Tag: Mogwai

Glasgow Venue 11 – Bellahouston Park

Glasgow Bellahouston Park (Pairc Bhaile Uisdean in Gaelic) is a public park in the Southern quarter of Glasgow and encompasses a tidy area of 180 acres, it first opened its doors to the public in 1896. There were additions to the site over the next few years including a municipal golf course being located there.

Between May and December 1938, the Empire Exhibition was held in the park and the opening ceremony which took place in nearby Glasgow Rangers Ibrox stadium attracted a crowd of 146,000. Despite it being an exceptionally soggy summer, the Exhibition attracted an astounding 12,800,000 visitors and it wasn’t even open on a Sunday! I know it is a long time ago as that is the year my beloved Preston North End last won the FA Cup.

A flyer advertising the 1938 Exhibition. Image Credit barnebys.co.uk

The most striking exhibit was Tait Tower (the Tower of Empire) which rose to 300 feet in height. There is an urban myth, though hotly denied, that its subsequent demolition the following summer was due to concerns around it being cited as a geographical reference for German bombers.  Regretfully of the 200 artefacts built for the exhibition, only the Palace of Art remains and even that is now a Sports Excellence Centre!

The site is a perfect backdrop for large public events. It has hosted the 1978 World Cross Country Championships, a gathering for the evangelist Billy Graham and two papal visits, the first in 1982 by John Paul II attracted a crowd of approximately 250,000. On the musical front, there have been Scottish pipe band competitions and Coldplay and Snow Patrol have also performed there.

Due to its inherent suitability, resembling a mega size version of Avenham Park in Preston, they began in August 2013 to stage three-day Glasgow summer sessions events there with Kings of Leon, Avicii and Eminem being the original cast of headliners. In 2019 Mogwai announced they were to play but in a slightly unusual twist via being in a support role to the Cure. Upon hearing this fine news, tickets and trains were purchased with Uncle George and Andy Berry escorting me on this particular jaunt.

Bellahouston Park. Image Credit Ents24.

I undertook the now extra leg from Manchester to Preston where I met the other chaps, and we jumped on to the next Avanti going North. After we grabbed our digs for the night, we had a couple of cold ones in a local bar which preceded a fish and chip tea. We then travelled on the Paisley Canal line from Glasgow Central to the station at Dumbreck, which is located 250 yards away from the park.  

There was a pleasant treelined avenue en route before landing at the security gates. Inside we met up with Marcus and his then current girlfriend Sarah who were also in attendance. The weather was unfortunately a bit tempestuous, and the ground was a tad muddy as a result. First up were the ever noisy Twilight Sad who now reside on Mogwai’s Rock Action label, and I was witnessing them for the fifth time in total.

Mogwai played under the worst of the weather and after so many years of watching them it felt hugely odd that they were not the headliners, but they were clearly honoured to be asked to play on the bill by one of their favourite bands. Their shortened set still contained the highlights of ‘Ithica’ and ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’.

Before the main act we decided to refuel with some more overpriced ale and trogged up to the hill to the main beer tent. Upon arrival, the people waiting kept snaking outwards and it wasn’t immediately evident where was the end point of what must have been the longest beer queue in the whole of Christendom! One upside was that we had a clear view of the stage, but the Cure were already performing by the time we finally reached the front.

Somewhat surprisingly, and not least to myself, I had never managed to catch the Cure live, the nearest I had come previously was at the Manchester Move Festival, but a decision was made to catch the reformed Pixies who played the night after. I had heard reports from my peers that they could sometimes be a tad ‘Neil Young contrary’ by playing a set of album tracks but on the counterpoint of that others had said they were compelling in a live setting.

The Cure on stage on the night. Image Credit youtube.com

Thankfully on the night I witnessed them, they fell into the second category. They were one of the tightest bands I have ever witnessed, bringing to minds other such accomplished bands on first sightings such as Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Wolf Alice, Electric 6 and Fontaines DC.

They were also mesmerizingly uncompromising with the refreshing attitude of if you don’t like it, move on, I have so much respect for bands like that! They performed a 27-song set with an epic seven track encore and despite tough competition, my favourite was ‘A Forest’ as I have always adored that tune.                          

On the return journey home the next day, we encountered a very strange scenario. The train ground to a halt at Lancaster station with no discernible sign of onward traction, it transpired that our forward engine was broken. Thus, the ask was for us to walk over the bridge to the other platform and swap places onto the original northbound Glasgow train, which would then retrace its route back to Preston. 

