Olive Grove Label Showcase - The Pleasance Sessions

Olive Grove Label Showcase

11th October 2014 - The Pleasance, Edinburgh

 On the bill were: Call To Mind; Skinny Dipper; The Moth & The Mirror; Woodenbox

In the courtyard of the Pleasance Theatre they were holding the Och!toberfest Beer Festival - a lovely candelabra lit marquee offering liquid delights from a diverse selection of brewers. One of Stewarts and one of Dusty Moose, plus a generous helping of haggis, neeps and tatties, left us in a good mood and ready for anything.

Och!toberfest Marquee

Organised by Lloyd Meredith and his team, Olive Grove Records showcase main aim is "is to release good music and not lose too much money". Lloyd was wandering about in his natty "I Can't Dance To This Music" baseball cap, enjoying the ambience.
The theatre was barely half full when we arrived, so we plumped for some near-front seats and relaxed, listening to the eclectic mix of tunes the DJ/sound guy was playing. 

The stage

Call To Mind 

..were up first, and I was really looking forward to their set - in fact they were the main reason I was there. I'd seen them once before in Glasgow as part of a fund-raising event for the Cairn String Quartet and had followed their progress ever since, and purchasing their debut LP The Winter Is White some months ago. The album is full of beautifully crafted tunes and I'd recommend listening to it here.
Normally the lineup consists of brothers Martin Ross (vocals, keyboards and guitar) and Jamie Ross (guitar, vocals) with Andrew Masson (bass), Joe Smillie (drums), Steven Gribbin (guitar, vocals). Unfortunately they were without a keyboard player on this occasion. 

Call To Mind

This meant that as a 4-piece, the beautiful swirling sounds (described by one critic as "how Joy Division would sound covering Dark Side Of The Moon") I'd hoped to hear were marred by excessive guitar feedback, and too-loud guitar loops. I seldom recognised much of what they played.  

The one exception was "Untitled" which started off really well, then the overbearing guitar kicked in and it was lost.

I was really disappointed, and my gig-buddy was even more vocal in dislike. Such a shame as I really do think they've got great potential, but it didn't show here.

--- Setlist probably included ---

A Family Sketch 
Breathe 
Over The Machair 
Untitled 
Chemotherapy

Skinny Dipper

This was the second time I'd seen the Skinnies and they didn't fail to impress again.

Skinny Dipper

Skinny Dipper are made up of members from an array of Scottish talent including: singer Alex Kenzel (blochestra), bass player Vicki Cole (Randolph’s Leap) violinist Heather Thikey (Randolph’s Leap, Kill The Waves), trumpet player Ali Hendry (Randolph’s Leap), keyboardist and vocalist Gillian Higgins, violinist Cat Calton (Aerial’s Up), Ruth Campbell (Aerial’s Up, Quickbeam), Monika Gromek (Quickbeam) and Iain Symes-Marshall (Trapped In Kansas).

Higgins and Kenzel took it in turns to provide lead vocals and the whole ensemble joined in to provide a gorgeous wall-of-sound on Hospital Bed.

Great set!

---Setlist included ---

Landing

Hospital Bed

The Kids Are Moving On 

Cellphones

Son Of A Mitch

The Moth & The Mirror

The Moth & The Mirror

The Moth & The Mirror have been proclaimed as a Scottish supergroup, comprising of members taken from an array of Scottish talent including: Stacey Sievwright from The Reindeer Section and Arab Strap (vocals/guitar), Gordon Skene from Frightened Rabbit (guitar/vocals), Louis Abbott from Admiral Fallow and Song of Return (guitar/vocals) Kevin McCarvel (bass), Iain Sandilands (percussion) and Peter Murch (drums).

Entertaining set, with a couple of fun moments - one where there was a 10-15 second pause before the song continued. Explained afterwards as a "special version" due to forgotten words, currently not available on the new album Honestly, This World.

Sievewright's vocals were strong and she and Skene are definitely the frontmen, working off each other and enjoyable to hear.

-- Setlist included --

Everyone I Know

Fire

Beautiful Creature 

Honestly, This World 

Hope Is An Anchor 

Oceans & Waves 

Woodenbox

Woodenbox

Some may know the band as Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, but the 6-piece have decided to shorten it down to the humble Woodenbox. Now signed to Olive Grove they have gained a reputation for great live gigs with a mariachi trumpet backing (3 of them).

I enjoyed their first few numbers, but was not able to stay for the full set. 

Highlights were Besides The Point and Hang The Noose.

Definitely worth another listen here 

-- Setlist included --

Besides The Point

Everyone Has a Price

Twisted Mile

Hang The Noose

Randolph's Leap and Guests

The Bowler's Bar, Glasgow - Sunday 27 July

I've got a wee bit behind with the whole gig review thang, so this is a week or so overdue. This was part of the East End Social project ....

"The East End Social is an ambitious new music project bringing a host of concerts, events and workshops to the east side of Glasgow. Running from April to August 2014, The East End Social promises an eclectic music programme across a range of venues, appealing to visitors and east end residents of all ages."

