Reviews

MUSIC

EDINBURGH ROYAL CHORAL UNION ****

ST NINIAN'S CATHEDRAL, PERTH

WITH the Usher Hall out of action, the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union (ERCU) is taking the opportunity to get out and about in Scotland. Saturday saw its sizeable ranks swelling the generous acoustics of Perth's St Ninian's Cathedral, with a programme that was more potpourri than ERCU audiences are possibly used to.

This was a mix of the rare and not so rare: on the one hand the stirringly familiar sounds of Handel's Zadok the Priest, the innocuous jazzy rhythms of John Rutter's Praise the Lord, O My Soul, and choice excerpts from Brahms' Requiem; and on the other, the lesser-known delights of the Russian Mozart contemporary Dmitry Bortniansky (his lugubriously ecclesiastical Let My Prayer Arise No 2) and parts of Kenneth Leighton's emotively-charged Sequence for All Saints.

In Michael Bawtree, the ERCU has a director who urges the broadest spectrum of expressive singing, and that was key in showing works, such as Louis Vierne's short Messe Solennelle and Górecki's Totus Tuus, in their best light. Every one of these performances, despite the eternal problem of keeping high soprano lines bang on pitch, benefited from richness of tone, definition of attack, and boldly-shaped phrasing.

Morley Whitehead's supportive accompaniments rooted out characterful sounds on the warm-voiced organ. He went solo with Dubois' Toccata in G, and with Bawtree, explored the rare world of organ duos through Rutter's inauspicious Variations on an Easter Theme.

But overall, this was a programme that thrived on variety and slickness of presentation.

Kenneth Walton

WE ARE SCIENTISTS **

ABC, GLASGOW

THIS lot first featured on the indie pop radar a couple of years ago, were recognised for their goofy wit as much as their high-octane tunes, won some fans and lost their drummer.

They have returned with a low-impact second album, Brain Thrust Mastery, and a not entirely serious course of life-coaching seminars of the same name. It's always wise to have a second career to fall back on when the indie kids get bored – as they will if this is the extent of their musical stimulation.

Frontmen Keith Murray and Chris Cain make an intuitive comedy double act, and the witticisms were flowing at this (very loud) O2 Wireless Weekender gig, including a running gag about R&B smoothie Usher, from whom they borrowed their drumkit (or so they said).

Undoubtedly, they would be a lot of fun down the pub. But without the banter, they are just another generic indie rock band – not that that was ever an impediment to The Killers becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. "Here's another track from our new album, Sam's Town," joked Cain, possibly aware of the injustice.

HERE & NOW TOUR **

SECC, GLASGOW

AS AN avid reader of Smash Hits through 1983-88, I appreciate enough about the music of that maligned decade to know any nostalgia package tour which boasts appearances by Cutting Crew and Johnny Hates Jazz does not merit the subtitle "The Very Best of the 80s". At the very least, they would need to bring in Men Without Hats to earn that accolade.

Instead, we got Curiosity Killed the Cat's Ben Volpierre-Pierrot (winner of Smash Hits Dreamiest Dreamboat 1987) and ABC's Martin Fry (Glitziest Gold Suit 1982) failing to salvage a shred of dignity onstage before scuttling off to collect their paycheques.

But at least their voices have held up over the years, unlike Paul Young's, which sounded particularly rough even before he broke into an unbearable pseudo-gospel freestyle on Everytime You Go Away.

In happier news, Keren and Sarah of Bananarama are still game gals, and looked pretty glam in a girls' night out kind of way. Of all the acts on this tour, they have the biggest hit catalogue to draw on and, as vacuous cheesy pop goes, I Heard a Rumour, Love in the First Degree and their cover of Venus were worth another whirl. But this might as well have been a club PA for all the sense of occasion.

How did Rick Astley end up headlining? Did he win a toss-up? Best of three at scissors, papers, stone? It transpires the former PWL teaboy had more than one hit back in the day – or, rather, he had one hit several times using different song titles, meaning that the audience were teased with soundalike tracks before the dubious climax of Never Gonna Give You Up.

Then it was all over without so much as a Band Aid-style mass singalong. Well, you know what they say: if you remember the 80s – tough luck.

Fiona Shepherd

THE WAIFS ***

QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH

THIS Antipodean roots-pop trio have been around for about 15 years and are now making inroads into the US and Europe. Their tour follows the UK release of the fifth Waifs studio album SunDirtWater, which sees their Americana influences shifting towards the rawer, swampier end of the genre.

The singing comes mostly from sisters Donna Simpson and Vikki Thorn, whose easy harmonic interplay balances ragged-edged intensity with lyrical sweetness. Lead guitarist Josh Cunningham writes most of the songs, though the sisters chip in, creating a diverse mix that ranges from the SunDirtWater's sultry title track – instantly reminiscent of Peggy Lee's Fever – to the stomping gospel-blues of Eternity.

Among the prevailing country-rock, the songs that stand out are the slower, more acoustic ballads, such as the band's heart-tugging earlier hits London Still and Bridal Train, and the harmonica-laced new cut How Many Miles, these being where those rich sisterly harmonies, together with the Waifs' admirable trait of singing in their own accents, are displayed most tellingly.

Sue Wilson