oran mor

Far From Saints – Oran Mor

Live music, Music Review

Far From Saints made their Scottish debut with an intimate, sold out show in Glasgow, giving fans a sneak preview of their live sound and forthcoming album, ahead of some high profile stadium support gigs and summer festivals this year.

It may have been only their third live performance as a band but Far From Saints are far from new to the business of live music, or to recorded music for that matter. Comprised of Stereophonics’ songwriter and lead vocalist Kelly Jones and Austin, Texas band The Wind + The Wave (Patty Lynn and Dwight Baker), the band have found a new thrill in collaboration that began when their respective projects toured together, first in 2013 and later when Jones invited the American duo to open for him on a solo tour in 2019. They bonded over a shared love of the classics – Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty – and by the end of that tour they had an album’s worth of songs. The resulting self-titled record was delayed significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic but with its now imminent release coming on June 16th, and the band set to perform a slew of open air events over the summer, including support gigs with Kings of Leon and Paul Weller, they wisely decided to throw on a couple of “warm-up” shows in Glasgow and Leeds.

In comparison to the venues Jones has been accustomed to selling out over his 25+ year career, Glasgow’s Oran Mor isn’t just physically small, it’s dangerously intimate. There’s almost no distance between the band, on a waist- high stage, and the 500 punters assembled on the other side of the barrier but moreover, there’s nowhere to hide if things go wrong. And sometimes things do.

While the band assume their positions on stage, Jones takes an extended moment to personalise the occasion with an anecdote about being recognised in a Timpson store earlier while asking for directions to a pharmacy. Two points to be made here: He feels at home in Glasgow and he’s battling a cold. With that information out in the open he tends to keep his chat fairly minimal throughout the rest of the set which, for those familiar with his often narrative-driven performances, is a bit of a letdown. They open with the album’s first track and latest single Screaming Hallelujah, a distinctly indie folk number which is buoyed by bright acoustic guitar and duelling chorus melodies.

From the outset we’re promised a run through of the album and then some covers to finish up. It’s not the exact running order of the album but rather Jones and Lynn alternating introductions and lead vocal duties in equal turns. This generally means switching between mellow (Jones’) and more uptempo (Lynn’s) songs but given that no-one’s heard more than three singles yet the crowd are none the wiser about how the energy “should” flow between these ten songs. What’s so interesting about the audience at Oran Mor, a modest but notable majority of whom are women, is that they seem substantially more enamoured with Lynn and Baker. This makes for a really interesting dynamic between songs where fans shout for their favourite band member – “I LOVE YOU PATTY!” “I LOVE YOU DWIGHT!” and less often “I LOVE YOU KELLY” – but there’s very limited recognition or reciprocity from the stage and eventually the cries become a bit tedious.

Jones launches No Fool Like An Old Fool. Instantly familiar and catchy with a 70s country folk ballad feel, it’s not quite Gram and Emmylou but you can clearly sense the magic that sparked this collaboration in the first place. Then it’s Lynn’s turn to lead Take It Through The Night, much to the raucous delight of the audience. “This is my favourite one to perform because I sing most of it” she declares, tongue loosely in cheek. While she claims to be channelling her inner Stevie Nicks on this number, the twang of the guitars and pounding drums bear more resemblance to Miranda Lambert in her heavier moments. There’s no denying though, Lynn’s voice is the star of the show here.

On Won’t Get Out Alive the contrasting tones of their voices become almost cinematic; Jones’ soft and cloud-like rasp gently enveloping Lynn’s richly bold and resonant delivery. Despite a false start – or two – the set runs smoothly towards the final Southern rock epic, The Ride. This one features more lush vocal duelling, a driving rhythm section and multiple guitar solos before it goes full ZZ Top with a swinging blues rock instrumental outro. It’s so much fun!

When the band return from their brief refreshment interlude – it can’t be called an encore because no-one demanded it, though a few tried here and there – they let everyone witness the duet that catalysed the whole project: a cover of Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around. It’s good enough. They don’t owe anyone more but they insist on another two covers because they’re obviously enjoying playing together. And after a long night listening to mostly unreleased songs the audience appreciate a a few familiar ones that they can sing along to. Lynn puts in a solid turn leading The Ronettes’ Be My Baby before they close out the night on Tom Petty’s American Girl, to genuinely overwhelming applause.

