Review by Northings
GoNORTH 2006
22 May 2006 in Aberdeen City & Shire, Festival, Music
Aberdeen, 10-11 May 2006
Jyrojets
THE ANNUAL goNorth festival gave 65 acts a chance to be showcased at what has been described by many as the Scottish equivalent of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. goNorth not only showcases artists from across Scotland, but this year also featured acts from Wales, Norway and The Netherlands.
On arriving at Belmont Street on Wednesday afternoon I helped the guys from Shutter and The Method set up for an acoustic showcase they were doing for the HUBL website (www.hubl.co.uk) that would also feature guitarist Jamie Ross from Call To Mind.
I was unable to stay and watch, though, as I had travelled to Aberdeen with students from the North Highland College so that they could take part in some of the workshops being put on as part of goNorth.
The first workshop they attended was with the Musicians Union band at Captain Toms practise space. The MU Band consists of some of Scotland’s top session players in Scotland, and their session aims to offer advice on things such as rehearsal tips and playing techniques for bands.
Speaking to some of the students afterwards, they seemed split on those who found the workshop helpful and those that felt they already knew the techniques the MU band were demonstrating.
All in all I would say that the Festival was of an extremely high standard with a great bill of talent and some cool workshops
After the workshop we made our way down to the Belmont Picture House for An Audience with Alan McGee, which was a fascinating question and answer session with the former Creation Records owner and the man who discovered such acts as Oasis, Primal Scream and The Jesus & Mary Chain.
A highlight of the session was some friction between Alan McGee and the head of Rock Promotion from the US office of Warner when debating the future of major labels and the role a manager plays in the success of a signed band that broke down into the use of some colourful language from Mr. McGee.
The first act I saw in the evening was Alness Indie rockers The Side playing at the Triple Kirks. They seemed to impress many with songs such as ‘Let The Feeling Go’ and ‘Sunrise’.
Jyrojets from Inverness played a special showcase for Highland 2007 at Cafe Drummonds to a packed out crowd, many of whom were on the dancefloor. The band signed to Songphonic are tipped for big things this year, having played not only across the UK to tie in with the release of the Channel 4 Make Tracks CD last year, but also in Spain and Russia, and reportedly will play at this years Tartan Heart Festival alongside the likes of Embrace, Echo & The Bunnymen and Mystery Jets.
Another Highlands act that played well was Isle of Skye band Stereoglo, who played later in the night at Triple Kirks with a good showing of support from people who had travelled through from the Highlands to Aberdeen, and what seemed to be a lot of interest from members of the music industry.
Other acts I saw that impressed me were Glasgow’s Popup, Aberdeen band Staccato Set and Edinburgh band Found, although all the bands playing were of an extremely high standard.
The second day of goNorth started with me taking some of the students from the North Highland College to The Tunnels to attend a very interesting panel with music experts, including veteran music industry consultant Ronnie Gurr, Mark Mackie of Regular Music, Bruce Finlay, the manager of Aberfeldy, Marcus Wilson of Hi-Arts, and manager Christian Ulf Hansen.
The session also offered the chance to meet the panelists one on one, and ask them for advice on breaking into their specialist area of the music industry.
At 5 pm I made my way up to One-Up Records to watch the launch of Manchester label Baby Bloom Records, which featured a very cool acoustic set from Stornoway act Our Small Capital, complete with some of the most tuneful songs I have heard from any band coming out of Scotland. It’s easy to see why Our Small Capital are playing events in Manchester, Russia and Texas.
In the evening Nairn band High Profile Fish, who have benefited greatly from the HUB project in Nairn run by Hi-Arts, rocked out Aberdeen venue Kefs for a special over-14s showcase. It was set up to show how the band, who came together at the same time the HUB project was put in place, have taken advantage of the facilities provided and grabbed the chance to evolve from a group of youngsters jamming to one of the top young bands in the Highlands.
Inverness act Shutter would not only enjoy their second set at goNorth, this time playing with an awesome full-on electric sound, but had their track ‘Sedona’ played on Radio 1 by Vic Galloway earlier in the evening to tie in with their goNorth showcase.
After Shutter’s set I moved up to The Wild Boar to see Call To Mind, another Inverness act who has appeared in the last year and gone on to build a high profile. The band played a strong set of modern psychedelic music complete with influences such as The Doves and Sigur Ros.
The Isle of Lewis was represented by Dragging The Lake as well as Our Small Capital. Although still quite young the band has deservedly experienced a great deal of success, such as playing last year at T in the Park and goHI. I hadn’t seen the four piece Biffy Clyro/Hundred Reasons inspired band since last year’s T in the Park, and I could quite clearly see the band had advanced in tightness as a unit.
The Rites have moved away from their traditional black shirts, and perhaps with the introduction of the new material that they debuted at goNorth are headed into a new direction to match this new look. The Black Isle act was the final band from the Highlands & Islands to play goNorth, and would rock out The Tunnels in the fashion they are known for, one which earned them an award from the readers of the ICA for their performance at last year’s Loopallu Festival in Ullapool.
Other artists that stood out to me over the second day included possibly the greatest unsigned Hip-Hop act in the UK Disciples of Panic Earth, Edinburgh-label Benbecula’s Genaro, Glasgow’s The Ronelles and the quirky original sound of singer/songwriter Izo Fitzroy.
All in all I would say that the Festival was of an extremely high standard with a great bill of talent and some cool workshops, and with it set to move to Inverness for 2007, that should be something for the city to look forward to.
© Steve Robertson, 2006
