Sinister: Back in the SECC

[Ailsa Watson]

Ken wanted some reporting back from the Tsunami Benefit gig.  I'm a bit out 
of practice at this here posting malarkey, but here goes...

We saw Stuart walking to the gig on his own, which isn't terribly rock and 
roll.  He was dressed as the Dog on Wheels video (black hat, tartan scarf) 
and striding purposefully through the tunnel that goes from the train 
station to the SECC.

I missed the first bit of the gig, which was Stevie Jackson, Norman Blake, 
Eddi Reader, Eugene Kelly and "someone else" (Ally Cook really needs to 
practice his own reporting back skills) singing the Proclaimers' 500 Miles.  
I heard it from the WH Smith outside the hall where the mister was buying 
sweeties, it sounded ace.

Some bands played, and they were mostly very entertaining.  Deacon Blue 
were, no joke, utterly brilliant.  A room full of people belting out 
Dignity, it just doesn't get any better.  If you don't agree, you are wrong. 
  Very wrong indeed.  I almost had a tear in my eye, and I haven't had that 
since the Royal Albert Hall gig.  And I was younger and drunker and less 
cynical then.  Mogwai provided the perfect accompaniment to a trip to the 
bar, and Braithwaite is massively hugely bald and fat.  Hahaha.  Teenage 
Fanclub ruined the singalong fun by debuting some new stuff, Travis are 
hugely entertaining (given the theme of the evening, it was just as well 
they didn't play Driftwood...), Kevin McDermott now looks like the kind of 
guy you would avoid in the pub and sounds like a fourth-rate Bob Dylan, the 
Trash Can Sinatras were, as always, wonderful, Idlewild sound like REM and I 
didn't like them very much, Eddi Reader was quite entertaining, but I was 
getting quite drunk by that point (I was ceilidhing a bit, hence drunk), 
Sharleen Spiteri is very self-indulgent and not very good, Franz Ferdinand 
rock like you wouldn't believe and are almost as good as their hype, and, 
er, some other people were on.  Gary Lightbody was, um, there.  As special 
guest go, it was as special as getting that bloke who busks the Fields of 
Athenry outside of Markies on.  Not very, then.  The build-up he got, you 
would have thought it would have been someone good. We had been hoping for 
Ivor Cutler, or maybe Fran and Anna.

Ooh, Simon Pegg was there too.  And Robbie Coltrane.  Just introducing 
bands, like, but, y'know, proper celebs.  Coo.

Oh, you want to know about Belle and Sebastian?  They played The State I Am 
In (lovely!), The Boy with the Arab Strap (jaunty!) and I'm A Cuckoo 
(lovely!  jaunty!  kept the Radio Two crowd happy!).  That was it!  EXCEPT 
FOR THE MOMENT WHICH WAS THE BEST THING OF THE WHOLE NIGHT.  Given that it 
was being filmed, there were two big screens up at the side of the stage 
showing footage from the stage.  And they had a huge close-up of Richard 
gurning which was the funniest thing ever.  Maybe you had to be there.  
Maybe you had to be party to many conversations which reflect on the 
similarity of Richard's face while drumming to that of a man trying to oust 
a particularly unpleasant poo.  Whatever, this was the face projected onto a 
huge TV screen in front of me, and the end of my ability to watch the rest 
of the gig, given that I was bent over double and gasping for air.  I hope 
they showed it on the telly.

Er, that was about it then.  I hope you are all praying for Edwyn Collins.  
It's because of people like him that people like us have people like Belle 
and Sebastian.  Kind of, anyway.  It's all connected, and he's a hero of 
mine, and I don't have too many of them left these days.

Ailsa xx


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