Sometimes you get that feeling that things are not what they appear to be. Arriving at the 13th Note, Bluesbunny thought that he had entered the twilight zone. The upstairs bar looked normal enough. Guinness on tap. A barmaid with beautiful eyes. Then came the announcement. The venue downstairs is now open. Following a chain of people into the depths of the building, we enter a cellar lit by a dull red glow. Compact but not so bijou. It looks like the kind of place where the undead might well hang out. The kind of place that makes you wonder if, when you wake up the next morning, you really did accidentally sleep with a female vampire. Fortunately, the premises is licensed so a Guinness is in order whilst Bluesbunny ponders the possible outcomes of the evening's entertainment. Wonder if they sell garlic here?
The Fnords take the stage first. When we say a stage, it is not really a stage. It is just the part of the room behind the pillars that are probably holding the entire building up and that dull red glow lights it. The Fnords start playing. In something that resembles a timewarp moment, Bluesbunny is transported back in time to 1978 and a similar basement bar in the city centre. The same wave of energy from those early punk bands hit us once again. It is not about songs. It is about transferring raw musical energy. Guitarist Sarah spits and snarls her way through the songs. Megan wrestles the low notes out her bass guitar and Derek plays his drumkit like it has done him some great personal disservice. The band mix in surf flavoured instrumentals as well in a way that would make Dick Dale proud. There are no epics here. All their songs kick their way of the speakers and burn up in under 3 minutes. No exceptions. This is certainly not background music. It is raw and in your face. All the way from the primordial swamp to a basement in Glasgow. Now that is the musical journey that this band takes us on.
Visiting from Edinburgh are Sara & the Snakes. It is their turn next to shake the room. Sara looks sweet. She looks petite. She looks like a school ma'am on a night out. She certainly does not look like she would possess the voice that she has. Power and sensuality are there in abundance. When she sings "Only Sometimes" she actually makes this super cool Bluesbunny sweat. Guitarist Andy Anaconda looks like a big, bearded truck driver but he must be on first name terms with the devil. His aggressive, grungy playing spits flames that must have come all the way from hell. On "Charlie Don't Surf", Mike Mamba's tribal drumming makes us wonder if those supporting pillars can take the strain. Will this band actually bring the roof down? Fortunately, Andy breaks a guitar string and the building gets a few moments to recover. Our lives are saved but it probably too late for our souls.
Tonight's headliners come all the way from Japan. Spookey look like three porcelain dolls and play a charming but angry mix of pop and punk. Drummer Misaki is clearly from the Marky Ramone school of drumming and nails every beat with military precision. Again, they turn it up to 11 and play guitars like their mission in life is to raise the roof off the building. This band is an object lesson in how to use your influences (Ramones, the Runaways) and create something fresh. It's a crowd pleasing move. People dance. They stand up on the seats to get a better view. Mayumi and Minako take turns to invade the crowd. You just don't expect that on a Monday night in Glasgow. It is certainly on the surreal side and this Bluesbunny wondered if he had perhaps stumbled on to an arthouse movie set. Just to add to the illusion, they even did - at least I think that they did anyway as reality was rapidly ceasing to be relevant - a cover of the theme to that classic television series, the Banana Splits. The crowd loved them and they got a much deserved encore. This is what live music is all about.
It is the Bluesbunny custom to pick a winner from the bands that have performed of an evening. Well, for once, there is no winner. It is a score draw as they say in football. All of the bands were excellent live acts and you are urged to check out all their music at your earliest convenience. The complementary nature of the bands playing tonight suggests that the promoter actually likes music (not always the case, in our experience) and the sound was surprisingly good too. An excellent way to spend a Monday evening and just the thing to give a man an appetite for chicken pakora. Or female vampires.