The acts which feature in this roundup are Wednesday, The Murder Capital, Sleater Kinney, Bill Orcutt, Teenage Fanclub, Bdrrrm and The Joy Hotel.

Students union, Glasgow Uni!

A bumper month of concerts this November, after a relatively quiet October. November is often quite busy because of the London Jazz Festival as well as the fact that a lot of bands seem to tour at this time of year – after the festival season and before it gets too close to Christmas. As it happens I didn’t really do the jazz this year, with all the other gigs already planned. Some pacing is needed!

It was unusual in that I twice travelled north this November too. The first time was because I couldn’t see the London shows of Wednesday and the Murder Capital –  and I always enjoy an excuse to go up to Manchester and Glasgow. Great cities, both. The second occasion was to see the Joy Hotel play their only headlining gig in recent months – and in their hometown, to boot. It also provided an opportunity for Kath and I to hop over to Edinburgh for a feast of art and a great day’s walking. I’m writing this blog on the train home from Edinburgh.

Wednesday, Band on the Wall Manchester, 6 November

I wrote in praise of Wednesday’s two albums, Twin Plagues and this year’s Rat Saw God, in my last roundup, so I won’t labour the point except to say that Rat Saw God is heading for the No1 slot in my 2023 albums of the year list. I love the band’s combination of grunge, Americana, country and even shoegaze; and band leader Karly Hartzmann’s lyrics weave affectionate tales of a misspent youth. I’ve seen the band play once before this year, at the Lexington, near King’s Cross. That was a cracking show, so I had high hopes of this one.

Band on the Wall is in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. From the outside it doesn’t look too inviting, but inside it’s a nice space, holding a few hundred people. The gig was sold out and the vibe was relaxed – Wednesday’s fans seem to be an easy-going bunch. As are the band: lots of smiles and quips, and some entertaining story-telling from Karly. And when they rock, they truly do rock! This was mostly full-on stuff, played with verve by a band who seem to have been on the road most of the year. The set was a good mix of the two albums, with a couple of songs from earlier EPs. One, called November, was a request from the crowd, which Karly invited just before the last song Bull Believer. If I’d been a bit closer to the front, I would have been tempted to call for Birthday Song, a favourite from Twin Plagues which doesn’t seem to feature in the live sets right now. Good to hear November though, which has been added to the playlist!

A highlight for me was Formula One, a woozy country number from Rat Saw God which didn’t feature at the Lexington. That was followed by a rocking sequence of Toothache, Chosen to Deserve – Lynyrd Skynyrd with better lyrics! – and the awesome Bath County, with its line about playing Drive by Truckers real loud. All so good!

Following a heartfelt plea for peace in Gaza – Karly and another band member are Jewish, which she felt gave them a right to call for a ceasefire – the last song was the aforementioned Bull Believer, at the end of which Karly lets out a prolonged scream. It’s a dramatic end: there’s no scope for an encore after that – her voice is shot. I’ve noticed on Setlist FM that they don’t play it every night. I’m not surprised.

Walking down Swan Street afterwards, I heard a woman behind me saying to her friend, that last song was insane. Which I take to mean insanely good, as well as mad to perform. But let’s forget the madness bit and say, Wednesday are insane!

The Murder Capital, Queen Mary Union Glasgow, 7 November

So Wednesday were great; could the Murder Capital match up? Of course they could! The drama, the stagecraft, the energy and the electric presence of singer James McGregor: for me, the Murder Capital have few equals at the moment.

The show was at the student union for Glasgow University, in the city’s West End. The Hillhead subway station is nearby – four stops from the city centre, where I was staying. It’s a great venue, regularly used for gigs by bands with a decent-sized following. I thought that it might be a bit small for the Murder Capital these days, but in the event I think there were a few tickets left. A great atmosphere –  mostly students I’d guess, but a fair quota of us oldies, attracted I guess either by the post punk sounds, or the Irish influences. In my case, both and more besides! The band had dressed down for the occasion, compared with the last couple of shows I’ve seen; and perhaps there was a slightly more raw feel to the songs tonight. The set was broadly the same as they’ve been playing all year, but with a lot of the songs being shifted to different places in the set. They began with new single Heart in the Hole and then launched into the mighty More is Less. That’s one that doesn’t get moved –  really gets things going after the measured opening.

Highlights in a set that is one big highlight: the true-to-the-recorded version of Slowdance II; the reappearance of On Twisted Ground (after a strident Ethel) in stunning extended form; and of course the dynamic duo at the end, Don’t Cling to Life and Feeling Fades. There was a poster outside the hall banning a number of crowd behaviours: crowd surfing, circle pits, human pyramids and walls of death. A few of those are new to me! And a couple of times when someone made an attempt to surf, James waved them down. So there was only one incidence of surfing all night, during Feeling Fades. And the culprit? Why, James of course!

