Billy Nomates/ Meatraffle/ Minerva Wakes Live Reviews 21.10.21
Billy Nomates at Mono
crash landing into Mono under a wave of expectation and anticipation as Glasgow can barely believe that a real, actual gig is about to occur. For many I spoke to it had been over 18 months since they witnessed the rush of live music and the atmosphere is heightened by the fact it is Billy Nomates who is taking to the stage. An artist who gave us the greatest album of the shittest year and lit up the mundane drudgery of lockdown life. The question is how does it , and how can it, transfer to a live performance ?
Within a few minutes we are left in no doubt that this is the real deal, a ball of pure energy dancing to her own beat and flamethrowing concepts at the crowd with heartfelt honesty , razorsharp wit and note perfect delivery. The songs from the album have been brought to life and animated as an awestruck Glasgow crowd laps it up and cheers it on in this recently renovated Mono backdrop. I say recent but it`s been a few years since I witnessed a gig there so how recent I am not sure but tonight it is looking and sounding fantastic as BNM rattles through the best tracks from the album and treats us to tracks from the new 2021 E.P ‘Emergency Telephone’ with the stand out track ‘Heels’ feeling a fire alarm going off on a rocket ship that is escaping an apocalyptic earth.
I was already a huge fan of the electro-trip- pop- country tinged- punk banger uniquness of it all but this captivating live performance cements it not just for me but the sold out audience who give her a standing ovation which you can see for yourself here.
I feel lucky to have seen it unfold in such an intimate venue. ln actual fact, BNM returns to Glasgow on November 17th, 18th, 19th to play the best venue in the world , The Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom to support Sleaford Mods* and it will be good to see this stagecraft move onto a far larger stage where it belongs and should ultimately stay.
* I actually spoke to Jason of Sleaford Mods earlier in the year on You Call That Radio TV where we both spoke highly of Billy Nomates as well as their new album, lockdown living and much more which you can watch here
Meatraffle at The Flying Duck
On a similar theme from the BNM gig, this was my first foray into this venue for a long time . Much praise must go to The Flying Duck for showing the venue part of the space some TLC from the lights to the space and most importantly the sound . The couches at the back and the well placed bar seemed to improve it tenfold since I was last here and it was a perfect backdrop to seeing teh mighty Meatraffle live for the first time.
I have been listening to them for a few years now and we even had the honour of frontman Zsa Zsa’s company for some chat and live tunes on a recent episode of You Call That Radio TV which you can watch here but aye this was my live, in real life introduction. They create massive sounding psychadelic dub masterpieces with a dash of bastard doom jazz. There is always a nod to social commentary and political subjects as they scan the landscape that surrounds them but without ever going down a preachy sort of route. In fact , for most of the gig the music is allowed to do the talking with vast instrumentals that build and reverborate around the room with every vocal performance from each of them well placed and crucial to telling their story.
The crowd is having a blast , especially one particular lady at the front, and there is a feeling that we are witnessing something fresh and stubborn that is demanding our full attention. We can’t look away, nor would we want to . The hour seems to pass by in a flash and we climb out the basement stronger and wiser for what we have witnessed. A true band in all the senses capturing the very essence of rock n roll, bottling it and boomeranging it around a soundtrack of sleaze with their own unique sense of space and time.
Minerva Wakes at Hug n Pint
Pic credit: Becci Wallace
Ever since MInerva Wakes dropped her stunning debut album ‘Mirrored Moon’ in the spring of this year, the Scottish music scene has been beset by rumours of where it all came from. So the story goes is that Minerva is the goddess of war and chaos who returned to this dimension after thousands of years of hibernation while others say it is a new project from Jo D’arc of The Twistettes & Girobabies fame, a rumour which Jo has firmly denied. There was no press interviews and no live shows with one exception - a full album livestream performance which you can watch here but this was in a packed Hug n Pint where a real life audience would finally meet this witchy, glitchy, curious creature.
The visuals , lights and speakers combine to make a pulsating entrance as Minerva starts slow with almost accapella style poetry before some sort of Tricky meets Leftfield beat kicks in for the introduction of ‘Tell Me’ . The room shakes and the vocals dip and soar. The tension and release whirl round in circular seasons for the remainder as Minerva moves through a psychadelic yoga-like forcefield and bangs a full moon-like drum. This is not like anything anyone has seen before. The crowd are confused yet entranced as glitchy, witch-step beats calm then frustrate with occasional jagged dubstep jilts.
The lights shimmer then vanish into the darkness as the music grinds to a halt.
Minerva is gone but hopefully we don't need to wait thousands of years for the second gig.
Remember you can find songs from all these artists and many, many more at the YCTR recommends playlist below which is updated with the best new music in the world we can get our ears on including that new Jackal Trades x Morphamish joint below and please check out our youtube channel for almost daily new content .
