Saturday-10th of July 2010- The Clutha-Glasgow
The last time PR were here, the Clutha had gone all up market and Mediterranean
with its street café patron’s quite rightly soaking up the sun, smoking Cuban
cigars or was it Club King size and generally chilling out on it’s very own
bohemian Broomielawstreet corner. However, tonight was a little more torrential
than continental, with the punters who had already arrived, choosing to stay
very wisely inside the pub and the punters who were about to arrive, left
feeling a little apprehensive about their expected arrival in the first place.
It could only happen in Scotland at the height of summer. As you will now have
probably guessed, tonight started off just a little more sedate than normal, but
by the break, the Clutha in its own inimitable style, had become impressively
effervescent. What of the gig? The gig itself was tremendous, with a very
appreciative audience, who simply enjoyed every minute of the night. Without
wishing to over- embellish, it is a sheer pleasure for PR to play the Clutha and
as such, we look forward to all of our excursions to this diminutive but
gratifying Glasgow gig. Tonight rated a solidly satisfying 8.5/10 on the
gigometer, with a conversely critical cludgy bogometer calibration of 2/10 for
the Clutha’s apparent bête-noir for lavatory luxury.
Saturday-3rd of July 2010-New Century Bar-Motherwell
Time after time I have waxed lyrical about the hit and miss disposition of this
particular gig. Indeed I have even offered my dark thoughts and at times
expressed my innermost sense of dread and unease about how the three set
arrangement required at this venue, can play games with the mind of most hard
working muso’s, often luring the occasional band onto the rocks of despair, with
it’s very tempting three drink pit stops. However, thanks to the world cup
quarter final being played in every corner of the pub, PR were tonight allowed,
for the first time in our acquaintance with the pub, to play our customary, well
weighted and time honored two sets. What happened? I hear you ask. The best
gig that we have ever had at the New Century is what happened. An absolutely
dazzling sound, an atmosphere to die for and a five star Carlsberg performance
from PR, led to everyone having a really fun time, including the band.
Incidentally, great to see Mark from Junction 6 along with our old friend Nelly
who just happened to pop in for the night. A remarkable 9/10 on the gigometer,
which only goes to show that we have had the best of times and the worst of
times in this Wee – Well hostelry. Almost forgot, The New Century also earned
an indubitable Zal fresh 8/10 on PR’s bogometer that’s more like it, toilet paper and everything.
Saturday-26th of July 2010-The Railway Tavern-Motherwell
Tonight’s gig at the Railway Tavern was tight in terms of space, capacity and set, but not just nearly as tight as it had been for Grib last Tuesday evening at Mugdock. If I could digress for just one moment, when we arrived at Mugdock last week, this was during the pre-baegy stage, we were all shocked (well maybe Goughy was and shocked is maybe too strong a word ….. we p***** ourselves) to find that a piece of equipment had settled against the back door of the van, rendering the locking mechanism gubbed. Luckily, due to the ingenious design and layout of the van (you can thank Arch and myself for that) we had to revert to plan B to gain access (top secret/can’t be divulged). This plan required Grib to draw from his innate Croy mining genes in order for him to clamber into the van and rescue the day. How he did it, we still don’t fully understand, but with much squeezing, pushing, the resourceful use of a broom handle and strenuous effort on Grib’s part, he got in and freed up the door…sheer genius … saved the day. Anyway back to tonight’s gig, a really great gig that felt incredibly together, controlled and fun to do. Tonight’s gig also offered the first outing for Grib’s new wean, a beautiful new black Rickenbacker, which blended well with his black and blue arms from his mining encounter earlier in the week. It would definitely have to be said that we all enjoyed this one, but the pest résistance I think, was the ‘chipmunk’ recording of the Mugdock gig that Eddie played to the delight of the band on the way home (are you trying to tell me something Eddie). A perfectly acceptable and extremely relaxed 8.5/10 on tonight’s gigometer. Before I go, I am glad to announce our new inaugural weekly section … PR’s ‘bogometer’. PR feel that it would be appropriate to have a poll, which reflects that condition and or indeed the general state of the water closets at the various venue’s that we encounter throughout Scotland. For example, if the bogometer had been introduced last week PR would have awarded a clear 10/10 for the level of enthusiasm and thought that had been put into Mugdock’s men’s room, where on the other hand, a few years ago they would have undoubtedly awarded a basic .5/10 for the downstairs convenience at McSorley’s. However, before embarking on this new weekly cludgy critique, I must stress that the scoring of the weekly bogometer in no way representative of my own personal view, but instead, is an average score gained from the opinions of PR and their associates. Shall we begin? ….. Tonight’s gig scored an unfortunately middling 4/10 on the bogometer, a score which was effected so dramatically and cruelly due to the wash basins swimming in spew and various other assorted discharges.
