Fate Part 1:
I had every intention of going to see Alamos and Juliet Kilo at The Westie. But I thought I'd take a hike down to the Doghouse a few hours before, just for a drink and to catch up with whoever was there. While I was there, Paul and friend from the Disco Kings were setting up for a soundcheck, for they were backing that night's main act, Martin Degville. Now for those who don't know, Degville was leader of the '80's band Sigue Sigue Sputnik - yes, THAT Martin Degville - and this was a Sigue Sigue Sputnik gig. So there was I thinking that they were much hyped back then - so why on earth would you want to see them now! But the soundcheck sounded amazingly industrial - sort of new rave meets electro-metal. On a previous encounter, Paul had asked about Nikki from Sonic Abyss - as it turned out, we now think he meant the other Nicola from SAZ and I got it wrong - and I remembered this, so as I had noone to go out with that night, I thought I'd check with Nikki if she was going to be at the Sputnik gig (just in case). As it turned out she wanted to go but was in two minds - so I took my life in my hands and persuaded her to come down - so there I was - all of a sudden, I'm going to see Sigue Sigue Sputnik - still, at least I'd have Nikki for company, and that's good enough for me.
The Concert - Part 1:
I got there shortly after 9 - Nikki (and her friend Laura) were already there - quite a few people there to see the Sputniks, so decent atmosphere. I arrived as the first band were finishing. So, I had a chat with Nikki. About 20 mins or so later, the sound came of the next band doing a line check - I didn't take too much notice and chatted some more. Then the band started. As we looked on, Nikki exclaimed "isn't that a female on the drums?" - I looked over and it was. We were at the back by the bar, but what was coming from that stage sounded mighty good, so I suggested we moved into the main hall. Duly doing so, we took positions stage right as you look at it - and gasped!
There, on the stage, was this flame-haired woman playing the drums like you've neve seen. She just attacked that kit, head shaking wildly, hair flying, an arm outstretched as the next flurry rained down on the hapless kit, providing this aswesome drumming in the most visually spectacular way - in short, this was breathtaking - and most of the audience thought so too, as you noticed this gradual move from the bar area into the hall from most of the audience.
But this wasn't even the beginning - stage right was the bassist - looking like an identikit young Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) - who was pounding that bass for sure, but whose vocal was just amazing - he soared through that opening number, the perfect mix of strength and power, almost singing in harmony with himself and such a depth of vocal. Stage left we hade the lead guitarist - pouring out these dirty great riffs as the song thundered into life, driven by the awesome rhythm section as it moved from dynamic verses punctuated by steaming guitar riffs to the chorus that just took off like a Saturn V as the band uppeed the anti and just drove it all home - simply jaw-dropping. Providing a deceptive end, they then flew into the next song without a break, heralding even more spectacular and dramatic drum work on a song that twisted and turened but still poured out the dynamic force that was making you sit up and take notice. Then, they stopped - and the applause that rang out - even mixed with cheers of support - was incredible, not only for an unknown band at the Doghouse, but for a band playing in front of an audience who had come to see a band that sounded nothing like them.
The set continued - the drummer continued to transfix the audience - the applause grew ever louder, the whoops and hollers more vociferous. They performed a number called "Sucker" (I think) that started at an energetic pace then built up only to wander into a more psychedelic mid-section that allowed the guitarist to do his Jimmy Page bit with a drumstick doing the glissando psych swirling guitar. This soared upwards as the bass rumbled below, then it all dropped down - a brief second of notes dying into the ether - before - KERBOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!! - the drummer just lays into that kit with all the subtlety of Atila The Hun, and the band takes off - I mean TAKES OFF - as the two guitarists leap around the stage and the whole dramatic indie-laced frenzy scorches into life. More enthusiasm from the audience. If all this was the fiery furnace, then "Chasing Shadows" is the nuclear holocaust as the band go wild on one stormer of a track where the dynamics are stripped to basics and the power is turned full on, the guitarist leaping off the stage onto the dancefloor, as the drummer is still hammering down, her mane of hair a blur as she plays with all the energy of an atom bomb and stage presence that is truly astounding.
This is not to forget that the songs themselves are well sung, the arrangements instantaneous and the content something where, at no point in the set does your mind wander or you feel that there's a weak spot - this was half an hour or so of one incendiary band stopping an audience in its tracks, taking that audience along with it and winning that audience over hook, line and sinker.
But it doesn't end there..............
You know how, at the end of the set, many a band will say "we've got a CD on sale" and be roundly ignored by an audience who simply don't have the fiver to spare - not tonight! Not only did a load of people rush to the stage to shake hands with the band, but the CD's practically sold themselves, as the band got rid of all the ones they'd brought with them - I know this, as I got to speak with them after the event.
In short, this was one sensational concert!!!
Fate- Part 2
The bassist and vocalist said one thing , more than any other, during the set that made the audience mentally gasp - at the end of the second song, he announced "we're Late Nite Access and we're from Melbourne, Australia". AUSTRALIA??????? Nikki muttered to me "so much for us having their drummer then". I went "Australia? - what the heck are they doing here!!"
