Monday 5 November 2007

Multiplies, Bubblewrap Holocaust, Mother and the Addicts - Mono

Tonight in Mono, it's all very strange. The faces, the noises, the smells...everything feels like it's 2003 again when Glasgow was the centre of the world and it was inevitable that the better local bands would not only get signed, but follow the Franz Ferdinand route into Hyper Global Mega stardom to boot. The place is packed, but literally everyone here is either in a band or in a relationship with someone in a band...or Paul Jamieson. And everyone is here to see Multiplies. In common with 90% of the assembled throng, we left right after their set and missed out on seeing Mother and the Addicts play what must have been one of the most depressing gigs of all time. Still, they got signed so maybe they didn't care. Would the main attraction have swapped all their cult status and indie cred for that elusive record deal? Answers on a postcard...

First on the bill are a bunch of battle-scarred veterans going by the name of Bubblewrap Holocaust. The skinny frontman is instantly recognisable as the visual arts guy who does the spinning OHP acetates, transforming the anachronistic teaching aid into waves of psychedelic art. Or maybe I was just pished...in any case, his band are on top form tonight, with 2 bassists, drums and a keyboard accompanying his Hugh Reedisms with an angular backdrop that bears more than a passing resemblance to The Fall. Gordon from Bangtwister and Macrocosmica mans one of the basses with a dead ringer for the old guy out of The Commitments playing the other and it's a great sound, first time I've heard wah-wah bass and now I want more.

BH were very good but their appeal had started to wane a bit by the time they shuffled off stage, and the excitement in the air became palpable as folk began to stake out their spots in preparation for the 'plies. Eventually they took to the stage, James and Graham in white while David and Stuart were clad in black. Drummer James stood behind his kit with sticks aloft while the other 3 bowed their heads in (presumably) mock reverence as some dramatic choral music played...


...


...


...then they started.


Arms flail, chords snap, smiles and nods are exchanged, instruments swapped, and in the middle of it all stands Graham Ronald. Despite only 2 of his 3 organs fully functioning tonight, he is the star of the show, only narrowly failing to be upstaged by the demonic drummer behind him. Graham's parents are just in front of us and seemed to enjoy their son's endeavours (though I suspect they're still hassling him to get "a proper job" even as he protests that he's on tour with Mogwai next week). The show is undoubtedly a success, the fans certainly enjoyed it all.

Multiplies are not your usual self-effacing indie band, most of their songs come across like childish competitions between the 4 guys on stage to see which one can rock out most impressively. For most of the time this is no bad thing, but when they attempt to combine this with vocals from Stuart Memo on a couple of numbers it all comes unstuck a bit. Still, at the close of a short set nobody has had enough, and the band wisely go back to the stage to perform one last song...or is it? They seemed to be having a prety good time up there.

Check out Dananananaykroyd, Remember Remember, Data Panik and TextAdventure for some of the various members' post-Multiplies endeavours. They're all good.

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