The Mugdock Music Festival Tuesday 22nd of June 2010
Brilliant sunshine, fantastic surroundings, relaxed atmosphere, well organised and me knee deep in vomit. This is basically how I will personally remember PR’s mid-summer party in the park. Without labouring the point too much, within 2 hours of arriving at Mugdock Park I had crumbled into a complete wreck of a man who had developed something that I was convinced was akin to Ebola hemorrhagic feverand up until the moment we went on stage, I kept looking over my shoulder for Dustin Hoffman in a white suit, visor and mask. This aside, what a wonderful evening, PR are not often lauded for their popularity, but tonight was completely different.With great warmth and respect,PR were introduced as being something special and in return the band’s show certainly was. Kenny was outstanding particularly in his interactions with the audience, John, Arch and Grib were at their consummate professional best and I was on fire or to be more precise I felt I was 10 times warmer (fever) than the pilot of a Saturn Five Rocket who was suffering from a severe bout of Ebola induced delirium.A really great gig that warrants at least 8.5/10 on the gigometer. PR will be back at Mugdock in January 2011 and we can’t wait.Incidentally, lots of still and video footage taken at Mugdock along with a live recording …… watch this space.
Saturday-19th of June 2010-Clutha-Glasgow
The Clutha on a Saturday night, what more could a band wish for? A red hot evening brought with it crowds of people both outside and in, very Champs Élysées in fact. For a moment we wondered if all the punters would have had their fill and it was only a matter of time before they would return home after a full on afternoon session, we were right. Fortunately this was a good thing, because at that point the evening shift of punters arrived and in true Clutha style, we were pushed back to the stage area barely able to breath in Clutha cauldron. What a gig, right from the off the balance was perfect, powerful but cleverly poised the band went on to have a preposterously pristine gig. Punters were as mad for it as we have ever seen and with the really positive feedback at the end of the night PR were content that the band had done good. To be succinct, a pleasing 9/10 on the gigometer. The band will back in three weeks time and look forward to what this lovely venue has in store for them. Just a reminder, with this now officially being the ‘Festival’ season, PR will be doing their own Glastonbury thing by appearing on Tuesday 22nd of June at the Mugdock Music Festival – which incidentally runs from June 21st to 26th, match report to follow.
Friday-11th of June 2010-Bar Bliss-Kirkintilloch
It’s been a wee while since we have darkened the door of Bar Bliss. Indeed tonight being a Friday night was looked upon by PR with slight trepidation given that we have only ever had one or two outings at Bliss on Friday nights. However, never being a band to shirk a challenge, we went in focused and hell bent on having a good one. This proved wise, as from the beginning until the end of the evening most of the crowd were transfixed, the non-believers quickly converted and the agnostics in the crowd left to the dark ways of their agnosticism? Anyway, tonight wasn’t half bad by anybody’s standards, with PR delivering another fairly tight set, which on the whole earned us a favourable response from the relatively busy (how could it not be, I hear you say) little rough diamond of a gig. An emphatic 8.5/10 for tonight’s little venture … only Queenzieburn post office still to play and we will know only then that we have truly arrived
Double Header… Friday-28th of May 2010 -Glenhead-Duntocher & Saturday-29th of May 2010 -Smiddy Inn-Cumbernauld
You will have probably heard me speak about the juxtapositional nature of this wonderful wee gig. First of all, we have an unassuming small village pub, which accidentally or not, commands an unusually robust and fairly accommodating crowd of punters who over the many years that PR have gigged here, keep coming back for more. Friday’s gig was unbelievable and when I say it was busy, I really mean it was busy, in fact it was …. Saturday Sauchiehall Street saturated with people. Look PR are not naïve enough to think that all of these punters were there just to see them, no chance that’s not important, but what is important is the fact that during the last 10 years or so gigging at the Glenhead, this was the busiest we have ever seen at this particular gig. The usual battle with acoustics ensued from the off, but due to the concerted effort of the band not to lift the roof off the gig's hallowed white washed walls, PR went on to enjoy a fairly comfortable and productive (1st airing for 2 new songs .. B Adams & new Snow patrol) Friday night gig at the ‘Glentocher’. A well deserved 8/10 on the gigometer, with the rating mainly based on us being able to accomplish our toileting needs at half time.Tonight’s gig at the Smiddy was never going to reach the bar of the busy stakes, which incidentally was set very high last night by a pub of Fosbery flop status in the crowd department, but we did honestly believe that we wouldn’t be let down by our home crowd. We weren’t, a steady influx of punters ensured that from the start we were entertaining a healthy and appreciative crowd, who knew exactly what to expect. No problems tonight with the auld enemy The Environmental Health, instead after posting our four spotters on the boundaries of the car park, chippy, forge and Smithstone Brae, we were left in peace to do our best to rock out this enjoyably big chair, evening times, pipe and slippers comfortable gig and we did so royally. Some have said that this was probably one of the tightest gigs we have done in the Smiddy in a long time and some didn’t, anyway PR left the gig tonight feeling happy and fulfilled with their wholly agreeable lot. A highly contested but fully deserved 8.5/10 on the gigometer, thank god for fractions.