I turns out that this band was over in the UK, hot from a few dates in the USA and Europe (all organised by themselves), for a few concerts - they'd played at The Borderline in London, Whistlebinkies in Edinburgh and more, and tonight was to have been a night off. Someone suggested that they come to Dundee as there was a good music scene night life. So they did - quite by accident, the first place they found was the Doghouse. Not knowing it was a music venue, they walked in to ask if anyone knew directions to a hotel they might stay in and if there was anything going on that night in the town. Jenny, my favourite auburn haired barmaid (hehe), told them that the Doghouse had a couple of bands on tonight if they wanted to come along, to which the band asked if there was any chance that they could play. Jenny had to check with owner Sarah, but couldn't get hold of her there and then - a short time later, Sarah did explain that, as there were only two bands on tonight (an unusual occurrence in itself as there are nearly always the right number of supports), that the band could play. Jenny, seeing the band had now walked out, assumed that they'd gone to another venue. So, wanting to give the band a chance to play, raced round to the Westport - then the Balcony Bar - and then directed to Dexters, where she'd never even set foot before - no band! She then raced back to the Doghouse - to find the band still in the car in the Doghouse car park. Tapping on the window, she gestured to them. "You'd better get out of the car" said Kim (the drummer) and the band found out they had a gig!
It's spooky enough that this happened at all - even spookier that I was there as well - but then it was a full moon and the sign of Libra is in the ascendancy right now - fate moving in strange ways!
The Concert - Part 2:
I hate to say this - but Degville was brilliant! With the Disco Kings on keyboards, rhythm programmed and samples, a mysterious guitarist who remained hooded for the entire performance (who I actually found out to be a local guy you all know and love!), the picture was completed by Degville - resplendent in eye-catching outfit and hair that was comepletely over-the-top - who proceeded to sing at full strength over a barrage of raging, stomping, electro-industrial, dancefloor rockin barnstormers with beats and rhythms so infectious, they should be quarrantined. The combination of floor-shaking beats, swathes of synthesizers and scything guitar work had the whole place shaking, while Degville delivered the songs with all the explosive passion of a perfect pop sensibility. "Love Missile F-111" veritably roared into life at the end of a set that had erupted right from the beginning and never once allowed the flames to die. If ever there was a band who desreved to be bigger - and are actually loads better - than the original incarnation, it's this mob. I just hope that this was not a one-off.
Fate - Part 3:
Not so much fate - but weird enough. I happily got to speak with Late Nite Access - for quite a long time after the gig - until around 4am to be precise. Found out loads about them - and they turned out to be really great people - the sort you'd happily go down the pub with!!
Anyway, they said that the following night would be the last night of their tour in the UK - at PJ's in Dunfermiline. I had a fleeting thought about going, but dismissed it. But around 3.30am, as me and the band were heading along to the kebab shop, they mentioned the gig tomorrow night and Hannah turned round to me and said "are you going?" and, before I could say no, the band said "ahh, go on - come along" to which Hannah looked dead enthusiastic, so I turned to her and said "OK - if you wanna come along then I'll go - anyone else want a lift there?" Mark stated that he might come along also, so I arranged to meet the following night at the Doghouse around 7.30pm for a Dghouse mini-trip to Dunfermiline.
The Concert - Part 3:
Just let's say that, due to various alcoholic ramifications, neither of the two Doghousians felt like coming along - or anyone else for that matter. So, now and still fired up with the idea of seeing them again, I went on my own.
Found it easily enough - a bizarre venue - you think you're walking into a quite tiny pub, but then there are steepish steps downstairs, past two flights of tiered benches, onto the dancefloor and another bar to your right. Not a huge place but decent PA and the sound was pretty decent too. As fate would have it - the theme of the weekend - of the two bands on with them, one had pulled out and the other turned into one man and his acoustic guitar - leaving Late Nite Access as the only band on. They rose to the occasion - it was every bit as awesome as the night before. OK, so the guitar sound for the opener was pretty ropey, and Kim on drums couldn't hear anything meaningful through the monitor, but they gave every bit of fiery passion as the night before. With more time to play, they threw in a stunning cover of The White Stripes "Fell In Love With A Girl" that was just superb, taken faster and laced with humour, as Kim laid down the storming rhythms, and Mick on bass raced the lyrics and hammered the bass, as our fave guitarist poured forth a hail of riffing that churned the song to perfection. "Sucker" and "Chasing Shadows" were every bit as hot, while "Gone" wa stretched out to its full length and became more familiar, while every one of their originals was just as insistent. Tonight, with time to think, I caught hints of Foo Fighters here, bits of Sugar and Bob Mould there, slight touches of psych-rock, all wrapped up in a powerhouse rhyhtm section and some stirring guitar work, on songs that are so easy to digest yet such long-lasting pleasure.
If this was a Dundee band, I'd be shouting from the rooftops. It's not a Dundee band (although there is a Dundee in Australia - no, don't do the joke!) - and I'm still shouting from the rooftops - this band are amazing - please please please go see them when they come back to the UK in April/May 2007 - you won't regret a second of it.
Photos courtesy of Late Nite Access Website