Massive Wagons - Cathouse (Glasgow) 8/4/18

Guest reviewer for this one folks, and it is the début of my daughter hammering home that she’s a chip off the old block.

Take it away Sophie.

A bit of background first.

Everything is a bit rock and roll in my family. 

When friends talk about their planned family holidays abroad we are checking out festivals and arranging road trips to see bands. When they talk about some Vlogger on YouTube that they seen at the weekend I bite my tongue and don't say anything about how I was helping doing the door, or selling merchandise, for a show that my parents were promoting, or how my saturday night was spent hanging out with musicians who are touring the UK.

I am the kid that danced in muddy fields and jumped around to bands playing in tents. I've been sneaked into clubs and venues to see the weird and the wonderful. I've been on the legendary Barrowlands stage dancing with Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 looking out at a sold out audience, I've been backstage at festivals, and camped in the artists fields with main stage acts, and I've loved it all.

Once I turn eighteen it can only get better.

This is my life; this and baking cakes. This is my normal and I love it. This apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. If I could go to a gig every week I would. Make that two a week and call me greedy.

It's all seems very different from what everyone else my age does, but I wouldn't swap a minute of it for the lives that they share on facebook where only the names and locations appear to change.

Boring.

I'm a gig addict, and I'm happy with that.

I mean given the choice between a Sunday night watching television, or going to see Massive Wagons in the Cathouse, what would you do?

Well that is ultimately up to you, but I'm in the Massive Wagons rock and roll camp so it's a no brainer for me.

It was only a few weeks ago that I was introduced to them when my dad did his usual of saying "if you like that you will like this" and sent me links to Welcome to the World and Fight the System, and he was right.

So it was a very nice quirk of fate to find out that they were playing so soon, and I decided that I couldn't miss them.

Jumping in with both feet I certainly wasn't disappointed, but I was very surprised.

Surprised because I was expecting a good rock band running through good songs, and what I got was Massive Wagons taking it all to another level.

I wasn’t aware that Massive Wagons were so energetic in their performance. In particular Baz Mills, who might just be my newest favourite front-man.

They only have two gears live. Fast, and faster. Even when they play what they think is a more sedate song it's still a white knuckle rollercoaster ride with Baz in the driving seat.

Song after song they hammer home that they are very deserving of the praise that they often get from rock media and fans.

I was once told that you can tell when a band are hungry to succeed, and that this drive can make a good show a great one, and this is what Massive Wagons have. That hunger. It's clear that they will not tolerate going through the motions, and every show is approached with a determination to meet the expectations of the fans, and to win over anyone sitting on the fence.

Both outcomes were certainly managed in Glasgow. I don't think anyone could claim to be disappointed.

A lot of what I have been listening to was part of the set, but the songs from the forthcoming album Full Nelson fitted neatly in, and were so good on first listen that they helped me go from thinking about pre-ordering it, to shouting take my money at the merch monkey.

A signed one, and with a free lanyard from the merch stand with every order too. At £10 for the CD, and £20 for the album that’s not too shabby at all, and yes I will take a t-shirt too.

Highlights were Tokyo, Nails, Fee Fi Fo Fum and Fight the System.

Punching a fist in the air to them all is less of a suggestion, and more of an order, at this sort of show. So that's just what I did.

Now it's time to hassle the folks into buying, or subsidising the cost of a ticket so that I can see them again.

Sophie Conway.

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