and the mighty Beneath The Burning Tree hark back to the post-hardcore sound of debut Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation and were well received.

But roars were reserved for soaring, melodic hits such as Escape Artists Never Die and She Drove Me To Daytime Television. Bruce White

GOLDFRAPP ***

ROYAL CONCERT HALL, GLASGOW, JUNE 30

The band have ditched their trademark electronic stomp for gentle, pastoral pop on new album Seventh Tree but it doesn't translate well live.

The set was subdued until the band upped the tempo with the pulsating disco of Number One and Ooh La La, which got the crowd on their feet.

But they were back in their seats when more new songs aired then bouncing up again for favourites Train and Strict Machine. It felt like an annoying game of musical chairs. Let's hope they are consistently lively next time. Fiona Young

GEORGE BENSON ***

PLAYHOUSE, EDINBURGH, JUNE 29

It was like an 80s soul disco as Benson ran through velvety hits such as Love X Love, Give Me The Night and Turn Your Love Around, with lots of do-wops and doobie dos thrown in.

The pace slowed for power ballad In Your Eyes and the rather cheesy Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, while The Greatest Love Of All showed his vocal range.

Benson is a jazz guitarist, so indulged in a bit of playing - fine at first but overstretched at times. Closer On Broadway was sparkling. Avril Cadden

JUSTIN CURRIE ****

ORAN MOR, GLASGOW, JUNE 29

The former Del Amitri frontman's voice was fine and clear on tracks from album What Is Love For and on sparkling renditions of his famous band's cuts. The blend worked well and his backing band were excellent.

A mistake during Drunk In A Band, which fitted the theme of the song, raised laughs before he closed with new tune No Surrender. It was his finest performance thanks to the lush keyboard and well-crafted chorus. Monty Archibald

NEW YORK DOLLS ***

GARAGE, GLASGOW, JUNE 29

The days of post-glam, pre-punk, crossdressing are behind 50-something singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain but they look like they have years of rocking left in them.

The Dolls always flouted convention but - as The Sex Pistols might agree - it's trickier to do when you are almost a pensioner. All the guys offer now is old-fashioned, exciting rock'n'roll - and with classics such as Pills, Trash and Jet Boy, that is what the crowd got. John Kelly

HEY YOU GET OFF MY PAVEMENT! ****

MONO, GLASGOW, JUNE 29

The Euro 2008 final meant a thin crowd turned out to enjoy this cracking mini-festival. Sets came from Futureheads-style indie kids School Of Language, Belle And Sebastian's Stevie Jackson and Fence Collective's Pictish Trail.

Headliners Camera Obscura played a 'best of' set featuring Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken and good new material. Dave Pollock

LUVA ANNA **

CAPITOL, GLASGOW JUNE 28

The band team folk with indie but the result is a brash mish-mash of styles further hindered by metal-style shouting.

They try to be comics as well as musicians and while songs such as Wooden Shoe and Ballad O' Boaby Smith are humorous, they are average at best. The band would sound better without the clunky, Fratellis-style guitar thundering over their folk tunes. Paul Elliott