Natalie Imbruglia – Oran Mor

Live music, Music Review
Natalie Imbruglia on stage in Glasgow

Last year Natalie Imbruglia enjoyed her acoustic tour so much she set out to do it all again in 2018, visiting cities and venues she hadn’t reached with the previous shows. The Australian-born singer toured Europe extensively in celebration of the 20 years since the release of her debut album Left Of The Middle. The first of two Scottish dates landed her in Glasgow, a city and audience she particularly enjoys. The feeling is clearly mutual as the 550 capacity venue is sold out with punters still looking for tickets only hours before the gig.

Italian singer-songwriter Kiol delivers more than adequate entertainment as support for this tour. His songs, a combination of jaunty folk-pop and hard-strummed, upbeat earworms, are delivered with the hunger and joy of an A-grade busker. Playing mostly songs from his 2017 EP I Come As I Am he offers himself to a new audience, describing how he was introduced to folk music in Ireland and worked with members of Paolo Nutini’s band on his recent single Hard Things. His charm is enough to get the crowd clapping and singing along for more than just the odd chorus (Broken Up Again is a particular highlight) and he leaves the stage with a big smile on his face, after the obligatory “Look I’m on stage” photo is done.

Imbruglia’s set opens with her 3-piece band taking to the stage moments before she emerges, shimmering in sheer black with gold sequins, and that iconic wide-eyed, dimpled smile. She appears as radiant as ever and is met with enormous enthusiasm so that the first lines of Wrong Impression are drowned out by applause. Surrounded by fairy lights and vintage lamps, the band appear cosy and at ease. “I want to bring you into my world a little” Imbruglia explains of her setting, “…it looks just like my lounge room”. Indeed it is beautifully intimate and unfortunately some fans get a little too relaxed, chatting away constantly as if the performance on stage is somehow aside to their evening’s entertainment. She draws them back in though, time and again, with her unwavering eye-contact, playful dance moves and of course, irresistible songs.

Her voice has a huskiness to it but the notes and words are delivered with absolute clarity and precision. She lets out a belter on Counting Down The Days at full voice and for just a few seconds you think this might be it, the moment of elevation, but sadly it doesn’t last and she returns to a gentle delivery. Early songs like Beauty On The Fire and Pigeons And Crumbs work this to their advantage and, of the latter, the singer muses on the transportative quality of music to draw you back to a very specific time and place. It’s true; these songs do have a certain tone and energy about them, lyrically, from a time when pop music could be intellectual, emotive and catchy all at once, without feeling contrived or insincere. This is especially apparent when Imbruglia invites her long-term songwriting collaborator and Scottish musical legend, Gary Clark, to perform one of their songs Butterflies from 2001’s White Lilies Island. Born out of Imbruglia’s “angst” phase, followed soon after by the lead single That Day from the same album, these songs are heavy on words that encapsulate coming-of-age naivety and romantic anxieties. Looking at the singer today you could almost forget how long ago these songs were written, or how young she was when she penned them; her performance is timeless and the integrity of the emotions is buoyed by the quality of her voice, even if the urgency of That Day is lacking slightly for the sake of breathing.

The set winds toward a natural ending with big singles Shiver, crowd favourite Smoke, and Torn before finishing with a cover of Daft Punk’s Instant Crush from her last album, 2015’s Male, which has fans singing along and dancing in spite of the acoustic beats from the cajon. Not getting away without an encore, the band returns to the stage for 2 final songs, the spirited and optimistic Intuition and venomous hit Big Mistake.

This isn’t a nostalgia tour. It’s a varied set showcasing some of the finer moments in pop from the turn of the century but unmistakeable at the fore, always, is that voice, as classic as the pop songs themselves.

BNQT – Oran Mor

Live music, Music Review

A supergroup? In 2017? Perhaps in the digital age, where anyone can record an album in their bedroom and become an overnight sensation -or fad- through online marketing and distribution, the idea that a collective of successful recording artists could come together to create an album doesn’t seem that far-fetched.  When bands do collaborations these days though it usually involves a guest vocalist or two, maybe a remix. The idea of a supergroup seems rather old-fashioned, from a time when rock stars were even bigger than their egos and in the last decade or so few bands have attained the level of stardom to even qualify for such a title. BNQT (pronouced “banquet”) probably border on cult supergroup status, consisting  of 5 lead vocalists and what is essentially a very well established house band. Despite touting themselves as a “poor man’s Traveling Wilburys” the band which features members of Grandaddy, Franz Ferdinand, Travis, Band of Horses and Midlake have produced an album well worth their investment. Volume 1 is a fine collection of songs reflecting the diverse influences of its respective contributors while sounding cohesive enough to be translated into a live setting by one single band.

