I've been most everywhere - I've been to King Tuts, I've been to Box, I've been to Barfly but I've never been to the Captain's Rest. If there is a more austere venue in Glasgow then I've never seen it. Hidden in a basement with only a couple of wooden benches (and no bar) to occupy its compact and bijou dimensions, it is not in any way impressive. Anyway, enough of the interior design commentary and on to the music. Entertaining the sparse crowd - there's a free oxymoron for you - tonight are Sleepmode and, all the way from Australia, the Ned Collette Band.
Sleepmode do a nice line in what might be called socially conscious indie rock. Lead singer Robin Adams looks comfortable being the singer but less so being the front man but guitarist Merv Adams struts about like there is no stage or stadium big enough to hold him. Altogether, a very respectable live band that sounded better the harder they rocked.
Returning from a quick visit to the bar upstairs, Ned Collette had already taken to the stage and was indulging himself in a bit of the old one man prog rock using built up rhythms on the old effects pedals much like our very own - and much revered - KT Tunstall would do. Then the other two members of the band join him and they brought focus and drive to the proceedings with a powerful version of "Come Clean". As their set progresses, the poetic quality of the lyrics shines through. It is as if Chris Isaak had retired to bed after consuming copious quantities of unpasteurised blue cheese, had some vivid Brechtian nightmares, woke up and wrote some songs. There was no doubting the intensity of this band's performance with drummer Joe Talia's inventiveness being of particular merit and, by the end, I found myself warming to their offbeat charms.
The clock strikes 11 and everybody gets booted out into the street. It must be a UNESCO City of Music thing.