A fabulous show to cap a great day, with a visit earlier to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery (part of the wider museum there) also in the West End. Exhilarating art, courtesy of the Colourists and Glasgow Boys. Exhilarating music from the Dublin boys in the evening. What’s not to like?

Sleater Kinney, Roundhouse, 10 November

Sleater Kinney is an American indie-punk band that emerged in the mid 90s and was associated with the riot grrrl movement. I’m not sure I really got to know their music until 2005’s The Woods, which included the song The Fox. I liked their sharp version of grunge/hardcore, but they broke up the year after, which might explain why I never really followed it up. They were an all-woman trio, with a strong political element to their songs and developed something of a cult following. They reformed in 2014, though one of the original members, drummer Janet Weiss, left again in 2019. Singer/guitarists Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein remain.

Going to their Roundhouse concert, which formed part of this year’s Pitchfork festival, was the suggestion of Dave’s friend Gordon. He’s a big fan of the band. I’ve been to see a few bands with Gordon: most recently Alvvays, but also Snail Mail and Soccer Mommy. All fronted by women of a younger generation, and I’d wager that they would all cite Sleater Kinney as important influences on their music and philosophy.

The band began with recent single Hell, which along with Say it Like You Mean it, will be on the new album in 2024. The sound is poppier than the 90s tracks, but still rocks , like most of the set. Carrie in particular laid down some hard-driving riffs, without striking the standard macho poses. I’m not too familiar with the back catalogue, but the set covered a good range of favourites, including a final three of Entertain, Modern Girl and Dig Me Out. Corin took the lead in introducing the songs, including the obligatory statement on Palestine and a rather doomy monologue about life being a void. Gordon, who’d left our seats to go down and commune with the hardcore fans, said that one of the other band members eventually interrupted her – get on with music!

So yes, a good show that made me think I really ought to get to know Sleater Kinney’s music better.

Bill Orcutt Quartet, King’s Place, 15 November

I’m not quite sure where I first heard Bill Orcutt now, other than it was on 6 Music. Probably Tom Ravenscroft or Mary Ann Hobbs, but perhaps Iggy Pop. I do remember that I was intrigued by the sound he was producing. Complex, sometimes discordant, an element of jazz. When I saw he was playing King’s Place, which shares a building with the Guardian in King’s Cross, I thought it would be worth a try. Kath was happy to give it a go, so along we went.

Bill Orcutt is an American guitarist who has been around a while. He’s worked in various genres, including punk. His latest album, Jump on It, is an acoustic affair, similar in style to Gwenifer Raymond. The previous one, Music for Four Guitars, is a pretty left field album, which sounded slightly out of tune to me – deliberate, no doubt. I didn’t finish it when researching for this concert. It was too much. So naturally the King’s Place show was based on that album! I warned Kath that the pre-gig meal at Supawan might be the highlight of the evening, but my worries were unfounded. It was an interesting and enjoyable hour which left me wanting more.

There were four guitarists, as you might expect. The other three – Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza and Shane Parish  – were quite a bit younger than Bill and more sharply dressed. He ambled out in cargo pants and what looked like a pair of slippers as if he was ready for a night in front of the telly. But when the music started he was always in control, the leader. Not so much in terms of solos, but in the sense that he was the conductor. All had electric guitars. There were a lot of rhythms played in unison, less interplay than I expected. During the first tune, I thought I heard a resemblance to Status Quo’s Roll Over Lay Down, which was unexpected. Each player had one moment when they were given the opportunity to play a lengthy solo, which I think was improvised. Each one was excellent, and I rather wished there’d been more of that. I don’t doubt that playing so precisely together was technically demanding; but in taking that approach I’m not sure we saw what these musicians could really do.

So, a concert that was intriguing and frustrating in equal measure; but a few new names to look out for in future. As for that out-of-tune aspect of the album, Bill did mention in passing that they’d been playing in upper G, or something like that, and they were resorting to the traditional E tuning for the last piece. So I guess that explained it. A guitarist’s guitarist –  which rules me out! I just know what I like.

Teenage Fanclub, EartH Hackney, 17 November

I know what I like, and I do like Teenage Fanclub, especially the mid 90s albums Grand Prix and Songs from Northern Britain. The Byrds, Beatles, Neil Young, Elvis Costello, grunge, you can hear all of these things in Teenage Fanclub’s music. I have very fond memories of a late show in the Big Top at End of the Road in 2016, the last of the festival that year. A packed tent, a greatest hits set. An absolute joy. I’ve seen them since at the Electric Ballroom in Camden and wasn’t as excited; nonetheless, when Steve suggested going to this concert I was happy to agree.