This particular whole-day-gig was organised by Randolph's Leap and Olive Grove Records under the banner "I Can't Dance To This Music Anymore" (click to view promo video recorded prior to the gig at the Bowler's Bar)

Randolph's Leap - Hosts for the day

The line-up for I Can't Dance To This Music: 

Randolph's Leap

State Broadcasters

Skinny Dipper

...plus stripped back sets from:

The BMX Bandits

Meursault 

Kid Canaveral
Adam Ross

... with Vic Galloway on DJ and compère duties

I was particularly looking forward to the Leap and Kid C as always, but also keen to see Meursault before he metamorphoses into a new entity, and of course the BMX Bandits. I knew little about Skinny Dipper or State Broadcasters, but if they were friends of the Leap they were bound to be good I reckoned.

Vic Galloway was playing some tunes, old and new - Blue Nile, Cocteau Twins, Pictish Trail etc. to keep the crowd happy, but at the appointed hour (13:00) Adam Ross of Randolph's Leap stepped up onto the tiny stage and did a few introductions before launching into the first solo acoustic set.

Adam solo acoustic set

He started with Cassie O’Tone "I sit here in the bath and pretend i’m doing the luge. I keep misjudging corners and break my skull in two" and followed with 3 new songs which all sounded pretty good - no idea of the titles, but something like Under The Sun, Regret, Place That I Linger. He finished his set with Psychic from the Real Anymore album. Lovely stripped back set and Adam's voice never fails to impress.

BMX Bandits were up next - well four of the seven Bandits with a guest appearance from none other than Adam Ross on drums (first of several guest appearances by Adam).

We were treated to a fine selection of Duglas T. Stewart's whimsical stories between songs, with the Bandits trademark humorous/sad lyrics during the set. Rachel Allison's lovely voice adding a real depth to the songs - which included:

Fireworks, And It's You, Do You Really Love Me  (Daniel Johnston cover), Students Of Life, Listen To Some Music and Disco Girl.

BMX Bandits, well some of them

Kid Canaveral's David MacGregor was next on the bill. Without his band members to reign him, he probably spent as much time chatting with the crowd as he did playing songs, but it was all good fun, and even funnier was his attempt to curtail his language (which can be colourful on occasion) as there were young kids in the audience :-)

David MacGregor representing Kid Canaveral

Despite the extensive banter, David manage to play: Her Hair Hangs Down, What We Don't Talk About, You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night (with well orchestrated audience participation and harmonies), Low winter Sun & And Another Thing. Really enjoyable set from David on great form.

Neil Pennycook was making one of his last appearances under the name Meursault.

This was the first time I'd seen Neil live, despite owning several of his albums. The first thing that struck me was the power of his voice. In the small Bowler's Bar venue, he didn't really need the microphone for the louder vocal sections, and indeed stood well back. 

Meursault - Neil Pennycook

The set consisted of a mixture of Meursault tunes and some interesting covers. Set list was roughly: Flittin' (great version - Adam on Drums again!), Death to Meursault, Lioness  (Jason Molina cover), Memoirs of a Stockbroker? (Mungo Jerry cover), Lament For a Teenage Millionaire, Day Drinker (Adam Faucett cover) and a couple more. This was a compelling performance by Neil and well received by the audience.

After a considerable amount of sound engineering, Skinny Dipper ("almost a girl band") took the stage - all 9 of them!

Skinny Dipper stage crowding

No need for Adam's presence this time, they brought their own drummer :-) Skinny Dipper are a new band with three members of Randolph’s Leap in them. They’ve got a new EP coming out towards the end of the year or the start of next year.

Skinny Dipper have been described as "sunshine-pop harmonists" and they did just that - bright, mostly happy tunes well performed with big strings, brass and keyboards backing. This was a lovely set in a (by this time) well packed Bowler's Bar.


Press labelled as "Caledonian alt-country charmers", State Broadcasters were on next.
Completely unknown to me me prior to this gig, the Broadcasters line-up unusually included a harp, a cello and two trombones, as well as the more usual guitar and keys. 

State Broadcasters

Their songs were ear-catching and sounded great in the tiny venue. Of course, they too needed a drummer for a couple of tracks and enlisted the help of Mr Ross. By this time Adam was beginning to get embarrassed at being described as the Jools Holland of the drums, but he worked his way across the stage, through the band, eventually found the drum stool and proceeded to drum through the next couple of numbers very ably. State Broadcasters are definitely worth further investigation on this evidence. 

Finally it was the turn of the hosts - Randolph's Leap, who on this occasion were a trombone player short of the full Leap ensemble. 

Adam glad not to be drumming

Exuberant and fun as always, there were a couple of songs I'd not heard the Leap do live before - namely Crisps and Undergod, but perhaps that was due to the missing trombone of Fraser Gibson. 

One of the highlights of their set was their cover of Camper Van Beethoven's "Take The Skinheads Bowling" where Adam insisted that Neil (Meursault), David (Canaveral) and Graeme (State Broadcasters) join him on stage for the vocals. A wild and crowd-backed version of Skinheads followed with wholehearted chants of "Got big lanes" and "All the same" etc.

Funnily enough, in the following song, Counting Sheep, Adam inadvertently swapped back into Camper Van Beethoven mode and mixed up the lyrics, to much crowd cheering. 

As always, Randolph's Leap live are something not to be missed and their set ended a very fine afternoon and evening of quality music, friendly banter and inter-band camaraderie.

Set-list was: Goodbye, Foolishness Of Youth, Nature, Isle of Love, Weatherman, Microcosm , Undergod, Hermit, Take The Skinheads Bowling (Camper Van Beethoven cover), Counting Sheep, I Can't Dance To This Music Anymore and Crisps