HUMANIST are creating a lot of noise in the contemporary music scene at the moment which makes the small venue of Nice N Sleazy slightly odd.
However, here we are as Scottish Music Network covers the first show of the band’s headline tour to showcase the new LP ‘On the Edge of a Lost and Lonely World’. The album has received critical acclaim and rave reviews from the music press and fans alike but how will it hold up on the live stage?
Scottish Music Network first covered HUMANIST as they supported Jane’s Addiction at the famous Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow in May of this year and were blown away by their set.
They came to prominence when they supported Depeche Mode on part of their world tour and haver impressed enough that Dave Gahan (front man of Depeche Mode) agreed to provide vocals on a couple of tracks for them… fine accolade indeed!
Rob Marshall writes all of the material for HUMANIST and has the special ability that few possess… an ability to bring darkness and drama to an exhilarating conclusion; heavily effected guitars swirl in hypnotic ways that help take the listener to an ethereal world of escape or, in real terms, he writes bloody great songs!
The support act for the Glasgow gig is Wild Again and as they take to the small stage the crowd can be counted of the fingers without the need to use the toes. The band are understandably underwhelmed as they take to the stage but the disappointment was short lived as a decent number filter in as the set progresses.
Wild Again are a four piece with vocals, 2 guitars and a violin player… no drums! One of the guitarists switched to bass guitar at one point.
The band themselves admit that they don’t play dance tunes as they treat the audience to 30 minutes of Art School meets experimental jam vibes. It was very much relaxed and downbeat…
The first clue that HUMANIST were about to take to the stage was the smoke machine/dry ice going into mental mode!! The machine output was dialled unto stadium levels whilst the stage was front room in a terraced house sized!
The live set up consists of Wendy on bass, Scott on drums, Jimmy on vocals and Rob on guitar although, due to the smoke, you would never have known who was on stage for the first song!
Despite not being able to see them the sound was unmistakably HUMANIST from the off; filmic and atmospheric, full bodied and on point.
This is where things took an unfortunate turn for Rob as he had a major issue with something on his effects pedal board. The sound coming from him sounded like a thousand howling banshees and it was obvious he was gutted by the misfortune. Song two of the first night of the tour and he has tech issues… I believe that is the very definition of Sod’s Law!
Rob battled with pedals and cables throughout but to no avail; he eventually gave up and, as any good musician would do, he improvised with what he had at his disposal. It turned out that what he had as his disposal was a shed load of talent and band mates that had his back.
One of the interesting aspects of the songs was how would Jimmy Gnecco fare with the vocals that had been laid down by guest vocalists on the album? Such distinctive voices such as the aforementioned Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode are such a huge part of the recorded songs; would Jimmy have the ability to cope?
Thee answer is a resounding yes as he flew through the set with huge aplomb; never missing a beat. For such a diminutive figure he obviously had big shoulders or cojones (metaphorically speaking).
There was at least one Depeche Mode fan in the crowd because she kept shouting “Depeche Mode” during breaks between songs. I’d like to say it wasn’t annoying; I’d like to… but it really was!
She obviously got her way with both ‘Shock Collar’ and ‘Brother’ being in the short set. (Dave Gahan provided vocals on both of these songs)
As the set drew to and end irony played it’s final card; Rob had been haunted by tech issues.. the final song was, rather fittingly, ‘English Ghosts’ and it was epic.
The band came back on for a short encore and Rob was quick to apologise for the tech issues but an apology wasn’t required. Tech issues are a hazard of the trade and every musician has been visited by the ghost of technology at some point.
Rob reported on social media the following day that issue was with two of his pedals and new pedals had been acquired in time for the rest of the tour.
A strange venue for such a big sound but it worked and then some. Rob Marshall really does deserve more exposure and success than he is currently enjoying with HUMANIST and here at SMN we wish him everything he craves, whether that be mainstream success or acclaim from his peers.
Review and Photographs by John Brown Photography
