Today would have been Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday. 

2011 also marks twenty years since Freddie Mercury’s untimely death. A death that is still entirely mourned the world over. 

Freddie Mercury was an intense, flamboyant and incredible performer. His vocal abilities were astounding; to this day, in my opinion, very few artists have even come close to Mercury’s ability. He sang with power, emotion and depth. 

The phrase is thrown around a lot and is very rarely correct but Freddie Mercury really was born to be a performer. He could make a stage his own within minutes of being on it, the crowd at his mercy. 

For a long time before he died, he denied having AIDS and carried on working straight through to the end. The Show Must Go On was a perfect song to describe the last months of his life. Even just the title of the song depicts Freddie’s attitude at the time. 

Freddie Mercury was an inspiration to many, many people and continues to be so today. His death is mourned but today we should celebrate the life he had and the music he brought us. There still is no band like Queen and no vocals quite like Freddie’s, he was a gift to the music industry and though his life was short, he has left behind one hell of a legacy.

Sarah-Louise Kelly

Pivo Pivo, Glasgow is holding a fundraiser for PIAS on September 24th.

During the London Riots, many businesses were harmed including Sony’s DADC warehouse which is also the home of PIAS’s distribution service for the UK and Ireland. This caused alarm for musicians and music lovers alike. A lot of people were questioning the future of independent music.

Luckily, with the help of the general public and Sony DADC’s effeciency, PIAS are getting back on track again but still need all the help they can get… This is where you come in. If you live in/around Glasgow, go along to Pivo Pivo on September 24th at 7pm. 

If you are in/know:

• Bands
• Record labels
• Record shop

get involved! 

For those who are music lovers and want to help out and be a part of what is set to be a good night, there will be a live room for bands and dj’s, the bar in Pivo Pivo will be converted a record shop for anybody who wants to sell music or other merchandise.

The line-up is TBA but we will of course, keep you updated. Please spread the word about this and come along on the evening. 

Sarah-Louise.

If you would like to get involved as a band, label or shop please contact Pivo Pivo via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pivo.pivo) or e-mail (traffic.cone.records@gmail.com)

Introducing… Citizen Death!

Another band representing how fantastic the Glasgow metal scene is, Citizen Death have been together since late 2007 and have since brought out an EP, Generation of Digression. 

The talented foursome have been added to the ever-growing Mayhem Underground roster and from what I’ve heard so far, they’ll be perfect for it. They are tight, they are absolutely bursting with talent; each song is played with the precision of true professional musicians.

If you’d like to check them out, go to their Reverb Nation page (http://www.reverbnation.com/citizendeathuk) and keep an eye out for my review of their EP and hopefully a live review!

Sarah-Louise

Picture courtesy of band’s Facebook page.

Let the Music Do the Talking have had the fantastic opportunity to work in Glasgow’s Apollo 23 thanks to Jay B Promotions! 

Sixteen Fingers.

Sixteen Fingers are a band from West Lothian consisting of two sets of brothers and sisters. They described their combined tastes as ‘eclectic’ which made me initially quite excited; I thought they’d have some interesting variety and maybe even some original music to bring to the stage.

Unfortunately, Sixteen Fingers couldn’t have looked less interested, the lead guitar sound was, to say the least, uncomfortable to listen to and I was quite shocked to discover that they are at best, a covers band. 

Out of the three singers, only the bassist (who kept going out of time) was actually what could be described as a competent vocalist. The final nail in the coffin was unfortunately when Sixteen Fingers decided to cover Metallica and almost insulted them with their feeble attempts.

A poor, unoriginal band who seemed as bored on stage as I felt watching them.

Insomniac

Insomniac are a fantastic up-and-coming metal band from Glasgow, but one problem I always seem to find with them is their absolute lack of confidence which can be quite detrimental to their entire performance.

Just before Insomniac went on stage, I was asked if I thought that some bands do local gigs for the sake of performing with no intention to further their career. While I think Insomniac do have the capabilities to go far with their music, I think just performing to small crowds may be enough for them as well. They are so in love with being on stage.

Insomniac deliver a fast paced, consistently fantastic set, and tonight is one of the best I’ve heard them play but vocalist Stephen Steel tonight is out of time and it unfortunately hinders the overall performance of what could have been the best show I’d witnessed so far.

The second Metallica cover of the night, ‘Creeping Death’ is delivered powerfully and almost precisely. 

In short, Insomniac are a force to be reckoned with and show up most unsigned bands with the sheer passion and brutality that comes with every show of theirs. Always a pleasure to watch and definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Sarah-Louise Kelly

(with the assistance of Let’s Play God’s Chris Clarke.)

Song of the Day:-

I’m Only Happy When It Rains, Garbage.

After a scorching few days in Scotland, I am so pleased to see some rain. I am definitely not a fan of summer.

I am, however, a fan of Garbage. They are 90’s girl power personified. Fuck the Spice Girls, Garbage had it made!

Sarah-Louise Kelly

• Look at your feet while ‘performing’

Here at Let the Music Do the Talking, we understand your shyness and that getting on stage can be daunting. However, if you are in a death metal band and you are screaming to your feet instead of the crowd, it makes the whole thing a little less intense which kind of ruins the whole act. If you’re going to be controversial, you need the attitude to back it up otherwise you’ve lost your audience.

• Making demands of the audience

Unless you are CERTAIN that you will get a response, do not shout to your audience to headbang, mosh or sing along. Chances are, the majority of your audience don’t know who you are and have no interest in doing anything but listening to you. I have on too many occasions watched a band not get much crowd response and in turn have shouted to them to start enjoying themselves… it doesn’t work that way. Get a dedicated crowd and THEN make demands.

