She's drinking Guinness and I'm drinking orange juice. Something about that is not quite right. I don't think equality is meant to work like that, is it? Anyway, to the music…
First on was Mikey Reid. Being the only one man and a guitar act of the night, he seems to think he is the warm up for the other bands. The problem with that assumption is that his performance is well above the average for one man and a guitar acts in Glasgow. Remaining self effacing throughout, he nonetheless shows both style and aggression in his guitar playing and both confidence and class in his singing. A good start to the evening.
Stylistically opposite - you might well say - were Forevervoid. Jumping between hard rock and metal, this band gave the impression of being able to out drink you, beat you at poker and then kick the crap out of you afterwards. Every riff must have weighed at least a ton and, with wickedly macho posturing from the lead singer, all those rock clichés got punched senseless to the soundtrack of very proficiently performed songs. Scary but in a good way…
Another stylistic right turn and you had The Quiff. Five strong and on a train that got derailed on the way to indie pop land, they balanced the currently fashionable angry guitars with retro synth sounds and good natured banter to give the audience a buoyant and charming performance to remember and one that made even me smile. Likeable and good songs? It's not a common occurrence these days.
Last on were The Chinaskis. They did a nice line in mature pop songs in a sort of Supergrass meets Biffy Clyro on a beach in California kind of way that would appeal to many and they had the confidence to take the time to exercise their musical muscles on something more epic towards the end of their set. Like all the performers tonight, they played with good grace and a big smile.
I feel the need for fried food. Time to go.