Saturday-15th of May 2010-Village Inn-East Kilbride
We were really looking forward to this one as it had been around three and a half years since PR gigged at this one time hallowed venue. With some old but familiar faces in the audience, a full house and us eager to get in about it, we were as prepared as we would ever be for what was about to happen, which was nothing exceptional really. A slick and tight set afforded us a fair response from a moderately interested crowd, but by the time we reached the second half, the Village Inn didn’t feel anymore special than any other gig on the circuit. Sure it was great to be back and of course we would love to do it again at the Village Inn, but in all truth, if we don’t so…..? A very decent, but nevertheless slightly contentious …depending on where you were sitting or if your glass was half empty or half full type of thing …7.5/10 on the gigometer
Saturday-8th of May 2010-New Century Bar-Motherwell
What can I say that hasn’t already been said before about this inimitable little gig. Once again on Saturday PR were met with an unpredictably random mix of people, who it would be fair to say, had not necessarily turned up for the crack.This coupled by the fact that this gig does not allow for any continuity, given that the band are required to play 3 sets rather than the traditional, tried and tested 2, you will have probably guessed by now that PR are now increasingly becoming less and less enamored with their lot at the New Century. One cannot deny that the owner and the bar staff really do their best and as such should be commended for their efforts, nonetheless one might also be forgiven for reaching the conclusion what for? The general consensus was that tonight’s gig was more mediocre than marvelous more mundane than breathtaking, in actual fact, a very dull gig that despite being not too bad musically, it felt for most of the gig like pulling a Morris Minor up a steep icy hill on a rope tied to your knads.A Glum and thoroughly miserable 6/10 on the auld gigometer.
Saturday May 1st 2010 - The Chase - Kirkintilloch
Ding ding, seconds out, round two. It would be fair to say that throughout the whole of tonight’s gig at the Chase PR pulled no punches in delivering a technical knock out with their well crafted and dare I say ‘quick on their feet’ set. Even despite last nights exertions and a few glass jaw moments in terms of tonight’s selection of songs, PR were able to stay on their toes long enough to pummel their way through yet another heart stopping performance, with the band keeping the punters on the ropes for most of the set. However, despite this particular gig rating a moderate and fairly mediocre 7/10 on the gigometer, it would have to be said that most of the punters at tonight’s main event went home punch drunk happy, thanks to PR’s pugilistic approach to delivering an honest but hard hitting performance. The gig also seemed to hit the mark especially for one rather over zealous punter, ok neeeebour, who was left reeling from “South Paw Kiernan’s” bone crushing performance …he “Stoats like a barfly and stinks like pee”….GO HOME!
Friday April 30th 2010- Clutha - Glasgow
Admittedly, a bit sore and bruised from last weeks excursion, PR carefully went about tonight’s gig in a more measured and thoughtful manner (particularly through the benefits of a fuller monitor system). As a result, we experienced an absolutely top drawer sound mix/balance, basked in the positive vibes of a population of predominately grateful punters and as such, PR delivered a slick and unstoppable show. The usual fare of clambering, tripping and bumping took place in front of the band with Kenny and Grib swapping copious amounts of DNA with a large proportion of the Clyde side crowd for most of the night, just the way we like it. It was also superb to see lots of punters ‘staying put’ as the usual crowd at this city centre gig can, despite being consistently busy & supportive, be a little transient at times. Finally, it was noted that drums and cymbals were being hit by such an exuberance and gusto at tonight gig that John went home looking like Sting’s urban impaired pal from the Amazonian rainforest.An incredible but unequivocal 8.5/10 on the gigometer.
Saturday April 24th 2010 - The Railway Tavern – Motherwell
What can I say about tonight’s gig at the Railway? For the first in a long time, PR were faced with a fairly sedate and relaxed load in and set up. These conditions were not only unexpected, they were not at all typical of the usually claustrophobic and dangerous Marrakesh market conditions that we have become accustomed to at the Railway. It’s a little naïve actually, to think that we would continue to enjoy the luxuriously comfortable and effortless peace and quiet that we had experienced during the set up, after all, this was the infamous Railway tavern. Before very long we got back to what can only be described as the insanely but strangely enjoyable melee of gyrating discombobulated mass who were not only by now standing on top of us, they were clearly mad for it. In terms of our performance, we have had plenty of better nights at this magic wee venue but unfortunately towards the end of tonight’s gig we began to become a little unstuck, nothing remarkable really, just an accumulation of irritating technical, stamina and health problems leading to a very uncomfortable penalty kick in the bullocks of an anticlimax. Regretfully over the piece, PR rated this one an uneconomic and non- flattering 6/10 on the gigometer. Awe the mighty well, there’s always the next time.
Saturday-17th- of April 2010 -New Century Bar-Motherwell
If you check back the band diary over the last year and a half or so, you would soon discover that The New Century gig is about as predictable as next Saturday’s Lottery numbers with just about as much breaks as the prime time show. Nevertheless, Goughy insists that we should stick with it as he reckons that even on a bad night, it never sounds as bad as we feel, or at least he said something comforting like that. Then you shouldn’t be surprised that tonight’s gig was an absolute cracker. The crowd seemed to be made up of just the right mix of punters (this is despite Kenny suggesting at the very beginning of the night that the crowd looked too sensible?) and it was clear from the start that Arch had gotten the mix and volume spot on. A great performance from the band then sealed the deal, with the punters going home really happy and the band including the illustrious Goughy satisfied that we had ‘secured the beach head’.A very enjoyable and kick back comfortable 8.5/10 on the gigometer. Look out Motherwell, PR’s next gig is at the Railway Tavern on Saturday 24thth of April see you all there. Now for one of Chick’s funnyosities – The doctor rushed through the ward to find out what the hideous noise was all about. He was just in time to see a nurse leaving a screaming patient, a bowl of steaming water in her hand as the patient writhed in agony clutching his groin.‘For Chrissakes, nurse, I told you to prick his boil!’
