JIMMY CLIFF at the ABC GLASGOW

Jimmy Cliff has still got it.The Voice , The rhythms and The Moves.

His songs had an added dimension of being so relevant to the movements fighting entrenched elites the World over as the disenfranchised and the impotent neglected masses fight for their inalienable rights.Songs like this one give them a mission statement , something so lacking in the "occupy" movement.It is hard to believe some of these songs were written nearly 40 years ago.



And as one comment in the video says this "Gotta become the anthem for the global peace, justice and equality movement."




But no change comes without a struggle and a long fight , but this song reminds us the forces ranged against Justice will fall no matter how powerful they appear to be , the resistance must go on.

BRITISH RED CROSS REFUGEE WEEK COMEDY FUNDRAISER at the TRON

Susan Calman was on duty again to introduce some familiar , and some not so familiar comics in an event co-arranged by The Stand Comedy Club , all donated their services free of charge.

The first was Gary Little , who was responsible for the Glasgow for Gaza event a few months back.He has been a dedicated and loyal supporters of the Palestinians for many years as well as giving his generous time for other worthy social justice causes.



Also on the bill was the talented Canadian Tom Stade who has also appeared at Palestinian fundraiser evenings before.An American and some very talented local comedians also performed at this very high standard event with no fillers and plenty laughs.

PAUL BRIGHT'S CONFESSIONS OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER at the TRAMWAY

I have a Confession to make , i have never drank piss before , not even my own , in fact , it is not even on my bucket list.I have read and been thouroughly absorbed in the Book by James Hogg about the dangers of making a dogma out of a doctrine.Coming into the production and being assailed by an assortment of museum style cabinets , varied installation like projections lazered onto walls , some screens with CCTV footage , art gallery drawings on panels , stuffed animals on plinths i came as close to having the piss taken out of me one can imagine.Thankfully the announcement the performance starts in five minutes put my mind at rest , and what a performance it was , a masterful exhibition that delighted the heart after tearing up the senses.

When the commissioners of the work met Anton they were of the opinion "Justified Sinner" could not transfer in its novel form into a viable stage play.The Paul Bright of this performance , like the protagonist in the Book ends up being consumed and ultimately utterly burnt out and destroyed in trying to do full justice in a limited format to the totality of the original work and themes.

This wonderful review from "The Public Reviews " captures the sense of drama well.

"However, this piece leaves the critic with a dilemma – do you describe what you saw, do you reveal what you’ve learned or the background knowledge you have about this mythical production and the enigmatic characters involved in it, or do you allow everyone to approach it with fresh eyes, to sit back and enjoy the involving and intriguing journey. This critic is opting for the latter."

The actor , Anton , does indeed , give a brilliant gripping performance , yet elevates the "pretense" of the art of acting to give an emotional and sensual parable that is the very essence of truth as to the matter of heart and soul.

This delightful video from a slip of a girl called Lynsey MacDonald gives a great overview of the exhibition and play as well the the trials and tribulations of public transport.



The "spoiler alert" analysis comes at the 9mins16sec mark.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN at HAMPDEN PARK GLASGOW

From previous experience i did not bother to buy a ticket which would have cost over £70 prior as i had seen on my way to the concert when Springsteen came last time tickets going for as little as £20 about half an hour before the start.So i ventured forth towards the stadium hoping my theorem would not leave me out in the cold.Lo and behold the very first thing i see is a gentleman with wife holding aloft a spare ticket.

I asked the man what he wanted for it , he asked me what would i give for it , the wife rolled her eyes in a men-really-cant-communicate-can-they expression , i said name a figure and ill say yes or no with my best poker face , then the gentleman started a spiel about just how valuable this thing in his hand with no takers is really worth , adding touches of the drama about how this vital piece of paper got in his aloft held hand and the treatise on the pros and cons of postage and packaging and the mechanics of booking fees.By this time both i and the wife were rolling our eyes in a fuck-sake-get-to-the-point manner.To cut a long story short i was eventually in possession of a ticket for £30 pounds and everyone was happy.

At the concert itself things started of slowly with the sound slightly out of balance between voice , percussion and bass,as the concert went on the sound improved dramatically and the show was incredible.We were treated to a a three and a half our set of thirty songs without a break , including a beautiful tribute to Clarence on the second anniversary of his passing. The set included included at least ten songs that i had never seen performed live before.

Below is the scene from a picture taken from the stands.

 He and the band so obviously love every minute of what they do , and the mood easily translates to the crowd.An emotional and unbelievable night is a guarantee when he is in town for old and new watchers alike.A normally cynical first time attender said "The man oozes class. I had never seen him. Having heard the hype, I was expecting a letdown. I cannot believe how good he was.", another old time concert goer over many decades seeing him live for the first time  enthused " that was my first time seeing him on stage and he was absolutely fantastic. I can't recall ever seeing a performer having such a close relationship with his audience. from start to finish, an incredible performance. I was not his greatest fan although loved some songs and now I want to listen to more." .Even veteran attenders who have seen him more than a dozen times were in unbelievable awe over how much energy and passion he is still able to put into his shows.

