Must Be Something, Make Sparks and Pacific Theatre, Glasgow Captain’s Rest

June 8, 2009

The Go Button are a Glasgow-based promotions company fast making a name for themselves for music and comedy gigs throughout the city. They run regular nights at The Captain’s Rest in the west end.

This downstairs venue has become one of the best places in town to see up and coming bands, both of the local and touring variety. It’s an intimate and indeed sweaty room of the best kind. Unfortunately the crowd are a bit slow to trickle in this evening, not helped by the late cancellation of one of the acts, but by the end of the night there’s a decent audience packed in.

The band that kicks off proceedings are Pacific Theatre, a three-piece from Paisley. They make a very pleasant noise and have some killer riffs. They also have a nice line in lyrics. ‘A Silent Argument’ features the refrain, “So tell her you need her or Just Fuck. Off. Home.” On a busier night this can turn into a crowd singalong. They do need to brush up on their between song banter however.

Pacific Theatre - image by Heidi Kuisma

With a quick change over Make Sparks take to the stage next. Coming from the north-east of the country in Carnoustie, this they tell us, is their first time playing Glasgow. It’s not started off well for them as the police have collared them outside the venue, spotting their van’s lack of a valid MOT disc.

This run in with the Strathclyde Constabulary hasn’t put the group off their stride and they knock out a few breezy tunes. In particular Adam Parker on drums puts in a fantastic shift, smashing away at his kit with wild abandon. They play an inspired cover of Eminem’s ‘Just Lose It’, which sounds much better for the rock flavour injected into it.

They just about edge it as the best band of the night. It goes slightly wrong at the end when their singer produces a guitar pick claiming it once to Chad Kroeger from Nickleback, and expounds on how much the group have influenced him. It was probably ironic, but there was too much of a hint of sincerity to completely convince.

Make Sparks - image by Heidi Kuisma

The headline act is Must Be Something. They’re a tight outfit, with some fast guitar riffing and a rhythm section in complete sync. They never really rise above ordinary tonight though.

All in all it’s a decent evening’s entertainment with a couple of bands to watch out for in future.