• Wear your own band t-shirt on stage

Come on. COME ON. We should know who you are without you advertising yourselves. WHERE IS YOUR SHAME?! As ‘Fro’ from What’s The Damage said, ‘if Kerry King can’t do it, neither can you!’ 

• Make private jokes with audience members

How lovely, your friends have come along to your gig. They’ve been to a few now and know most of your songs off by heart. They’ll buy you a drink after you play and have supported your band for a long time. What a nice guy. You probably have in-jokes with this super duper guy, you probably repeat them so much that they’re not funny any more. You know what else isn’t funny? Repeating these jokes to your oblivious audience. In-jokes are a pain in the arse at the best of times but when you’re on stage telling them… even worse. 

• Not telling the audience your band name

I felt quite stupid typing that as it should be said at every single gig. It should go without saying. If your audience like you, they need to know who you are and when writers like myself are reviewing your shows, it’s rather handy when we know who we’re reviewing. 

That’s all for now, I’m sure I’ll come up with more but please, PLEASE take these rules into consideration! 

Sarah-Louise 

Dying at the age of 27 is tragic. It’s more tragic than it will ever be beautiful. Having a troubling life and dying at the age of 27 is even more tragic. Can we please stop the notion that the 27 Club is somehow romantic or beautiful? It’s quite the opposite. 

Since Amy Winehouse’s death, a lot of people have (obviously) had their say on it. Some saying it’s a terrible waste of life and talent, some saying they saw it coming and she deserved what she got. Then we have the absolute morons who say that Winehouse doesn’t deserve to be part of the 27 club because she brought this on herself. 

Not one member of the 27 Club didn’t take copious amounts of drugs. Not one member didn’t have a troubled life. Not one member wasn’t immensely talented and the only difference between Winehouse and the others is that she hasn’t been romanticised and made into a cult icon… Yet.

Amy Winehouse had an incredible, unique voice. She was a troubled musician who never seemed to gather the strength to battle her many, many demons. She was also a very talented woman who re-introduced a style of singing into the mainstream market and paved the way for similar artists to step up. She was in no way a role model but she was a damaged person and it should be pointed out that addiction is a mental illness and despite most celebrities miraculously ‘overcoming’ such issues, Winehouse was clearly beyond repair as many addicts are.

I think it’s better to not judge those suffering but to try and help them. 

A loss of a life, a daughter, a friend and an incredible talent. 

Amy Winehouse 14.9.1983-23.7.2011 

Happy birthday to Brian May, one of rock’s all-time legends! He is 64 today.

Brian May is a musician, a songwriter, an author and an astrophysicist- in other words: he’s an incredibly talented man. An inspiration some might say. He is a member of Queen and has played with the likes of Motorhead, Genesis, Meat Loaf and Lady Gaga. 

As well as a strong musical career, May is also an animal rights activist and his campaign group ‘Save Me’ works to stop animals being mistreated with particular emphasis on fox hunting and the culling of badgers.

All in all, he’s a man worth celebrating and we hope he has a fantastic birthday!

Sarah-Louise.

Picture courtesy of weheartit.com

Last night I went along to the G2 in Glasgow to see some of Scotland’s finest acts compete against each other to get into the final heats to perform at Surface Festival. 

I’ll be honest here- I was incredibly stupid and forgot to bring a pen with me for taking notes. A writer without a pen, laughable. So I can’t do a full review but will give a quick run-down of my thoughts on the bands and the festival itself.

What’s The Damage?! came back to the stage after a short break with an absolute bang, stand-in bassist Gareth Dunion seems to have brought the band back to life with his killer bass lines. They played note-perfect and seemed to be genuinely enjoying being on stage. The chemistry between this band is almost as intense as their sound, they’re getting better every time I see them. Golden Silence was their stand-out track, by far. Unfortunately, despite that being one of their best performances to date, they didn’t get through to the finals. 

The Colony described themselves as ‘rock n roll’ and said they were influenced by Thin Lizzy. As a self-confessed sucker for all things rock n roll, I was excited about this band before they even hit the stage. They were undoubtedly good at playing their instruments, they had very little chemistry on stage and wasted a lot of their twenty minute slot shouting to the crowd in an attempt to make them more responsive. They could easily be a three piece as a lot of their sound is quite limited and frankly, bland. They were not rock n roll in the slightest and I think they have listened to a screamo cover of Thin Lizzy and assumed that’s how they sound. I have absolutely no intention of seeing this band again and apparently neither do the Surface Festival judges.

You’re always guaranteed a party atmosphere when Let’s Play God are on stage. Right from the beginning of their set, the audience is treated to a dramatic intro followed by an incredibly alluring stage presence. Let’s Play God are by no means a band that does things by half and within minutes got a somewhat nonchalant crowd onto their feet. Last night wasn’t one of LPG’s best performances, there seemed to be something lacking but they still gave one hell of a show and got themselves through to the finals!

Keep your eyes peeled for part two!

Sarah-Louise Kelly.

We are very happy to announce that we will be reviewing all Apollo Rocks shows hosted by Jay B Promotions! It’s an exciting opportunity for us and means that we’ll get to discover more of Glasgow’s finest underground bands!

This is great news for us and it couldn’t have happened without all the fantastic support we’ve received from our readers and followers so thank you very much for being with us along the way! This started out as a hobby for two of us and has now turned into something quite fantastic with six consistent writers and people requesting to do guest posts! 

Sarah-Louise Kelly.