Saturday-10th of April- 2010-The Chase-Kirkintilloch
Another interesting wee outing for the PR, especially with us not having gigged at the Kirky Chase since last year. Fortunately, from the load in we were met with a healthy and steadily building crowd who luckily hung out with us for the whole night. A fantastically tight set was fully appreciated by all the Chase patrons along with our faithful friends and guests, with the only bummers being the really odd set up in the stage area, the Barcelona game playing on the telly throughout most of the set and the treacherous acoustics that seemed to kill the liveliness of our sound. This aside and not taking anything away from the gig, another great night, which rated a 7.5/10 on the gigometer. We look forward to returning to the Chase on Saturday May 1st for another go, this time with our graphic equalizer set to the highly recommended inverted u mode. Now for one of Chick’s funnyosities - A chap fell out of a ten storey building and as a crowd gathered around a policeman asked the badly injured man what happened, ‘I don’t know myself’, he replied, ‘I’ve only just got here’.
Saturday-March 27th 2010 -Smiddy Inn-Cumbernauld
After last night, no one could blame us for approaching tonight’s gig with slight apprehension. Even with an almost guaranteed robustly supportive home crowd and familiar comfortable surroundings, the thought of the new gear misbehaving again was a little unnerving. However with the first song of the set under our belt, we immediately forgot everything that had happened the previous evening and totally rocked the Smiddy. The sound and overall balance was incredible as was the reaction from the punters who seemed to be really enthralled with the overall event. Tonight was one of those nights that it felt like we did very little wrong, but I got the impression that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as the Smiddy people were just there to enjoy themselves. To be really truthful, there was the odd occasion when parts of songs were not always on the money, but evidently, it didn’t seem to matter. PR has just encountered a short run of by our standard, mediocre gigs and there was no doubt that we needed a good one to blast the cobwebs off, this was definitely it. An astoundingly solid and satisfying 8.5/10 on the gigometer and what has been really heartening is that tonight has provided the PR machine with an overdue service, which will propel us on our quest of basically entertaining anyone who has the inclination to join us in our weekly melodious revelry.
Friday-March 26th 2010-Glenhead-Duntocher
We have had some really great times in this marvelous venue, but for some reason tonight wasn’t up to the normal high standard expected of this gig. It was evident from the start that recent changes to our gear, for example, the band’s first outing with our new mixer and our new Drum Mics (we now officially have more mixers than Curries with a total of 44 channels available at any one time) we feared that we were going to have some teething problems. To make things a little more difficult, Glentocher is legendary for its vibrant, lively and bombastic acoustics that definitely don’t need the runaway train that is PR further complicating matters. Poor punters, personally I was suffering from a broken cochleaby the end of the opening number. Nobody’s fault really, just one of those nights…. anyway. Nonetheless, the pub remained stowed to the roof albeit with now slightly disoriented, unbalanced but ear bleedingly supportive punters who stayed with us right to the end, or maybe they just didn’t make it to the door. In our own imminent style of not making things easy for ourselves, we also threw in 2 new songs for good measure, namely The Gene Jeanie & Mr. Brightside. Both showed promise but got slightly lost in our out of control cacophony of sound. Hey ho, there is always tomorrow night, a slightly below par 6.5/10 on the gigometer.
Friday-12th March 2010-Clutha-Glasgow
It’s really odd that there are gigs that can be influenced by very simple things such as what day of the week it is. Take the Clutha for example, PR have done a few Fridays, Saturday’s and even one Sunday at the Clutha. However, each of these weekend nights at the Clutha are perceived by PR as being completely different from each other in terms of the attitude of punters, general atmosphere in the pub and the varying levels of good vibrations, or indeed lack of it, experienced on each night. It would have to be argued that in truth, Friday night was like any other Friday night at the Clutha that is, not just as good as a Saturday night. Let me try to explain, it might be that Friday night has become the ‘putting your toe in the water’ first night of the weekend, where punters who are not fully switched off from the drudgery of work begin throwing off the shackles of the proletariat by gradually taking their first careful steps towards their coveted big Saturday night out. It might even be that it is PR themselves who can’t manage to get enough distance between their day and daily jobs and the almost immediate Friday night adrenalin rush of wanting to perform. Or of course on the other hand, it might just be pot luck, where if the Mojo is right and the almighty god of cover bands is looking the right way, then we will have a cracker regardless. Who knows, Friday night rated a frustrating 7/10 on the gigometer and this was despite a really impressive, tight and motoring first half, which was eventually interspersed by a slowly developing crowd induced malaise that seemed to drain PR’s eagerness, purpose and need to continue shining.
