Radar recommends: Non-TitP gigs

[Sparrow & the Workshop: sneaking into Edinburgh tonight]

Sick of all this T in the Park talk? Well don't despair, it's not the only live music event this weekend. Here are our tips for those of you who are not off to Balado...

The place to be in Edinburgh tonight is Sneaky Pete's. Fresh from a refurbishment this week, the venue welcomes back monthly promoters This is Music with another great billing. Sparrow & the Workshop weave ambitious indie-pop dreamscapes, while Randan Discotheque's art-folk-tronica always hits the spot. As usual, it's £3 for the bands before 11pm, and free entry after for the DJs.

If you prefer hardcore riffage to 'dreamscapes', you'd be advised to make the descent to Henry's Cellar Bar from 7pm for a night of furious death metal throbbing with a quartet of gruesomely monikered local bands, featuring Threshold Sicks, Nerrus Kor, Cancerous Womb and Foetal Splatter. Nice.

Meanwhile Edinburgh-based American noise-monger Ted Koterwas, aka The Foundling Wheel, launches his new single at the Confusion is Sex night at the Bongo Club.

Tomorrow night the hipster hangout that is The Bowery plays host to ebullient polska-pop from experimentalists Foxgang and it's a mere fiver entry, from 7.30pm.

Fans of an older generation might also like to know that Crosby Stills & Nash (Saturday @ Edinburgh Castle) and Ry Cooder (Friday @ Festival Theatre) are both in the capital this weekend.

In Aberdeen, what appears to be a humble effort to upstage T takes place, with Bands in the Park at Duthie Park and Hazlehead Park. We've been reliably informed the bands in question are of the brass/pipe variety though, so it may not have a festival vibe!

I'm afraid nothing really takes our fancy elsewhere. We can only assume that all the best bands in Glasgow are either playing T in the Park or are at home watching it on TV. Feel free to prove us wrong in the comments below...

Radar recommends: 3 - 9 May

[The Gothenburg Address: playing Cabaret Voltaire on Wednesday]

Pheweee...what a seven days for gigs. With Tigerfest swinging into action on the east coast and a plethora of ear-pleasing acts heading west, Scottish punters are a bit spoilt for choice this bank holiday week. But, as a waistline-bulging UtR once said, why settle for just one measly slice when you can have the whole cake, right?

Ross Clark & The Scarfs Go Missing, Rob St John, French Wives
Sun 3 May, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh. Doors 8pm, £5
Once a solo-flying troubadour, Ross Clark has rounded up a herd of instrument-wielding miscreants (aka Ths Scarfs Go Missing) to beef up the bones of his precious, moribund trinkets. Highlighted by various indie-zine bibles as a star of the future, Clark’s live sets are delivered with fervent gusto, crackling with both poignancy and grace. Backed by UtR’s favourite purveyor of simmering folk ditties, Rob St John, and effervescent Glaswegians French Wives, this is going to be one hell of a kickstart to the week. [BH]

Rob St John - Like Alchemy


**UtR's gig of the week**
Tigerfest: Amusement Parks On Fire, The Gothenburg Address, Cryoverbillionaires
Wed 6 May, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh. Doors 7pm, £8
Shoegazing superstars (now THAT’S an oxymoron) Amusement Parks on Fire are not just a catch for this year’s Tigerfest, they’re a stick full of dynamite waiting to ignite. To say UtR’s excited about witnessing this mammoth aural eruption would be an understatement - we’re as giddy as a spin-dried 3-year-old high on Haribo - and with Edinburgh’s mighty The Gothenburg Address and the equally beguilling Cryoverbillionaires playing wingmen - we may well need to bring along an extra catheter. Needless to say, this is going to be good. [BH]

The Gothenburg Address - The Lesser Coming Home


The Mill: Palace Ballet, St Deluxe
Thu 7 May, The Mill @ Oran Mor, Glasgow, Doors 7pm, FREE. Tickets here
This week the Glasgow leg of The Mill scores another double-header of quality Scottish music. Palace Ballet, for anyone unfamiliar, are like the hip New York band that no-one told you about, with the singer's Casablancas drawl and their readymade garage rock hits. Except they are indeed Scottish. St Deluxe, meanwhile, are steeped in the hazy alt-rock of the late 80s, and damn good at what they do. [NM]

This Is Music’s 3^rd Birthday Party: Broken Records, Mike Bones, Rob St John
Fri 8 May, The Bowery, Edinburgh. 7pm. £10
No longer a toddler, This Is Music [TIM] has played a titanic role in the rejuvenation of Edinburgh’s music scene. And to celebrate their third year, the folk at TIM have once again produced the goods; rolling out a stellar line-up that runs the gambit from soaring baroque rock (Broken Records) to introverted laments (Rob St John). With Vice Records’ latest tune-churner Mike Bones adding transatlantic bite to proceedings, TIM’s birthday bash is the only party to be at this Friday. [BH]

• Not content with one party, the TIM gang have staged two: Copy Haho, Tie For Jack, Homework and DJ Vic Galloway will appear on the same night at Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh(Doors 8pm)

The Vivians, The Brogues, Ewan Butler
Fri 8 May, Maggie May's, Glasgow, Doors 8pm, £5
Once familiar sights on Edinburgh streets in their skinnier-than-thou jeans and vertical punk barnets, The Vivians now ply their trade on London's hipster bar circuit. But you can catch them in all their outlandish glory with this Glasgow show where good old confrontational punk is guaranteed. Support comes in the shape of Dundonian lad-rock outfit The Brogues and West Lothian singer-songwriter Ewan Butler. [NM]

Zoey Van Goey, The Second Hand Marching Band, Endor
Sat 9 May, Stereo, Glasgow, Doors 8pm, £TBC
With their crafted, intelligent indie-pop and a freshly pressed debut album, the Glasgow-based, transatlantic trio Zoey Van Goey could well be set to follow in the footsteps of similarly exquisite forebears My Latest Novel and Camera Obscura. For this their album launch party they've recruited none other than UtR faves The Second Marching Band (see 6 April blog) and Endor to share their festivities. Not to be missed. [NM]

Play: TSHMB - A Dance to Half Death


The Elvis Suicide, Four Dead in Ohio
Sat 9 May, The Captain's Rest, Glasgow, Doors 8pm, £TBC
If you're in the mood for something a bit more raucous, head to the Captain's Rest for this show by Glasgow rockers The Elvis Suicide. With scant regard for what's fashionable or cool, they emit short, full-throttle punk songs like jabs to your kidneys. Not enough heid-banging for you? Well there's also Four Dead in Ohio, a London group of Neil Young inspired, BRMC-esque rockers. [NM]

Tigerfest: The Ordinary Allstars, Supersonic Sims, B Burg (DJ Set)
Sat 9 May, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh. Doors: 7pm, £7
While never a regular on these here pages, Hip-Hop can still be heard blaring through the halls of UtR’s less-than-stately abode every so often. And Edinburgh outfit the Ordinary Allstars are one of the MC-wielding ensembles who regularly tickle our tape decks. Summertime samples aplenty, the group’s ebullient instrumentation is supplemented by a waterfall of slickly executed rhyme. Supported by Supersonic Sims' grime-riddled Funktronica, this Tigerfest show promises to bring the beat back to Auld Reekie. [BH]

- Billy Hamilton / Nick Mitchell

Have we missed something? Let us know below...