Bluesbunny is happy before he even reaches the venue. Although he has never trusted fruit, he has known for some time that Apples in Stereo will be good for you. Good for you in that mysterious way that only quality music can be. The Apples in Stereo have been around for ages and have remained a cult favourite. Why have they never hit the big time? Because there is no justice in the world. Why have they remained cult favourites? Because they make great music!
Supporting them tonight is Ross Clark. A local Glasgow boy, we arrive to find him already on stage jumping around like a big, happy puppy. If he had a tail, it would be wagging furiously. Armed with only an acoustic guitar, he fills the compact stage with his overflowing enthusiasm. In fact, during his last song, he leaps from the stage and plays right in the middle of the crowd. Probably due to the deranged sensibilities of modern youth, his songs take a skewed if poetic approach to the trivialities of life even dragging in cheap wine with "Echo Falls". Vocally, he whooped and hollered like an old time country singer at a Bruce Forsyth convention. At the risk of flogging another Bluesbunny catchphrase to death, Ross Clark makes magic from the mundane.
Apples in Stereo don't even look like real musicians. They look like your dad, your uncle, a couple of guys from work and the guy at the bottom of the road that used to be an Elvis impersonator. Lead singer Robert Schneider looks like the kind of guy that would give you tax advice rather than being the creator of quirky pop music. Bluesbunny even spots him mingling with the crowd prior to taking to the stage. The venue is getting busy now and a synth drone lets us know that the show is about to start. We get old favourites and we get a healthy selection from their latest album. "Can you Feel It" charged the crowd up. "Energy" had the crowd jumping wildly to discharge their joy. OK, so they do a fine line in quirkiness but you can sing along to these songs. This is a band that people come along to hear and enjoy. Our Mr Schneider even stops to tell a pirate joke. The band lack the self obsessed vision that blight so many of today's performers. As the set progresses, you watch in wonder at a band that actually looks like they are enjoying themselves as much as the audience is. We even get not one, but two encores. Bluesbunny favourite of the night, by the way, was the storming version of "Same Old Drag". Decent sound in the venue as well so we get to enjoy the lyrics.
On the seventh day, when God had finished creating high definition LCD televisions and Sky Sports, he sat down in his leather reclining chair and poured himself a beer (invented on day one!). He thought to himself that he had missed creating something. Then it came to him. The world needs quality tunes. So he invented Apples in Stereo. Unbeknown to him, the Devil was looking over his shoulder and thought to himself that he would get some of that action as well. So the Devil got David Hasselhoff a recording contract. That, dear readers, is how the battle between good and evil began and we have been fighting it ever since.
As Bluesbunny heads out the door, he notices that there is merchandise on sale. The latest album from Apples in Stereo - "New Magnetic Wonder" - is for sale on vinyl. Limited Edition. On two 180 gram LPs. Unreleased track. Already got the CD but this is too good to miss. Wonder if I can put it on expenses?