You know how it is when you really want your dinner. The soup just doesn't matter when all you want is a nice plate of mince and tatties. All you want to make the whole day worthwhile is that main course. Ok, so another Bluesbunny rant escapes to assault your sanity but it is Free Candy Session time again and the Bluesbunny knows what he wants to hear tonight and that is The Viragoes. Also featured on the menu are Akira, Martin O'Neill and the Ketterleys.
Akira is first on and immediately seems - well - quirky. There is that half mumbled, half shouted vocal style for a start. An affected vocal style can be effective as musicians like Killer Comanche have demonstrated in this very venue but tonight we also get enough accents to make Rory Bremner jealous. Trying to categorise Akira into a genre proved difficult. Given his fascination with the floor, shoegaze came to mind but the disregard for melody suggested something altogether more artistic. Maybe you just need the right drugs?
Next up is Martin O'Neill. Not a bad choice of a name for a musician as Martin O'Neill is how they spell in God in certain parts of Glasgow. The word on the street was that tonight was his first gig and he certainly seemed unsure of himself. He could play the guitar however and his voice was rather decent too once he stood up. All this sitting down certainly chokes the vocals. Not having much original material, he fell back on populist cover versions including a number of songs that were written long before he was born. There is nothing wrong with covering other people's songs but young Martin needs to get himself a bigger record collection. Like a good whisky, he will no doubt benefit from being left to mature for a while so Bluesbunny will check him out in the future to see how he has developed.
The Ketterleys are a threesome (even the very word lifts the Bluesbunny spirits…) that do that sort of folk rock that used to be popular in seventies' Glasgow. They appear older and wiser than Martin O'Neill but seem equally awkward at first. "Where the Light Shines" is a decent song but it almost trips them up. Towards the end of their set, they hit their stride and "Last December" comes across in a more convincing way.
The Bluesbunny stomach stops rumbling as the main course arrives. As "Madame Nicotine" announces itself to the crowd, Bluesbunny knows that the Viragoes are here! Bursting with the kind of nervous energy that you might get if you crossed Loretta Lynn with Lulu and then added some dedicated but deranged musicianship, they are exactly how live music should be. Just get some quality tunes and bat them straight into the audience and see if they will sing them back to you. Done right - and it was - and you have one helluva live act with possibly the most animated bass player that we have yet seen. It is a short set tonight but The Viragoes get dragged back for an encore. Quite right too as there is no way they should leave the stage without giving us "Escape from Glasgatraz". If you were there then you know that this review is superfluous as their songs told you everything you need to know.
Heading off into the darkness, Bluesbunny pondered whether, for once, chicken pakora was actually needed to make the night complete.