This necessitated ten full carriages of punters swapping from one train to another, including the young, old and infirm and as I am sure you can appreciate it was a fair period of time before we on our way again!  

Manchester Venue 156-Peer Hat

In a previous blog I reviewed AATMA, a venue which is literally buried away on an upper floor in a building off Faraday Street behind Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter. Situated to the ground level and the street side of that very same building is Manchester Peer Hat.  

The pub first appeared into the world in 2017 run by a couple of self-proclaimed unsuccessful musician brothers named Mike and Nick Kenyon. They were both originally in the band Politburo who were likened to Dead Kennedys and played many gigs at the now defunct Roadhouse and Hard Rock Café venues when they were in their pomp. Another co-owner is Dom who also runs the aforementioned AATMA.

Politburo. Image Credit Louder Than War

The hostelry is a bohemian haunt and is a proper throwback to a student style pub back in the day in that it is a welcome and hospitable place and has a fine varied jukebox. The house motto is ‘Omnio sub petasum’, and for those whose Latin is rusty or non-existent like moi, that translates as ‘Everything under the hat’.

Like many low budget places, they really struggled through Covid but thankfully survived that challenging period. They have hosted some unique events, including a HAUNT Manchester ‘Black Christmas’ event and the Manchester Folk Horror Festival in 2018 and 2019. They have also had art exhibitions and in 2018 one included a feature from the Manchester Gothic Arts Group (M:GAG), thankfully not MAGA!

In the middle of the ground floor space, some vertiginous steps take you down to the music venue with a cosy capacity of 120. I do have a fondness for cellar venues and this one is a belter and they also seem to always have good sonic sound down there, all of that resulting in it being worthy of inclusion in my Top 10 Manchester favourite venues.   

The Peer Hat. manchestersfinest.com

They have fairly regular gigs, and they achieved a coup with their first ever event being none other than Thurston Moore, but they had no functioning bar at that stage, so they served him beer out of a bucket of ice! I have attended there six times in total, the majority of these being part of multi venue wristband events such as Dot to Dot or Carefully Planned Festival. On my first visit there as part of the Off the Record Festival in November 2017 I saw a local artist called Billy Bee.

Six months later the band on stage was Jade Assembly, a rock band from Bolton who formed in 2008. They are proud Boltonians and are closely linked to the local football club with songs such as ‘Our Town’ and ‘Burnden Aces’. Their music is still played over the tannoy at Bolton Wanderers matches and they signed their first record deal on the pitch at half time during one of the matches.

The band had a fervent following nicknamed the ‘Jade Army’. After a slew of singles, they released their debut album ‘One Last Time’ in 2023 which coincided with them calling it a day after fifteen years and they appropriately played their last ever two gigs at the local venue, The Ramp in Horwich. 

My next appearance was in November 2018 where we caught an early set from Red Rum Club, who had only formed a couple of years earlier and was also a year before they released their debut album ‘Matador’. They have gradually risen in profile since with their fourth LP ‘Western Approaches’ in 2024 reaching number 8 in the UK charts.

They hail from Bootle in Merseyside and cite their hometown as an influence on their sound with the seafaring, industrial aspect of the area. On the night their El Mariachi style songs were excellent and thoroughly enjoyable, and the thunderous sound combining with a sweaty venue created a communal treat.

Red Rum Club (twice!). Image Credit liverpoolecho.co.uk   

I visited again in May 2019 where I saw Women You Stole, a Manchester band driven by lead singer Hayley Faye. I would class them in the garage rock vein, and they released a fine debut single ‘Shake’ around this time but sadly don’t appear to be still active. They were supported by post-punkers Document who named themselves after the stellar REM album of that name.  

A couple of months later was my only visit there to see a standalone gig. The band on show was my one time thus far watching the excellent Helicon. The band derive from Jesus and Mary Chain East Kilbride territory and were initially formed by brothers John-Paul and Gary Hughes. Their self-titled album was recorded in 2017 at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom Studio on Glasgow and their 2023 album ‘God Intentions’ won the prize of ‘Psych Lovers’ Album of the Year’.  They were superb and the intimate venue played to their strengths.

My most recent visit in April 2022 was to see Priceless Bodies who are now a Manchester based lo-fi duo made up of twin sisters Viv & Bianca Pencz. Their name was drawn from a line by 19th century French poet Rimbaud and their musical influences derived from being disgruntled teens in Vancouver, Canada which was known locally at the time as ‘No Fun City’!