Entertainment For Lively Minds
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers
Posted by manassas77 on 11 March 2010 - 2:09pm.
When:
21st February 2010
Where:
Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow
Comments:
Roger Clyne is an impressive frontman, who lives and breathes his tales of dusty borderlands, Mexican Banditos and love, lust and longing.
His extravagant strutting and impassioned vocals are supported by Refreshments drummer PH Naffah, a picture of concentration as reggae, ska and Mariachi rhythms weave in and out of the rock mix.
His vocals are an essential part of the marvellous four-part harmonies, joined by Nick Scropos, his fluent yet solid bass lines the perfect counterpoint to Clyne’s ringing Telecaster and new-boy Jim Dalton’s majestic guitar hooks.
The 2010 version of RCPM still has fire and energy, but somehow has more of a maturity about the sound. The timing of the complex song structures has always been something to set RCPM apart from the competition, but they now have confidence to pause for a moment longer, wringing out even more emotion from the tunes, before slamming into the instantly memorable choruses.
The Audience:
For RCPM's first UK tour, a healthy crowd of rowdy diehard fans, quietly interested musos and bemused Opry regulars: some resplendent in their Stetsons, possibly toting six-shooters.
Food & Drink:
Possibly the cheapest bar in Glasgow. Whisky at 93p. No food, but plenty of kebab houses and decent restaurants around.
It Made Me Think...:
After bringing a touch of stadium-rock to the Opry, and seeing the mountain of amplifiers shoehorned into a tiny minibus, I couldn’t help but think that their next tour will certainly be in less humble surroundings.
Funny
How transparently obvious it is when "reviews" are written by people who work for the band in question.
This is a press release
See me.
Very good
I actually thought that was a Backwards 7 piece. However it's too forced.
Guilty as charged ... sort of
Fraser - definitely guilty as charged.
Mavis - Thank you for the support.
David - Not quite a press release. Written to promote the band, yes, but also written from the heart as a genuine fan.
Thank you for not just pulling the piece and giving regular readers a chance to take a look at the many fan videos from the tour on YouTube and judge for themselves if my views are one-eyed :)
Not a press release!
Its probably going to get lost in the thread now but I actually went to this gig and enjoyed it, so I guess I should probably post. Although I'm not much of a writer so please don't take too much note of my terrible grammar!
I'd never been to the Ole Opry before and I admit I was a litte intimidated when I went in as its not the kind of place I would normally end up on a night out. There were lots of people in crazy hats and bright cowboy shirts but they soon made me feel pretty welcome and I got over it.
The first band was a local group called 'The Dirt'. They gigged well together and I loved the use of a crate, which one of the girls sat on top of and slapped with her hands for percussion. If it hadn't been for the fact that all the songs were about murder, incest and rape I probably would have bought their CD. However after 7 songs on a strong downer, I was quite relieved when RCPM came on :)
The band stuck mostly to the up-tempo pop-rock-americana tunes I knew them for and succeeded in winning over a crowd who'd never heard of them. Clyne's first trip to Scotland saw him ask the crowd for whisky reommendations, at which point one newly-converted local, who hadn't heard them before, bought a whole bottle for the band and sent it up on stage!
Other notable events of the evening included a problem with the sound system which left Clyne's mic silent for a song, while Dalton filled with his version of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison - specially adapted for Glasgow of course; and a last minute rendition of the ever-popular theme song to King of the Hill at the request of the locals.
All-in-all worth the travel and well recommended.