Below is a version of "Im On Fire" , one of the many request songs he done on the night.This review from "The Herald" captures the evening to a tee.

"Almost from the off, The Boss strolls to the front of the stage and picks song suggestions from the crowd, an up-close-and-personal jukebox."

 Another fan listed his highlights from the set:

"Incredible moments:

1. Singing the song in memory of Shug and then giving his daughter back the card (grit in eye moment)
2. The Band introductions - pure and utter ridiculousness in terms of both length and sheer talent!
3. Seeing the Banner for Silvio with "Just when I thought I was out..." flashing up on the screen several times!
4. The Band - just HOW good were they....again ridiculous!
5. The finale singsong/mash up/jump about with a ridiculous grin on your face-athon.
6. "I need to go home I'm sixty fucking three and I think I'm having a heart attack!"
7. Getting the girls up on stage to dance, the young lad up to sing and Hazel falling off the stage.
8. Finishing with Thunder Road.


An incredible gig.....I couldnt sleep last night as I was still buzzing!"

The song in memory of "Shug" was "Tougher Than The Rest" , one from the Tunnel Of Love album , on that poignant moment a fan caught the mood of the whole crowd "I cried a little bit when he sang to Shug then gave his daughter her card back....that was a lovely gesture.

I thought it was utterly brilliant....up there with the best gigs Ive ever been at" , you can see the version of the song from the concert in the video below:

NEIL YOUNG at GLASGOW SECC

Absolutely, no fading away or burning out for the Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse dont just jam , they go into a communion and the audience are invited into their sacred conclave , hence why we hear Neils crazy horse persona saying "welcome home" to the audience.Often the immersion in the music is mistaken for indulgence , but they get deep into the music and the audience needs to join them.

Neil Youngs voice was the most melodic of all the times ive seen him.

The best description ive heard of them is "noisey bastards!!!" , if they dont come round again thats how one would want to remember them.

This Guardian review sums things up nicely ,

"Few other performers can summon Young's venom. At times, he seems to be playing into his own personal prevailing wind as he lashes out guitar solos that are almost dreamlike. "Sing like you mean it?" he rounds on a heckler. "What the fuck would you sing for if you don't mean it?""

Highlights included Ramada Inn,Powderfinger,Walk Like a Giant and of course.....Fuckin' Up!!!

He could do a whole concert sitting with an acoustic on a barstool and still fill out 2 hours easy , or he could sit at the piano and do a whole concert of quality songs , or he could use his harmonica for the whole evening.

When With crazy horse he goes to town on screeching guitar and feedback and im more than happy with that.

Below is an outstanding version of Ramada Inn with full spectrum guitars.



This song has also been done in an acoustic version , and a very deep touching one at that, as could any song in the set.

You can see 8 very good quality songs from the Glasgow concert from this link from the Colin MacDonald Youtube Channel.

And below is "Walk Like a Giant"  , a big favourite with the crowd.

THE WHO QUADROPHENIA LIVE IN GLASGOW SECC

THE WHO, one of rock’s legendary and defining bands,  announced a UK arena tour which took in Glasgow’s SECC on 12 June 2013 where they performed in full their iconic 1973 double album QUADROPHENIA , along with a selection of WHO classics.It started of quite a week in which Glasgow became the High Temple to the spirit of Music with Neil Young , Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Cliff all coming in the next few days.

I managed to get a second row ticket , a lot better than the ones allocated to the dedicated Who Fan Club diehards.

 The two original members of the band ( the only ones with the advantage of still being alive) were joined on stage by Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey (drums) and Townshend's younger brother Simon Townshend (guitar/backing vocals), as well as Pino Palladino (bass), John Corey (keyboards), Loren Gold (keyboards/backing vocals) and Frank Simes (musical director, keyboards/backing vocals).

If the last tour with Daltrey is anything to go by , they will do a lot of there classics like Baba O,Reilly at the end of the full album.And so they did.

The Quadrophenia album does get of to a slow start and them just explodes into life.The segment in the video below gives a semblance of the blistering raw energy generated on the night.



It shows the remarkable presence and , dare i say it, the ego of a man who has to take charge of a project ( like the thematic concept album which quadrophenia is) to stand shoulder to shoulder and give Roger Daltrey as good as he gets in the vocals department.

The stunning show was put together by Roger Daltrey himself , it features one of the most sensational parts of the concert for me which is a ghostly appearance by John Entwistle playing the best bass riff i know of during the song 5:15 , it comes ironically at 5mins15secs of the video below:a surreal and otherworldly spectacle.



The "classics" brought Daltrey and his vocals into their own , starting with "Who are You"



Then we had a crashing version of Baba O'Riley followed by a very prescient version of "Wont Get Fooled again" which chimes in with the current fashion of casual low attention span following of symbols of easy on the eye and even easier on the conscience following of protests on social media until the next attention diverting titillation comes along.