The concert was in the upstairs theatre at EartH, which meant we were able to sit down. We arrived early to get a decent view and saw the opening act, Sweet Baboo, aka Stephen Black, from Cardiff. He played a few quirky acoustic songs and showed a dry sense of humour inbetween songs. He reappeared with Teenage Fanclub, playing guitar and sax and providing supporting vocals. They came on at nine o’clock and played for a generous hour and a half, including a three song encore. A few songs from the wistful new album Nothing Lasts Forever featured, but plenty of old favourites too, like About You, What You Do to Me, I Don’t Want Control of You and The Concept, which closed the main set. None of my four favourites – Don’t Look Back, Sparky’s Dream, Neil Jung and Start Again got an airing. Once reason I like those four is that there’s some great guitar on each of them. There wasn’t so much of that tonight: the trademark mid-tempo chug and vocal harmonies dominated. That’s fair enough, but it did get a little samey after a while.

That said, there was a very positive reaction from the crowd and lots of people went down to the front for a bit of middle-aged dancing during the encore. You can’t knock it really – Teenage Fanclub always deliver. But I wonder whether that new album title is telling us something. They’ve had a good run if it is.

Bdrmm, Scala, 20 November

Bedrmm aren’t a band I’ve listened to much, but I usually like what I hear. They are often described as shoegaze – initially a 90s phenomenon typified by bands like Slowdive, Ride and arguably My Bloody Valentine (on the more radical end of the spectrum). Big sweeps of guitar, dreamy melodies: Jadu Heart are another band purveying the sound at the moment. Jon G’s a big fan, and I went along to the Scala with him and his son Louis. I’d been listening to this year’s album I Don’t Know as I walked through the streets of King’s Lynn, Norfolk in the fading light, with a light drizzle falling, earlier in the day and it seemed the perfect accompaniment. Twilight music.

The Scala was unusually packed for the support acts, the second of which, Damefrisor – from Bristol despite the Scandinavian-sounding name – had just started. I liked them: elements of shoegaze and post-punk, and more electronic than Bdrmm. The singer Kazhi Jahfar seemed to be modelling himself on Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. Their sound was similarly portentous, but pretty lively too.

Bdrmm arrived on stage just after 9.30, by which time I felt ready to go home, after a long day! I stuck it out until 10.50, by which time the waves of guitar had started to blur into one undistinguishable sound. The lure of the Piccadilly Line had become too strong to resist. I only missed a couple of songs and I’d got the gist. I think Bdrmm are probably best enjoyed on record – live they are a bit static and dare I say it, monotonous.  Admittedly a lot of the crowd would disagree – they went down very well.

The Joy Hotel, Saint Luke’s Glasgow, 22 November 

A second trip to Glasgow this month, and one I couldn’t wait for. The band had been a revelation to me at Latitude – such a big, varied sound conjured up by the seven-strong ensemble. Hard to categorise, but the celtic swagger of the Waterboys and Hothouse Flowers is one reference point. Some of Bruce Springsteen’s early epics are another; but there’s also a hard rocking element. Still just three tracks on Spotify – Killing Time, Jeremiah and Old Man’s Eyes. An album, Ceremony, is now due for release in April. It had been November, but I assume they want to promote it with a proper tour. This gig was a one-off, and a homecoming, after a stint supporting Deadletter on tour.

Saint Luke’s is in Glasgow’s East End, close to Barrowlands, one of Glasgow’s iconic venues. It was a church from 1836 until it was finally closed in 2012. A refurbishment was undertaken in 2015 and it is now a music and arts venue with a restaurant/bar called the Winged Ox. The capacity, including the balconies, is 700. I’m not sure there were quite that many people there at the gig, as there was a bit of space at the back, but it was a sell-out. It’s a lovely space for a concert, with its high ceiling and, behind the stage, two large stained glass windows and a magnificent old church organ with resplendent pipes.

Magnificent setting, magnificent performance. An hour and ten minutes of full-on, enchanting music. Played with joy and huge energy. The three familiar songs were all played, with Jeremiah a rousing anthem towards the end (though not the closing song). As at Latitude songs ran into each other, pace and rhythm changed when you least expected it. No chance of drifting into the kind of reverie that was quite possible at Bdrmm – and Teenage Fanclub for that matter. This was a celebration by a band that is going places. The debut album will be the launch pad – watch out for take-off next year!