I quite like being a bit of a gig tourist: visit a town on other business, and find a gig to check out on a whim on an evening. So arriving in Stirling, I was rather chuffed to see a poster advertising a gig for a band I'd not only heard of, but heard, in the town that evening. The band in question was Maybeshewill, and the little I'd heard I'd found interesting.
The Tolbooth is a cracking little venue: capacity's probably a couple of hundred, the stage is a decent size and the lighting rig and PA are not only large but of a high standard. From what I can tell, they don't get many bands play in Stirling, which means there's a reasonable turnout, and the punters are really up for it. And so they should be: drinks are £2 a pop, which strikes me as being pretty good value, and tonight there are 4 bands on the bill for £6.
Best of all, the bands are of a high calibre. First up, Hey Enemy, proving there’s no shortage of talent on the Scottish alternative music circuit. Not that they sound particularly Scottish, their sound drawing heavily on a range of US guitar bands from the louder end of the spectrum. Their MySpace page suggests that their influences are simply too obscure to bother naming, but my ears detect hints of the likes of Tar, Melvins, Butthole Surfers, and UK bands like Oil Reed Rape with a touch of the swagger of Groop Dogdrill. They definitely belong to the Touch and Go / Amphetamine Reptile school and they certainly rock alright, with big sludgy chugging guitars, monster low-slung fuzzed-out bass and shouted vocals mixed low.
Lions Chase Tigers are a rather more sedate proposition, and play melodious shoegazing post-rock tunes. There seem to be a lot of bands doing this at the moment, and a couple of years ago I’d have probably found LCT a lot more exciting than I do now. They’re proficient enough, but perhaps a little formulaic: the majority of the songs begin with a crescendo in the first thirty or so seconds, go quiet for the vocals and then build up again. that said, they do have some good tunes, and I’d certainly not grumble if they turned up on the bill again.
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Because the whole post-rock thing is becoming a bit predictable, a band like And So I Watch You From Afar really do come as a refreshing change. Image-wise, they’re hard as hell: you’d not pick a scrap with them, particularly the bassist. To see them, you’d be forgiven for expecting all-out screaming metal. I certainly did. But looks can be deceptive, and instead ASIWYFA crank out a fascinating musical hybrid, which I can only describe as Post-rock Nu-Metal. Their set consists of truly epic tracks, with the classic reverb-laden chiming guitars that are post-rock staples, that suddenly break into immensely chunky, balls-out riffs that are pure (nu)metal. Sounds crazy, I know but it works. As a whole, their set is a multi-layered, multi-faceted genre-straddling sonic journey, that’s as impressive in terms of its musical vision and innovation as it is tight.
Maybeshewill are similarly unpredictable. Again, while drawing on many now popular post-rock elements, this four-piece from Leicester led by a petite female who pulls out some deceptively muscular bass riffs, take their songs every which way, and never stick to the obvious route. And what’s more, they too have a sound that is much heavier, denser, rockinger than so many other genre adherents. And it makes for an exciting set, which truly flies by. All of which goes to show that there’s a lot of great music out there, and that it’s possible to have a great night out for under a tenner. What more could you possibly ask for?
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