O2 Love Music Column – January 2014
Just long enough after Hogmanay that you’ll have hopefully recovered, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals swing by the O2 ABC on Thu 16 Jan. Frontman Huey Morgan’s online-bought Scottish Lordship might be fake, but their New Yorker blues rock – with a strong helping of hip-hop – is as real as it comes. The second stop in their The Bong Remains The Same 2014 tour, Glasgow’s no stranger to the FLC crew, the Barras having hosted ‘em for a few gigs in the late 90s. Expect a lot more than just Scooby Snacks; Morgan and his buds have five studio albums and a wealth of danceable hits to draw on.
Rolling French reggae troupe Dub Inc. (known as Dub Incorporation until ’96) take over the O2 ABC the following night, on Fri 17 Jan. Boasting a hopped up fusion of Latin rhythms, dubby stylings, and multilingual rap (you’ll no doubt hear plenty of French mixed in with English and even Arabic verses) over dancehall and ska beats, this seven-piece gang are known for raucous performances (occasionally getting the audience involved) and a contagious energy on stage.
Keep your weekend going with a session from recently re-formed dub experimentalists The Pop Group (O2 ABC, Sat 18 Jan). As if emerging from a thirty year time capsule since their 1981 break-up (except, not really, at all, as the members – frontman Mark Stewart in particular – have been pretty active in the interim), this Bristolian noise-funk outfit will be dusting down seminal release Y and the subtly political For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? to blast our faces anew. Strap in for some timelessly iconoclastic confrontation from a time that was literally post-punk.
The last Sunday in January offers up a choice between two very talented singer/songwriters from two very different bands. Sauchiehall Street brings us Roderick 'Roddy' Woomble, frontman of esteemed (and apparently in limbo) Edinburgh indie-rockers Idlewild, softly strumming at the O2 ABC on Sun 26 Jan. Should be a chilled night of hardy melodic folk with a homegrown flavour. (Incidentally, this gig is part of 2014’s Celtic Connections, so there’s plenty more where that came from this month).
In a similar style but from t’other side of the Atlantic, check out the O2 Academy the same night for erstwhile Alexisonfire lead singer Dallas Green performing under his folksy moniker City and Colour. The Toronto-born musician’s acoustic solo work, running parallel to Alexisonfire since 2005 until they split in 2012, marks a strong departure from the band’s caustic, post-hardcore fervour. Both men will be delving into their 2013 releases (Listen to Keep and The Hurry and the Harm, respectively), but each have enough of a back catalogue to assure solid sets all round. Guitars and sweet crooning both sides of the Clyde. [George Sully]