Saturday-6th March 2010 -O’Neil’s Merchant City-Glasgow
PR has played this gig on and off for the last four or five years and as such we have learned to accept and bend with the ebb and flow of what this potentially fantastic gig feels like serving up. Tonight was no exception, despite being really busy we were faced with an unusual collection of punters, made up of a glamorous gathering of pink glittered cowboy hatted ‘Boot’s’ counter girls on a works night out, a random collection of 40ths, 18ths and 21sts, a conglomeration of friends, the usual coming and going and coming back again patrons and interestingly, punters from our last gig at the Clutha. How did it spin out? Not particularly well actually. PR gave it their all and without sounding to much UOOA, we deserved better. All in all, the night was slightly flat and regardless of our full on intention of giving O’Neil’s some, we were only able to instigate the slightest of stirrings amongst the cowpokes and happy returns. A well fought, interesting but nevertheless disappointing 7.5/10 on the gigometer.
Saturday-27th of February 2010 -The Railway Tavern-Motherwell&Sunday-28th of February 2010 Clutha-Glasgow
Another interesting and incredible double header was exactly what PR needed after a period of early season hibernation (John and Arch were off sunning themselves to Tenerife, not together though, or at least I don’t think so?) What can I say about tonight’s gig at The Mighty Well’s ‘Railway Tavern’? Quite a lot actually, first of all it was absolutely jumping and I mean JUMPING, with most of PR’s musical front line involuntarily receiving Root Canal treatment courtesy of the newly developed ‘Shure 58’ method of dentistry. Apparently, this new dental approach has been designed specifically with busy gigging musician in mind. Anyway, with all the Sickle and Periodontal probes tidied away and mic stands removed from various orifices, PR went on to really rock the place. Interestingly, at half time, I was sitting at a table having my pint when I heard "Tap, tap, tap at the bloody speaker cabinet. I looked out, you know who it was? Bloody Katie Price!” Actually some of the band thought it was Cut Price, where others were convinced it was just Half Cut. What a brilliant wee buzzing boozer the Tavern is remembered and revered for it’s eclectic mix of burlesque dancers, drunks, family double acts, comedy singers, abracadabra’s, acrobats and vaudeville variety turns …who could ask for anything more. PR’s night at the Tavern was very nicely rounded off ‘Penn and Teller’ style courtesy of our John, when he helped the ‘Advertising Campaign’ in an assisted suicide, by dropping it from a great height, decapitating at least three punters in the process, woops. Please Mr. Can we have our 5.5 volt adaptor back.….the bouncer says it’s in your wife’s makeup bag. 7.5/10 on the gigometer. Sunday at the Clutha, will be a gig no doubt remembered for all the wrong reasons. However, it would be fair to say that tonight in this electrically charged music venue you couldn't’t get a sheet of Andrex toilet tissue between Kenny’s mic and Clutha’s resident house dancer Mr. Jack Dumphy or FOS for short, who’s pumped up, gaseous like moves literally shifted air. Tonight, Kenny also did his entertaining best to cater for punters who requested songs from the Fartellies, the Phoo Fighters, Hootie and the Blow IOYA fish and of course, Kenny will, and quite rightly be honoured for tonight’s rousing version of ‘Shit Kicker Blues’. This aside, PR really went for it big style, especially after we had dealt with the problems inadvertently created by our late load in, which I may add, was mainly down to the ‘The Five Aces’ starting their afternoon shit a little late. Indeed according to the response of one particular punter we really thought that the proverbial shit had really and truly hit the fan and throughout the gig his over exuberant behaviour did in fact leave a bad taste in Kenny’s mouth. Not to worry though, PR are a lot bigger than that well and truly making up for this upset right from the start and in an instant the band were able to shake off any back pressure that had been built up during the load in by simply venting their musical prowess directly at the punters. Of course this was reciprocated by the FOS the gaseous dancer, who in turn insisted in blowing Kenny away…………..all night. If I was asked to take one final memory from tonight’s gig it would definitely be Kenny doing his artistic best to jam (free style) the Hollies song “All I need is the air that I breathe” into our arrangement of Free’s seminal classic ‘Wishing Well’ but the funny thing is each time he tried to sing it, it sounded a bit like “a canny breathe…boak”A slightly nauseating but very worthwhile 8/10 on the gigometer.
Saturday-30th of January 2010-Bar Bliss-Kirkintilloch
Great to be back at this terrific wee venue for another carefully crafted assault on the senses of the denizens of bliss. What can I say, after our usual mutually friendly welcome, we emptied the van and quickly cobbled our gear together. Unfortunately, our sound check soon revealed that we had unwittingly fallen foul to a damaged horn of the fried variety. Apparently, the acrid smell of burning that we had experienced at one of our gigs in November 09 was not down to John’s fantastic fret work, nor indeed Grib’s relentless sawing. The smell was regretfully the horn on one of our PA cabs reaching critical mass and with the process of nuclear fission taking place right there in the driver during our closing number, it eventually turned molten, running down the inside of the speaker cabinet in its interestingly new liquefied form. Nothing new there. Six months and six hundred quid later (thanks to a very comprehensive and thorough Flynn Amps fleecing) we are now back to square one with a goosed PA. If we have learned anything over the last thirty years traipsing about the various pubs, speakeasy’s and juke joint’s, it’s that there’s absolutely no point in fretting or panicking. Just as well, with barely ¾ of the PA working we were still able to pull off one of our best nights ever at Bliss. PR delivered a riveting performance with every number in the set increasingly hitting the mark with the crowd. Thanks to all our faithful friends, new acquaintances and all those punters who hung out at Bliss with PR because they knew it made sense. On reflection, it might not have been the horn that was hot at Bliss tonight, the punters are, the atmosphere is and PR undoubtedly were. A modest but well won 8/10 on the gigometer.
