Bannermans was pretty stowed when I got there last night for the Josephine gig. Unfortunately, once the Forces of Darkness had polished off the Forces of Darkness (Apprentice-schooled version) the crowd quickly dissipated. Seems that if people like their football mainstream the same applies to their musical taste. Still, when Josephine got onstage there was a reasonable attendance, despite the gig having nearly been pulled when first the Starlets pulled out and then some equiment problems befell Drat.
Fortunately Josephine always give their best whatever the circumstances and despite a bit of a layoff they're still on top form. A set mainly comprised of new stuff, it all sounds a match for their debut album material. Watch out for the likes of 'Section 24' and '5-5-2-1', the latter which will be on their new EP in January, and will, once again, piss all over the Strokes (not that this is as much of a feat as it was last year).
Because of the football, and an apparent 2 hour (TWO HOURS!!) soundcheck, Drat take the stage late enough for me to only catch 2.5 songs or so. Beforehand I marvel at the fact that they have 3 pro-looking CDs for sale, yet I've never encountered what I take to be a local band. The singer puts me straight - "we're a bit tired having come in 10 hours from London" he says in a distinct Ulster brogue. Their first song is ok, quite poppy, like Baby Bird or someone, but the second is a darker, brooding yet catchy one, like Eels perhaps, or Grandaddy, with heavy use of twin vocoders. At that point I have to run for my lift but I'll definitely catch Drat again should they ever make it back to Edinburgh.
On heading up the road I catch a bit more music from somewhere. It turns out to be coming from a hole in the wall at the back of the pub - a minature tunnel that goes through the feet-thick wall and into the venue - I even convince myself I can see the band at the end of it. (not sure why I mentioned that, but next sell-out gig at Bannermans, join me in the queue under the Bridges).  ¶ 7:39 AM

  Just coming to after a truncated night's sleep, following a late night in East Kilbride - not usually a rock kinda town but their Pop festival concluded last night. 3 bands, and Norman Blake and Duglas T Stewart playing old Swell Maps and Kleenex records inbetween the bands. First on (to the horror of one or 2 latecomers) were Sister Vanilla - Linda Reid, sans Jesus and Mary Chain brothers, but still making a sound which wasn't unlike the Chain with their sister on vocals. The track Pastel Blue on the Geographic compilation is quite far removed from their live sound - fuzzy guitars, harmonies, indeed it's the Ramones, Beach Boys, Sonic Youth and Shangri-las all rolled into one. Suffice to say, it's great, a few really promising tunes in there.
Movietone were next; I got hold of their first album repackaged - I'd assumed they'd split because of this for some reason, but they're still alive and well, and though they have a definite ethereal and instrumental quality, they actually have a fair few songs and a singer with a nice pure voice, not too ethereal. The entire band swap instruments regularly but this doesn't seem affected as it often can, they're just all terribly talented.
The Pastels were great too - maybe playing for 40 minutes they do a few from The Last Great Wilderness soundtrack - nice to see the samples all emanating from Katrina's Mac laptop - and some slightly older ones like Frozen Wave. The East Kilbride massive are out in force and with Stephen being a fairly unassuming kind of fellow, it's very easy to phase him simply by shouting "gaun yersel, big man!" The heckling's all good-natured though, though Stephen muses at how it would look if a gang fight broke out at a Pastels gig. He also earlier in the set explains how East Kilbride's electrical supply is responsible for the feedback that permeates all records from the town. But it's still a surprise when they come back for an encore a version of the Mary Chain's 'You Trip Me Up', which holds together remarkably well and leaves audience (and band) with grins from ear to ear.  ¶ 10:19 AM