|
Insomnia
I'd seen Glitterbug
twice before. Once when I'd been dragged out to 'celebrate' ending
a dubious relationship and therefore spent the night gazing at the
bottom of my pint glass, and I probably wouldn't have noticed if
Motorhead had taken the stage instead, and the second time... well,
probably best not to go there. So my recollection of them was a
little fuzzy.
I'd heard two
of their three single releases; 'Today, Tonight, Tomorrow' and 'London's
Burning' and this time I was determined to pay attention. The crowd
at the Cooler was thin on the ground, much of it intent on making
the most of the 'special offer' beer, (some Hungarian atrocity,
as I recall) and most of it consisting of students, this being Oxford.
I arrived in the middle of the support band's set, which was a relatively
non-offensive Jam-influenced ramble featuring a couple of catchy
hooks and some decent musicianship. Having procured myself a Red
Bull and a comfortable vantage point, I waited for the main act
to impress me.
And impress
they did. Glitterbug are bloody good live. Better by far, in fact,
than on CD. Sweeping all before them away on a tide of catchy guitar
riffs, hip-shaking rhythms, singalong choruses and out-and-out good
humour, they stormed their way through their 50 minute set, taking
the hitherto uninterested crowd, shaking us up and throwing us onto
the dance floor. And dance we did (yes, even me) because it's the
sort of music you can't not dance to. Borrowing heavily on both
image and musical levels from the Small Faces, the Stones, Hanoi
Rocks and everything that was good about west-coast 80s glam rock;
Glitterbug mix it around, make it their own and serve it up as a
supremely tight and very convincing package.
Four sharp-cheekboned,
sexy London lads with carefully tousled hair: a tight and competent
bassist and drummer, a lead singer with a nice line in androgynous
dance-moves, and a lead guitarist who could make Pete Townshend
cry into his shandy.
It's about
bloody time, too. Those who like their music a little weightier
are tired of complaint-rock and whiny lyrics. Glitterbug are the
bastard children of Mick Jagger and Johnny Thunders. Go see for
yourself - 2nd September at The Verge, Kentish Town Road, NW1. LYSSA
HAMILTON PERCIVAL
|