Saturday-16th of January 2010 -O’Neil’s Merchant City-Glasgow
This gig was shaping up in our own heads to be a baptism of fire, a re-birth as it were for PR who had just surfaced stiff, rusty and bloated from their festive hiatus. What could possibly go wrong? Well potentially everything, for a start the gear – the longest coldest period for many years brought with it not only the picturesque Xmas snow, but also the less glamorous and highly dangerous combination of damp and highly conductive/arcing electrics ’Stone the Crows’ a well known recipe for a disaster (even if we survive would the amps fire up?). The van was our next worry – not having turned a wheel for ages except for its yearly MOT outing, we were not even a little bit surprised to learn that one of the back brakes had jammed on despite the good work of Goughy who had spent most of his Xmas holiday’s keeping the driveway clear and heaters running in beside the gear for tonight’s blast off. All this aside, our final worry was about our slightly concerning old and befuddled heids – would we be able to re-call our well-honed arrangements or be right on point with our starts, finishes, keys and harmonies etc. If it was going to go wrong, this gig in front of a few hundred punters might not have been our first choice. What a night! An extraordinary tight set with very little mistakes was delivered with such gusto as to draw blood and to cause blisters and cramp to those who didn’t bleed. Great to see all our friends again both old and new and a surprise visit from our old muso friend Rab ‘The Doctor’ rounded off a really good kick off that marked the beginning of our 2010 pub excursion, easily a 8/10 on the gigometer.
Saturday 19th of December 2009 The Railway Tavern Motherwell
PR’s first outing of 09 on January 17th was at Motherwell’s Railway Tavern and some 40 odd gigs later on December 19th 09, we have just completed PR’s 2009’s musical sortie at the same fantastic venue. Tonight’s gig at the Railway Tavern was absolutely remarkable for the fact that PR were actually able to get to the end of this gig without sustaining any personal injury or damage to our equipment. An extremely dangerously packed house, extra slippery wet floor and punters full of festive frivolity made for a particularly exciting and eventful gig by anyone’s standards. We’re not complaining though, what a fantastic way to sign off, sometimes when a gig doesn’t make any sense, you should just throw caution to the wind and go for it. Go for it we did and what a fantastic gig to end to a fantastic year (8/10 on the PR gigometer). In 2009 PR have endured some hilariously good times, many astonishing gigs, a few memorable disappointments and even the odd sad occasion, but as a band we firmly believe that our love of good music, no nonsense approach to setting out our stall, our dogged determination, rock-solid friendship and unbelievable sense of humour have accumulatively been the decisive factors in assisting us to enjoy yet another successful year. All that is left now is to wish everyone a happy and peaceful new year and we hope to see all of our friends again next year when we kick off 2010 at O’Neil’s Merchant City-Glasgow on Saturday January 16th.
Saturday 5th of December 2009 Clutha Glasgow
PR apologise for having to cancell the Clutha gig tonight, what a bummer. This is cancellation is due to one of our band members 'Wolverine formally known as Arch' feeling a little dicky, what is a band supposed to do?
Saturday – 28th –November 2009 The Smiddy Inn Eastfield
Unfortunately due to a bout of bass player baegy, tonight’s gig at the Smiddy has had to be cancelled. PR hope to reschedule this gig sometime in the New Year and offer our apologies to everyone who turned out
Saturday-21st of November 2009 -Clutha-Glasgow
It’s a little old, it’s certainly a little bit odd and it might even be just little, but by anyone’s standards, the Clutha is plainly incredible. From the first chord of SHA the gig just took off and with the crowd building steadily throughout the first half, by the end of the 1st set you couldn’t get a bus ticket between the punters, the band and the bar counter, Just the way we like it. The second set was even better, but by this time the heat that was now being generated in the room was beginning play havoc with Kenny’s shed. However, this did not deter PR ‘Onward and Jedward’ we went, building up to a concise KOL penultimate song followed quickly by a stirring Springsteen finale The highlight of tonight’s 9/10 gig was Kenny’s announcement that we will be back in a fortnights time. Surely it can’t get any better, or can it?
