Celtic Connections
Bent Meltdown
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Keith Bruce
four stars
IF YOU were to try to name one tune it seemed unlikely would be heard at Celtic Connections, then the entry by Glasgow's postpunk Postcard label legends Orange Juice to the BBC's competition to write a theme tune for the 1980 Moscow Olympics might have been a promising contender. But you would be wrong.
Moscow is a catchy little instrumental which, unaccountably, Auntie did not select - and who now can hum the tune that did soundtrack those games? It reappeared halfway through the set by The Secret Goldfish, giving singer Katy McCullars a break and sitting nicely alongside Vic Godard's Holiday Hymn as Orange Juice original James Kirk joined Bent label boss Douglas McIntyre in the family affair line-up. His arrival was all the more welcome as it inspired McIntyre to leave more room in the mix by turning his own Burns axe down a notch.
The same man was wearing a bass and taking more of a back seat when headliners The Nectarine No 9 took the stage, but then frontman Davy Henderson (also of Fire Engines, Win and The Sexual Objects) is such a commanding presence he leaves little oxygen for anyone else, even when he is kneeling on the stage worshipping at the altar of his own six-string. On an evening over which the twin ghosts of John Peel and David Bowie loomed large, one Nectarine number was an uncanny mash-up of Boys Keep Swinging and Diamond Dogs, while opening garage surf trio The Leopards closed their set with a cracking Hang On To Yourself. Too few folk were there at the start to hear Mick Slaven show how a Fender guitar/amp should sound.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here