Dinosaur Jr at the Art School

Last night Dinosaur Jr played their second sold out night at the Glasgow School of Art and blasted away everyone's winter blues (minus 8 outside) with an array of warm guitars.

It was my first time seeing Dinosaur Jr, despite being into the band for a couple of decades and going through a phase of collecting their 7-inch singles. I was looking forward to seeing J Mascis shredding his guitar and blasting out songs from their long history. They didn't disappoint.

Everyone was wrapped up for the cold weather outside, so it was a little bit disappointing that the Art School didn't have a cloakroom open. So everyone was roasting inside.

Spinning Coin were supporting and they charmed the crowd, generating a good response from their mix of melodic songs (Sean Armstrong) and powerful (Jack Mellin). They've had a great year with a string of headline show, some fantastic support slots and the November release of their debut album Permo BLOG HERE

My brother and I departed for the downstairs bar and bumped into old school friend Grant Mitchell and his friend Mark Richie. Grant is an incredibly passionate record collector and had been to Lou Barlow's Nice n Sleazy matinee show the afternoon before, as well as Dinosaur Jr the night before. He told us we were in for a treat.

The Art School is a cracking venue, although the positioning of the sounddesk creates a bit of a bottleneck down either side. We skipped down the right hand side to the front and thankfully found we could dump our jackets by the stage.

Dinosaur Jr came on, Lou Barlow looked hyper, J Mascis looked relaxed/stoned/unbothered by the fanfare that greeted them. Grant made us laugh with his story that the crowd sang 'happy birthday' to him the previous night and he never even acknowledged it!

Mascis' guitar playing was a joy to watch, he just makes it look easy - zipping about his frets and creating joyful riffs and melodies.

Barlow was the star of the night for me though; looking trim and cool, acting like Animal from The Muppets had leapt from his drum kit to discover the joy of playing bass. He jumped, rocked out, played way up the neck of the bass, thrashed around and generally made it look fun and super cool.

Dinosaur Jr were tight, at times assisted by a second drummer. The songs from last years Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not are among their very best, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that Feel The Pain, Start Choppin' and Freakscene weren't my favourites.

I remember getting guitar lessons as an 18-year old and asking for help figuring out how to play Start Choppin'. So it was great to watch J's fingers dance around his various guitars and work his pedals and whammy bar and it was hard to take my eyes of Lou Barlow who was just the embodiement of indie cool.

How cool to rock up in a city and play a couple of small shows at the Art School and also do a matinee show at Sleazys? Indie cool.

Sun Rose and L Space at Nice n Sleazy

Last night I caught two stunning bands in the basement of Nice n Sleazy, both blew me away.

I introduced L-Space in a previous blog. I was really looking forward to seeing them live and they didn't disappoint. Singer Lily wore a headband that lit up and started the set kneeling in front of a tiny keyboard at the front of the stage, picking out a beautiful melody, covered by an umbrella that also lit up. Her band mates created a beautiful wall of noise to back her up.

The 4-piece were refreshingly different to any band I have seen in Glasgow in a while. Gordon Johnstone played some brilliant riffs and melodies on guitar, before at times unleashing some ferocious white noise. Synth player Maura Keane looked super cool, creating some great sounds, whilst bassist Dickson Teller kept the groove.

Blue Flowers was a highlight for me as I've really fallen for that song, but in truth the whole set was incredibly impressive and there were knowing nods from the people around me that we were witnessing a band with huge potential. The crowd responded with increasing applause and hours after each song. A great set.

Sun Rose were launching their debut LP The Essential Luxury by playing their first ever show after a grand total of four rehearsals. The album was created by Albert Kawmi, Calum Muir and Gus Wemyss between Glasgow and Manchester, with emails playing an important role.

The trio gradually pieced together a stunning album full of inventive beats, breaks, layers, sounds, melodies and harmonies. With no band name, social media or gigs to concern themselves with, this gave them an almost unique freedom in todays day and age to take their time.

I'll be blogging about the sublime and blissful album in the very near future. What were they like live?

The trio became a 6-piece for the night; lining up with Calum and Gus playing back to back synths, Albert on bongos, maracas and very occasional synth, backed by guitar, bass and drums.

What a treat! The band played superbly. Albert told us how it was his first live show in 4-years. He looked confident and full of joy. Calum and Gus looked deep in concentration, playing synths, getting involved in funky percussion and both complimented Albert superbly with harmonies and backing vocals. Their band mates looked delighted to be playing to a packed Sleazys and to be involved in creating such sublime music live.

Debut single Smirk gave us an indication of the style and capabilities of Sun Rose live. They were on it - funky, sublime and able to recreate the layers and changes in pace that they beautifully offer on their album,

Dry In The Water was outstanding; surging upwards, dropping back to almost nothing before soaring sky high and taking the audience on a journey with them.

Second single Minima was blissful and the band had the confidence not only to sing a song in Arabic but to also drop in a cover version of The Pointer Sisters Automatic.

Singer Albert was quick to thank the band, their friend who drove them to and from Manchester, the audience and then his wife Lynsey who was celebrating her birthday. The audience sing song was followed by Albert coming into the audience for a kiss. There was a collective awwwww, a nice touch as Albert when back on stage and told us of how he broke the news to Lynsey that they were launching the album on her birthday.

The band ended their set with Counting Upwards, the beautiful closing number from their album. They got lost in the gorgeous sounds they were producing and there is a section where things just build to a euphoric mantra.

There was no encore. Just grateful thanks to the audience and to Last Night From Glasgow who Albert said the album and gig wouldn't have happened without.

What will they do next? Will they play again? A packed Sleazys will hope so. And for any festival promoters reading this - get them booked. Blissful, funky and euphoric.

Album review to follow. Check it on Spotify HERE or order vinyl HERE

Ultimate Painting at Mono

Ultimate Painting were brought to my attention earlier on this year when Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream posted about their Green Lanes album and how he thought they were cool. I always love Bobby's posts on Facebook, his knowledge and passion really comes across, as does his fantastic taste.

Then a lovely girl Holly Calder who DJ's in Glasgow, puts on shows and generally has fantastic style and taste posted that she was putting Ultimate Painting on at the Old Hairdressers in town - a superb little venue.

I checked them out, bought the album and also bought tickets. Due to exceptional demand, the show was upgraded to Mono and what a show it was. I have had a rather manic week or so since then - hence the very late blog!

I caught most of Vital Idles set, a raw 4-piece enjoying making a noise, their guitarist spent most of his time facing his amp and buzzing off what his band were creating on stage. The young female singer occasionally bounded about the stage to help generate a response from the crowd.

The Bellybuttons were excellent, I thoroughly enjoyed their set, the guitars sounded glorious, they looked like they were having fun and their sound was reminiscent of the Fanclub at times, Pavement at others. I definitely hope to catch this band again in the future.

Ultimate Painting expand to a 4-piece when they play live and the resulting sound and performance was a joy to watch and listen to. The two guitars gelled superbly at times and played off against each other at others.

Jack Cooper and James Hoare shared vocals and their Velvet-y sound gained a warm response from the crowd - the coolest looking crowd at a gig I have seen in ages!

Songs like Break the Chain highlight the sense of melody and tenderness the band are capable of, while Out In The Cold is one of the most gorgeous songs I have heard in 2015.

Kodiak was dreamy guitar brilliance over a simple beat. Check it out below. I hope to see them back in Glasgow soon and I'll get a blog up a lot quicker next time!