Saturday-14th- November 2009 The Gardenhall Inn-East Kilbride
Unlike our last gig at the Gardenhall Inn, tonight was, whilst not being quiet O2 arena standard in terms of punter quotient, it was nevertheless every bit as encouraging. If you consider that the last time we gigged here in October, we felt that it was all rather pointless, especially given the size, the near perfect layout and the obvious potential of this venue, the regrettable truth was that the dearth of punters made this gig all a bit too ‘Morris Minor’ for our liking. Not tonight though, from the outset it was really heartening to see so many ‘well kent’ faces who had turned out tonight for second helpings. What was even more amazing was that this had been augmented with even more new faces, making for a fairly healthy gathering. Anyway to cut to the chase, a marvellous night was had by one and all, with the crowd staying right to the end and beyond. Tonight rated a 7/10 on PR’s gigometer, which I would have to say, was a lot better than we had expected. With this being our last outing at the Gardenhall Inn for this year we would like to wish everyone all the best and who knows, this gig might actually take off next year and if it doesn’t …?
Double Header: Friday-6th of November 2009 The Glenhead Tavern –Duntocher& Saturday-7th of November 2009 The Chase-Kirkintilloch
We always look forward to getting back to doing our much cherished “Glentocher” gigs, as pound for pound this gig always proves to be really special. Tonight was no different, with a packed house made up of an eclectic collection of punters and an equally diverse set of fellow muso’s, god bless them, PR had a complete and utter ball. I being one who is not usually short for words, was left dumb struck at the initial response and level of appreciation emanating from the enthusiastically animated audience. Indeed, I even remember at one stage early in the first set thinking ‘god we are sounding really professional tonight’. Normally, this would sound the death knell for the auld PR, but not tonight. Incredibly, PR just went from strength to strength throughout the rest of the gig, even Arch with his Jack Dee approach to entertaining paying punters, was encouragingly enthralled with our overall performance. Easily a phenomenal, but barely believable, 9.8/10 on the PR gigometer, what a night. With four Glentocher gigs already in the book for next year, who’s the lucky boys then?Saturday’s evening’s gig at the Chase, despite being a reasonable venue and very decent gig had a very hard act to follow given the shenanigans of Glentocher the previous night. Implausible I know, but the Chase certainly made the grade and more. With PR now running freely from their experience of the previous gig, the Chase punters got a show to remember. With no holds barred, PR’s set was first class throughout the whole evening and with the already healthy crowd building steadily all evening, the gig could only go one way. Another unbelievable 9.5/10 on the gigometer making for the perfect… Perfect Remedy weekend. Thanks to everyone who trapped over the weekend and we really look forward to the Chase gigs next year, when Goughy gets round to it.
Saturday-31st of October -The Railway Tavern-Motherwell
Long time no see. It’s been roughly seven months since our last gig at this venue and with the credit crunch along with the usual expected ravages of time; we had no idea what we were going into. However, with this being Halloween, we had expected that there would be the usual ghouls, gremlins and comedy singers, we had all of them, and we also had the guiser’s full of their seasonal festivity and celebration. Anyway, with a fairly healthy crowd (interestingly not just as busy as we have had) the tight and well balanced first half set went down really well, with elements of the audience really up for it and others rather indifferent. With the second set beckoning all was not lost, by this time the pub had really packed out (interestingly not just as packed as we have had) anyway the second set also went down really well but probably with just the same response as earlier. Unfortunately, PR felt that we had done a really good job but this unforunately had not been reflected in the overall crowd’s response. Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of punters who really rocked out and were full of appreciation, but as usual PR try and set standards for themselves and tonight’s gig did not stack up in terms of getting all the punters on side, all of the time. In the words of Dave Grohl “It’s times like these you learn to live again…It’s times like these you give and give again” we will be back on December 19th 09 to give and give again at the Railway Tavern, see you then.
Saturday-24th of October -O’Neil’s Merchant City-Glasgow
A bit of a culture shock this evening, PR being creatures of habit, we were tonight, for the first time ever in our three/four year association with O’Neil’s, asked to set up on a completely different platform, which incidentally, was situated at the opposite side of the pub. A platform I may add, obviously designed to accommodate a small troupe of performing rock midgets (leprechauns) or as we strongly suspected, a rock band of the two piece midget variety, without drums. Anyway with all the dummies thrown out of the PR pram, resignations handed in and torn up, discussions undertaken about how ludicrous and impossible this task was and finally, after the band weaved their spells and curses on the management duty team at O’Neil’s (very seasonal), we set about setting up. What was all the palaver about? Despite our initial hassle of shoe horning the gear onto the small platform, we went about more or less faultlessly to have an absolutely marvellous gig. In actual fact, we got to play to proportionately more punters given the new but fantastic position of the minuscule platform, we also had a cracking sound and overall sound balance, but more importantly, we had one of our best gigs ever at O’Neil’s, easily a 9.5/10 on the gigometer. Unfortunately, this is our last outing at O’Neil’s for this year but we hope to return next year to enjoy a meticulouslytightly fun packed run of new gigs at this tremendous, now decidedly more than ever, Shea stadium esq venue.
Saturday October 17th 2009 The Gardenhall Inn EK
Long time since our last gig at the Gardenhall Inn, indeed due to unforeseen circumstances we had to cancel our last gig during the summer, which created an even bigger gap than usual between gigs. Tonight’s gig was a mixed bag, given that there was a noticeable drop in the number of punters in the pub (the manager reckons that they like lots of other pubs, have the credit crunch to thank ) and the fact that the stage position has been moved from the original raised platform onto the floor level. The gig itself despite the blatantly obvious, was really very good, a great sound and the punters who were in tonight really demonstrated their appreciation by applauding every number. My god, we even nailed the 2 new songs, which was a bonus considering our misguided attempt the previous week. It is obvious to us that this gig has great potential but despite the management doing their level best to promote their pub as a live music venue, similar to Brown and co, they unfortunately don’t have any control over the economy either. This one rated a familiar 7/10 on the PR gigometer, not bad all things considered, where’s my whip.
