Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 at Celtic Connections

 Photo by Bazza Mills

The pubs surrounding the Old Fruitmarket in the Merchant City area of Glasgow were sprinkled with yellow from around 5.30pm on Friday 17th January. There was also the odd disco ball style cap and plenty of people looking like they were dressed for a weekend at a festival rather than a Friday night out in Glasgow.

I wonder how many people have fallen for Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 (CMD5) as a result of seeing them at a festival over the last 5-years or so? Difficult to predict, but in that time the band have grown into a staple of the festive scene in Scotland and beyond.

If you have seen them, then it is easy to describe why. And that is why over 1,300 people descended on the Old Fruitmarket dressed in yellow, with painted faces, flowers in their hair, disco ball hats and looking ready for the weekend.

They came to laugh, to sing, dance, smile and forget about their worries for a few hours. And they did just that.

CMD5 are always quick to promote bands and artists they enjoy - see my previous interview with David Blair for substantial evidence. On this occasion they chose to promote my sister Carla J Easton by asking her to support.

Carla and her band played brilliantly. Wearing yellow to get into the spirit of the night, Carla played songs from her Homemade Lemonade (released under the guise of Ette) and Impossible Stuff albums, along with new material. Get Lost from the new songs is possibly my favourite song she has ever recorded. And she brought her pal Stina from Honeyblood on for guest vocals on new song Weirdo. It was a polished and confident set and I look forward to seeing what 2020 brings.

Photo by Stuart Westwood

On to the main act. I never did get round to counting how many people were on stage with CMD5. I was quite simply too busy enjoying myself.

Opening with International Sex Hero and going straight into festival favourite Dance Off, the Colonel and his merry band of yellow heroes had the place bouncing from the off. They barely let up, they seemed to just keep the beat and the groove going from start to finish.

Photo by Stuart Westwood

The band have so much positive energy it is unbelievable. New songs worked well; Disco Colin and the current single G.T. mixed well with the old classics.

Cross The Road is a FESTIVAL CLASSIC and even though it was packed we did manage to cross the road.  Dance Like Nobody's Watching might be the next festival classic, while Gay Icon took the roof off the place. At some point in all of this David Blair crowdsurfed - at least twice.

Photo by Iain Cochrane

Anthems like Peace, Love and Mustard demand crowd participation, smiles, laughter, high fives .... and all round good feeling. These Are Not The Drugs You Are Looking For is one of my favourite songs from the last 5-years, like the Beta Band produced by Andrew Weatherall, it is so clever, so funny, so socially conscious, so bonkers brilliant. 

There was time for one more, the surging pop of Ginger Girl had everyone with their hands in the air singing the chorus. The band quickly played a little bit of How Many Many's and Capturado and sent everyone off into the night with smiles. What a night!

Those with energy stayed to dance to DJ Amy Lame from 6Music.

Roll on the summer. And to Celtic Connections bookers - can you book them now to brighten next January please?! This is a special, special band who can transport you into a good place and make you forget your worries and the state of the world for a couple of hours.

Photo by Iain Cochrane

Spiritualized at the Old Fruitmarket Glasgow

Jason Pierce, AKA J Spaceman and his 9-piece band who currently make up Spiritualized, played an astonishing show in Glasgow last night.

The packed Old Fruitmarket was gripped from start to finish, taken on a 2-hour journey into Pierce's world, his universe, his heart and his soul.

The show had originally been scheduled for the Kelvingrove Bandstand but had been moved, many debated if this was due to poor ticket sales, but the Fruitmarket was packed and it quickly became apparent that Spiritualized may have been moved as their show might have been too loud for the leafy West End.

The Old Fruitmarket is a truly beautiful venue in Glasgow's Merchant City and the audience seemed to collectively hold their breath as Spiritualized walked on to the stage with Pierce coming out last in leather trousers, a black shirt and shades, taking a seat side on to the crowd with his band placed in a horseshoe around the stage.

Last night was a real sonic, visual and soulful treat. Come Together was powerful, like an assault on the senses with a stunning light show. Shine A Light was spine tingling, the three gospel singers to Pierce's right took it to a holy place.

