11 gigs to see in October as New Romantic star returns to Scotland

Snowgoose, aka Jim McCulloch and Anna Sheard, return with a new album, Descendant next month, which features contributions from members of Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian, Arab Strap and BMX Bandits among others. But that all-star line-up is just the icing on the cake. McCulloch, once of The Soup Dragons, and Sheard are a formidable duo, bringing a gorgeous, post-Sandy Denny vibe (yes, Sheard’s vocals can cope with that comparison) to their particular brand of psych-folk. Both Ian Rankin and Justin Currie have sung their praises and rightly so. In a month when Biffy Clyro’s sold-out shows in Glasgow may dominate everything this gig deserves not to be overlooked. It will certainly be a bit quieter, I imagine.

Snowgoose

Evan Dando

La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, October 16; Tunnels, Aberdeen, October 17; Fat Sams, Dundee, October 18; Slay, Glasgow, October 19

What to expect? Who can say? Going to see Evan Dando is something of a lottery if reviews in recent years are to be believed. The one-time frontman of The Lemonheads who, back in 1992 released one of the great 1990s albums in It’s A Shame About Ray, has spent the last 30 years in a wayward meander of too many drugs and not enough songs. But he has a pocket full of the most wonderful tunes and they deserve to be heard. If you catch him on a good night …

Briana Corrigan

Broadcast, Glasgow, October 5

Now here’s a rare opportunity. Northern Irish singer Briana Corrigan came to everyone’s notice when she was a member of The Beautiful South and had a number one hit with the band. (That’s her beautiful voice on A Little Time and feather-and-talc-covered-face in the video of said tune.) Corrigan then went solo and in the years since has turned her hand to poetry and motherhood. After a 10-year break from performing live she is now back onstage. If you miss this gig she’s definitely coming back next year for the Harbour Arts Festival in Irvine.

Elim Chan (Image: free)BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Glasgow City Halls, Glasgow, October 3; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, October 6

Part of the orchestra’s Imagine series, these performances see Venezuelan piano virtuoso Gabriela Montero play her own Latin Concerto sandwiched between Elim Chan conducting the SSO as it plays Caroline Shaw’s Entracte For Strings and Brahms’s Symphony No 4. A programme to bring a little sunlight into the lengthening autumn evenings.

John Grant

Barrowland, Glasgow, October 21

Announcing his latest album The Art of the Lie, which came out in June, the American singer-songwriter compared it to the Vangelis soundtrack for Blade Runner or The Carpenters, “if John Carpenter were also a member”. Which is a great sell, but does it actually sound like that? The jury’s out, but the result has certainly got a trunk of funk in the boot and an electronic snap and crackle to it. And Grant remains a compelling frontman as this Barrowland gig will no doubt remind us. 

Stereo MC’s

Liquid Room, Edinburgh, October 5

More nineties nostalgia. Nottingham’s Stereo MC’s hit big in 1992 with their Connected album. Both the title track and Step It Up broke the top 20. Founding members Rob Birch - who looked like an emaciated Tim Burton creation back in the day - and Nick Hallam are still going strong and if anything Birch looks like he’s had a couple of square meals in the years since. Still not sure what that apostrophe is all about, but all together now, “Yeah yeah, yeah, you can send a forget-me-not …”

Becky Sikasa (Image: unknown)

Becky Sikasa

Tolbooth, Stirling, October 3; Stereo, Glasgow, October 4; Tunnels, Aberdeen, October 5; Beat Generator, Dundee, October 10; Tooth & Claw, Inverness, October 11; MacArts, Galashiels, October 12

That voice is quite something. Becky Sikasa moved to Scotland from Germany in 2012 and it’s now difficult to imagine the contemporary Scottish music scene without her, as anyone who saw her at last year’s SAY Awards ceremony or at Edinburgh’s First Footin’ celebration on New Year’s Day this year could attest. If you didn’t, these gigs are a great opportunity to discover her warm and soulful singing and her songwriting nous up close. 

The Bathers

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, October 16

You might say Chris Thomson has spent most of the 21st century in hiding. He might say he’s spent it earning a living. However you want to see it, the revival in recent times of The Bathers - the band he formed after Friends Again - has been a lovely bonus in these difficult last few years.

A couple of gigs in 2016 apart, it took the Marina record label’s decision to reissue a trio of classic Bathers albums in 2020 to prompt Thomson to take to the stage again and he’s been an irregular but pleasing live presence ever since. This Queen’s Hall gig feels like the high watermark of a slowburn return of one of Glasgow’s most idiosyncratic and welcome talents who has now returned to making records (last year’s much lauded Sirenesque album). Let’s hope he’s back to stay.

Janet Jackson

OVO Hydro, Glasgow, October 13

The death of her brother Tito casts something of a shadow over this upcoming Glasgow appearance by one of the legends of R&B and pop, but there are some of us who think Janet made at least as many great records as her more (in)famous brother. If you want to hear what the 1980s really sounded like play her Jam-and-Lewis produced album Control. At volume. Better yet, let her do it for you. And put on a show while she’s at it.

Joe Jackson (Image: free)

Joe Jackson

02 Academy, Glasgow, October 4

Of course, there are a number of Jacksons in music who don’t belong to the famous family from Gary, Indiana. There’s Millie Jackson, country singer Alan Jackson and, umm, Jackson Browne too. 

And then there’s Joe Jackson. No, not Janet’s dad, but the English singer-songwriter who emerged in the new wave era and has since ploughed his own singular furrow in music for the last 40 years. His current tour is more proof of that singularity. As well as performing a set of his own songs solo he will be joined by a nine-piece band to perform the music of forgotten music hall figure Max Champion (possibly a figment of Jackson’s imagination). There’s a great documentary to be made about Joe Jackson and his mazy musical career which has had more twists and turns than a Lionel Messi dribble. But until that comes along take the chance to see him live.

ABC - An Intimate Evening with Martin Fry

Airdrie Town Hall, Airdrie, October 10; The Albert Halls, Stirling, October 11

Martin Fry's latest excursion to Scotland doesn't entail an orchestra or a huge band. On these couple of dates expect a much more pared-back take on the ABC album that made his name, 1982's Lexicon of Love. That and a few stories of how those songs came about. "Who break my heart?" Maybe we'll finally find out.