Saturday October 10th 2009 Bar Bliss Kirkintilloch
Saturday night at Bliss was a little quieter than usual, but punters enough to make for a fairly pleasant and agreeable gig. The band reckoned that all was well until around 6 songs into the set, when it seemed like Grib had a ‘Spinal Tap’ moment, appearing to turn his volume knob to number 11 for what felt was the rest of the evening. If this wasn’t enough, Grib also went into Townsend mode smashing his guitar off his mic stand before his solo intro into ‘what’s the frequency’ causing the whole band to stop dead whilst he re-tuned. Arch then thought he was helping by moving Gribs mic stand out of harms way, only to have Kenny lambast Grib for missing some really crucial backing vocals, poor Grib.OK we have established that it wasn’t all Gribs fault,although I can assure you that is what we told him. Suffice to say, we all had our moments.This included playing the first set, unbeknown to us, without the bass mic and us introducing 2 new, but by our standards, under rehearsed songs: Pinball Wizard and Rock’nRoll Star, which effectively disrupted a perfectly good, normally as tight as a DA, second half set.On a more positive note though, one of the main highlights of the gig was the very drunk guy who for the first few numbers, belted out his own alternative but distracting harmonies at full tilt (honest it wasn’t us), laugh, I could have killed him.I could be wrong, but again I think tonight’s gig, despite us only having a few minor faults, is a good example of how we have a habit of really punishing ourselves, regardless of all the positive comments and the astonishing response of a vey appreciative audience. Tonight’s gig rated a 7/10 on PR’s gigometer.Having said that we are all off to our weekly flagellation classes with our friends at the Opus Dei appreciation group and we will hopefully be back in time to change our ash filled sack cloths shirts and barbed wire pants for next weeks gig.
Saturday October 3rd 2009 The New Century Bar Motherwell
You have got to laugh, Goalkeepers, Eurovision Song Contestants, Boris Johnstone, Fred West, The Scotland National Team , O.J. Simpson , Ally MacLeod, The Croy Were Wolf , Doobit, The baggage handlers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, Wendy, Sydney Devine , David Icke, Michael Jackson and M.I.5 have all had them, and tonight, PR certainly had one…..we had a HOWLER! This evening was always going to be a difficult, particularly given the unpredictable nature of this gig. However, for one reason or another , not all of them ours I may add, we plumbed even more amazing depths than we had previously during a brace of similarly difficult gigs at this odd venue. This evening might indeed go down as possibly a bigger train crash than the 1879 Tay Rail Bridge Disaster. A surreal recollection and snap shot of Saturday’s gig would include: a punter being head butted, falling down and bashing his head on one of our monitors, our totally amazing rendition of Free’s Wishing Hell and REM’s unforgettable (not strictly true) “Losing Our Place” , ‘Mrs angry, the Home Care Manager (who was more angry than John Prescott after being hit on the fizog by an egg ) a group of punters who thought we were better than the Beatles and the live music booker who was adamant that given the strength of tonight’s incredible and legendary performance, we were certain to secure a regular place along with the rest of his exclusive turns at Wishaw’s premier live music venue. To quote Goughy’s favourite lyric from 80s band Yazz and the Plastic Population “the only way is up”. Come to think of it, I suppose it wasn’t all bad, as after getting out of the decompression chamber, we all had work on Monday. Nuff said, wink, wink, and as they say, there’s nothing stranger than pork.
Saturday 12th of September 2009 The Thornwood
Inevitable really, after some 3 or 4 years working at the Thornwood, it is now time for both PR and the pub to mutually part company. Despite Saturday night being a relatively busy evening, for the Thornwood, we all predicted that this gig would mark an end of an era. This notion was somewhat reinforced when we spied an ‘Environmental Health’ notice, which warned of an earlier outbreak of “noise and singing” noted as occurring during our recent July gig. This notice was menacingly displayed for full effect on the back wall of the stage area, like some old western wanted poster. Never mind, over the years the Thornwood has provided us with an opportunity to really relax and kick back during gigs, we have had lots of laughs, some notable fall outs, and we even indulged ourselves in some of the best creative paid rehearsal time in our career (remember Norwegian Wood guys? on second thoughts, strike the creative bit). This particular eulogy is in no way an attempt to belittle the Thornwood, as I would have to say that PR are really fond of their experience in the pub, but it is time to move on and seek pastures new. It would be fair to say that we met some really friendly, interesting and even crazy people and livestock at the Thornwood, but unfortunately its now time to move on. PR would like to thank the Thornwood for having us and wish them the best of luck for the future. Incidentally, tonight rated a modest 6/10 on the auld gigometer, cheerio, cheerio, cheerio…..cheerio, cheerio, cheerio - oh.
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