Diesel U-Music Showcase @ King Tut's

This gig was the Glasgow leg of an international competition that has helped past winners like Mylo and Tom Vek get a much needed leg-up, career-wise. With eight thousand bands sifted through, the band that played were local Libertines fans The Mode, pink-haired Edinburghers The Very, large-lunged R&B Glasgwegian L-Marie and the one-man winner of the electronic section of the competition, The English Channel. The line-up, which was commendably diverse, was average on the whole with an unexpected star in the form of L-Marie, whose nuclear-powered lungs belted out soul tunes through a sound system quite unused to such decibels. All three other bands were good, but not great, with local band The Very reliably closing the night on a high. Levis have always obviously had an eye for a good tune but, at least on the basis of this leg of the competition, Diesel seem to be developing a cataract. [Jasper Hamill]