Andrew Weatherall in Glasgow

  • Share
  • Though an Andrew Weatherall gig in Glasgow still elicits plenty of excitement from Sub Club regulars, his frequent forays to Scotland—the most recent was his sixth in as many months, if you count his Berkeley Suite residency with Sean Johnston as A Love In Outer Space—have inevitably made these occasions somewhat less of an event. When he appeared at Subculture earlier this month, most of the city's attention had been diverted by The Stone Roses, who had returned to the scene of an iconic 1990 gig at Glasgow Green. Around 50,000 had gathered to see the reformed quartet alongside Primal Scream, and a crowd that arrives in such numbers will hardly go quietly into the night.   Indeed, plenty queuing up at Jamaica Street had arrived straight from the show, no doubt aware of Weatherall's previous involvement with Bobby Gillespie's lot. Club bouncers kept the majority of tracksuit-adorned gig-goers outside, but the handful that made it in might have noticed the abrupt end to the '90s nostalgia-fest with Weatherall's opening track, Todd Terje's "Strandbar," a luminous strip of exotic party music that shimmered as brightly as the sportswear dotting the front row.  A Pachanga Boys remix of Slove's synth-bathed "Flash," whipped up by its endless whooshing and wind-scattered vocal, led the first hour of Weatherall's noodling acid workouts. There were lighter moments too: the lithe guitar jabs of Roman Flügel's "Even More" lifted not only the tempo, but arms and items of clothing too (local habits die hardest in these sort of sweaty, communal environments).  It all passed too quickly before the insistent, joyous keys of "Der Alte" threatened to break the club's constantly imperilled ceiling. Not long after, Fuck Buttons' "Surf Solar," a snarling hellhound of a record, scorched from all sides with its omnidirectional flares of noise and feedback. On a night where so many were chasing remnants of their youth, Weatherall's pioneering selections had given a timely reminder of why he continues to endure in these parts. 
RA