The lights went down and a starry sky displayed behind the band, the intro for Stay With Me sounded all phased and spacey, it felt like we were being heading towards the stars on J Spaceman's trip.

Pierce's ability to fuse rock n roll, gospel, psychedelia and gorgeous simplistic nursery rhyme style melodies was on full display. It was gripping, the raw emotion that soared with intensity and swooped with ease was quite breathtaking.

Soul on Fire was sensational. Pierce expresses himself so beautifully, often with real simplicity, always with complete honesty.

But freedom is just another word

When you've no-one left to hurt 

Baby, set my soul on fire

I've got two little arms to hold on tight and I want to take you higher

There was the sound of a broken heart, the sound of someone fragile and lost, the sound of someone looking for hope, someone finding hope and love ... there was the sound of Jason Pierce's life, mind, heart, soul and imagination.

If rumours are true, the And Nothing Hurt album could be the last Pierce releases, these shows, so sporadically spaced out, may be the last. I sincerely hope not.

My sister and I climbed to the balcony towards the end of the set and looked down on Pierce, the band and the audience. It was perfect. The sound, the lights, the songs, the emotion ... beautiful.

Pierce can find a hook or a chorus and keep it going, adding on layers, lifting it higher and higher, bringing it down and lifting it again. The encore began with So Long You Pretty Thing that was life affirming, it continued with an astonishing Out Of Sight and then went stratospheric with a cover version of Oh Happy Day that was joyous before Pierce and his sensational band ended with Hold On.

Spiritualized delivered a show to remember; it was raw, primal, soulful, rock n roll, gospel, jazz, psychedelia all mixed by a sprinkling of J Spaceman's special spacedust.

Hold on to me

Yeah I said hold on

Everything's gonna be alright

Just hold on to me tonight

First Aid Kit at the Old Fruitmarket

I had great intentions to review every album I bought this year - it hasn't happened. However, one album that has been on heavy rotation has been Stay Gold by First Aid Kit.

Johanna and Klara Soderberg are two sisters from Stockholm in Sweden. The siblings have produced a delightful album; full of exquisite harmonies and glorious melodies. I couldn't wait to discover how they would sound live.

The fact that the show was in the Old Fruitmarket added to the appeal, not only for me, but for hundreds of others as it sold out quickly. I was actually too slow off the mark and it was only thanks to my friend Rose that I got to the show.

What a show!

The support act was a guy called Jo Rose. We were standing towards the back of the venue for a beer and a catch up chat. All of a sudden the music cut dead, like someone had pulled his lead from his guitar with a loud sharp bang. Unfortunately the guy had collapsed on stage. There didn't appear to be a great deal of panic around him on stage so we guessed he was OK - thankfully he was and after a good 15-minutes he was helped to his feet and left to a big round of applause. There were a few jokes floating around the bar that 'at least there was a first aid kit in the house'. (groan)

There was a bit of a delay following that and then an announcement to confirm he was OK. Time for First Aid Kit.

Johanna and Klara were joined by pedal steel guitar and a drummer and what a glorious noise they made together. They opened with Stay Gold in a blaze of golden light, looking absolutely stunning.

The colour theme continued with a beautiful Blue. The sisters harmonies were truly spellbinding and I found myself falling in love with Johanna, especially when she shook her long golden hair.

At one point the sisters came to the front of the stage and sang without any microphones. It was a very special moment that highlighted their voices, harmonies and beautiful raw edge that resulted in a huge cheer.

Pic from @thepopcop 

My Silver Lining and The Lion's Roar were real highlights in a very strong set. However the encore was even better.

A cover of Simon and Garfunkel's America sent shivers down my spine. We had moved down closer to the front around halfway through the gig and it was amazing to watch the two sisters singing together in close harmony, bouncing off each other, egging each other on.

Master Pretender was glorious before a beautiful mesmerising Emmylou ended the night. The band stopped at one moment to allow Johanna and Klara to step in front of their mics and sing with the crowd. I've never heard a Glasgow crowd singing so well!

I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June

If you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too

No, i'm not asking too much of you

Just sing little darling, sing with me

The Old Fruitmarket was a fitting venue for a memorable performance from a band riding on a high and in sensational form. I hope they come back soon.