The possibilities for musical collaboration on record are nearly unlimited by geography but the challenge – and real fun – for BNQT would always be to take these songs on the road. Pulling artists together from across continents to performs songs that have never been played live before is quite an achievement in scheduling and with the exception of Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) everyone in the band made it to the Glasgow show. Originally announced for the Old Fruitmarket, the gig was moved to Oran Mor a few weeks out, and even on the night tickets were still available. There’s something strange about the way BNQT have grown their following; while the album clearly advertises the fact it is this supergroup collaboration by naming all the contributors, the bands themselves have not been cross-promoting, almost as if the project doesn’t exist. In this day and age it’s customary to trade on your name, to bandwagon, to associate yourself with your brand. BNQT seem to be starting from scratch, with a little over 6000 Facebook followers. It doesn’t make sense that a band comprising such a well known line-up could fail to sell out a 500 capacity venue in what should be considered a second hometown. Ultimately, for the fans who did show up none of that matters.

Opening the show is the talented singer-songwriter Chris Stills. On the subject of artists not trading on their names yes, he is the son of folk rock legend and original supergroup member  Stephen Stills. He is also an accomplished musician in his own right, two solo albums to the good and a new  single This Summer Love released recently ahead of a new album due in 2018. His short set of acoustic bluesy rock jams is well received by the intimate crowd, building energy from the mellow opening new single and follow up Just Like The Rain. He chats casually between songs and there’s a feeling that the room is moving to the engaged side of indifference. After inviting the crowd to “sing along in the choruses” he launches into an extended rock rendition of Eleanor Rigby before closing out his set with 100 Year Thing, receiving much more than polite applause.

When BNQT take to the stage at 9pm there’s a crowd gathered to about half fill the room. There’s a buzz. Those who know, know. The set opens with the same drive as the album, with Eric Pulido’s (Midlake) lead single Restart, before he passes frontman duties to Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle to lead on 100 Million Miles, followed up by Fran Healy’s Mind of a Man. The audience are loving it instantly and although it’s apparent there are fans of each of the bands represented here, everyone has come to enjoy the songs. It’s probably just as well because the BNQT songs prove to be the strongest performances of the night. Pulido mentions the fact they don’t have enough material to fill a whole set, asking if it would be alright for them to play some songs from their catalogues. The crowd cheers and they slip into a rendition of Grandaddy’s Hewletts Daughter. Pulido immediately seeks affirmation from Lytle, before passing microphone duties to Fran Healy.

The introduction of Travis’ anthem Why Does It Always Rain On Me is one of the few excuses to utilise Midlake’s Jesse Chandler on flute; for most of the set he’s contributing keys and vocals. It’s at about this point that the real context of the gig sinks in, as the song falls about as flat as it’s ever sounded. One punter observed “It’s a bit like a wedding band with these covers” and the realisation comes home, that this is a band apart from its components. While they may be equal or greater than the sum of their parts when it comes to playing BNQT songs, or even Midlake songs which fare quite well in the set, they as frontmen are not everything in their own music. Still, it’s a lot of fun and that is the feeling that runs throughout the performance; BNQT is a group of songwriters and musicians having fun creating and working together. At intervals throughout the night each member takes an opportunity to thank their bandmates for allowing them to be part of the experience and each time compliments are delivered with genuine humility, and met with heartfelt gratitude by both the band and the audience. Chris Stills even joins the band mid-set to flesh out the sound for his own performance and is well received amid the flow of face-melting harmonies and bodacious guitar solos from Joey McLellan.

After playing though every song on Volume 1 the set closes out with a run of 4 covers including Sing, Head Home, AM180 and an exuberant singalong with Alex Kapranos to a song he introduces as a surprise choice of cover, “the b-side to the 4th single on our last album” which of course turns out to be Franz Ferdinand’s mega hit Take Me Out. They leave the stage with the crowd demanding more and return to oblige with a two song encore, this time another 2 covers and true covers, to honour their own rockstar influences; Tom Petty’s Won’t Back Down and The Beatles Revolution.

Even after all that it’s hard to explain what this so-called supergroup is, beyond a bewildering musical exercise, but it’s good. It’s very good. May we see their like again.

This review was originally published by The Modern Record

Photography featured in The Independent