We Are Scientists, Òran Mòr Glasgow, 26th November 2024
My 15 year old daughter (Child1) has been exposed to We Are Scientists since she was in the womb. Despite appearances, I haven't force fed my kids an exclusively WAS music diet. They are a common go-to on long car journeys, but only if we can’t agree on anything else. If you know Child1 you will know that you really can’t force her to do anything. She has come to find her own musical taste including David Bowie and Jeff Buckley which certainly has had nothing to do with me. However she has always shared my enthusiasm for We Are Scientists so for the last few years has been begging me to take her to one of their gigs. When the band announced a short UK tour this year and she was finally old enough to accompany me, I couldn't really refuse. We Are Scientists gig number 21 for me was a go!
The gig was billed as an anniversary tour for their Brain Thrust Mastery album. However like their With Love and Squalor anniversary tour a few years ago it wasn't strictly the anniversary claimed, but the guys don’t always do things by the book. I first got aboard the We Are Scientists train in the Brain Thrust Mastery era and first saw them when they toured that album in 2008, so was looking forward to this not-quite-anniversary gig
After the problems I had at the last gig I tried to strike a balance between getting there early enough to get a good viewing position but not so early that I had to stand around for too long. After dropping Child2 at her dad's, Child1 and I arrived at Òran Mòr as the support act was already playing and the place was surprisingly full. We sidled our way as far forward as we could, landing with just 2 or 3 people between us and the barrier.
Support act Sean McVerry has been in the WAS sphere for a couple of years now. I had heard about him from other members of the WAS community who only had positive things to say and seem to have adopted him as a favourite within the WAS family. They were not wrong. He had a very varied repertoire - some songs tinged with a country feel, others more indie and a couple of ballads. His songs had unusual structures, which helped hold interest. In fact sometimes we weren't sure if a song had ended or not because he made frequent use of breaks and changes in tempo and style. His voice is beautifully strong and he played guitar and keys impressively as well. He had something of a Vampire Weekend vibe about his look, I’m not sure if that was also reflected in his music or if I was just projecting based on appearances. He was accompanied by Zeno Pittarelli and We Are Scientists drummer Keith Carne put in a double shift by playing drums for Sean as well, bringing his unique style to the overall sound. Sean was a likeable, charming presence on stage, chatting easily with the crowd without trying overly hard to win us over. I could see why the We Are Scientists boys had taken him on, he has the same kind of humour and charisma and the music was interesting and engaging.
Despite there being very little stage reorganization to do, we still had to wait a fair while for We Are Scientists to come on. They played a two part set - the first half was the Brain Thrust Mastery album in full, in order. The second half was a selection of songs from their other albums. Due to the extra production on BTM they were joined for the first half by support act Sean McVerry and bandmate Zeno who added additional guitar, keys, percussion etc. All 5 donned black or white suits, as per the BTM album cover and looked very handsome and suave. Carne at some point ditched his jacket, and with his impressive moustache and natty braces (suspenders) had the look of an old-timey bar keeper.
The Brain Thrust Mastery section was a lot of fun. Although I've heard most of the songs several times over the years it was cool to have them be the focus and hear them all in album order, especially the ones that don't usually get a live airing. The two temporary extra band members made a nice change to the sound adding little touches that really complemented the main 3. The harmonies were sublime. The guys have reworked some of this songs at various times in the past, this time I think Lethal Enforcer had a bit of a turnaround and it was great to hear That's What Counts in all its saxophone-y glory, courtesy of the seemingly endlessly talented Sean McVerry, and much to the delight of Child1 who is a saxophone player herself. Everyone in the crowd was singing, dancing and having a good time.
After a very short break they returned to the stage for part two, this time just Keith, Chris and Carne. They had clearly decided to maintain as much of a party atmosphere as possible and played a selection of their more up-tempo and catchy numbers from their other albums.
Unfortunately the atmosphere in the crowd changed about midway through, as a group of Big Blokes decided to try and start a mosh pit. Oran Mor is not big enough for a mosh pit but these guys were undeterred. They flung themselves around knocking everyone around them aside, not caring who they were trampling on. I've been to a few gigs lately where the band have explicitly said “take care of each other, look out for each other, we want this to be a safe and enjoyable place for everyone” etc. We could have done with some of that as the Big Blokes paid no attention to anyone else's comfort, enjoyment or safety. At one point one Big Bloke was heaved upon another Big Bloke’s shoulders right in front of us. We had a teetering big butt in our faces as lower Big Bloke struggled to maintain upper Big Bloke aloft and I feared it would end with both crashing down on our heads. This would have been bad enough if I had been there myself, all 5ft 3in of me is used to dealing with Big Blokes but with my 15 year old child there (admittedly she is taller than me…) it was a different matter. We had felt perfectly safe and comfortable up to that point but seriously thought about having to move or leave if things didn't stop. Luckily for us they moved over to the other side (hopefully they didn't cause too much chaos over there) and we went back to enjoying the show. Friendly people around us moved closer and we offered each other protection. I don't want to stop anyone's enjoyment of a gig, but that kind of behavior just feels…old?
Anyway the show went on and we resumed our good time. The guys did their usual between songs, occasionally in-the-middle of songs chat but otherwise kept up a high energy performance. Keith as usual was a virtuoso guitar player, taking on both lead and rhythm guitar parts while also doing lead vocals, his voice sounding as good as ever and he seemed to be in competition with himself to hold the longest note possible when the chance arose. Chris was rock steady as ever on the bass and Carne with his chilled approach to playing drums making it look so easy and sound so effective, we also got a rare drum solo from him.
Sean and Zeno joined the guys back on stage for the last song Less From You from the most recent album and with that it was over.
We went over and joined the merch queue where I bought a scarf, of course, these guys know what they're doing marketing things in Glasgow in November. Unfortunately the We Are Scientists fellas weren’t to be seen but we did catch Sean and Zeno and told them that we'd enjoyed their set and their contributions to the WAS show, making particular mention of the saxophone.
It was a different experience going with Child1 than going by myself. I was much more mindful of our surroundings, keeping her safe and making sure she had a good time. She did, but actually found the experience quite surreal. “Americans just don't sound real to me!”, she said. After having heard them all her life and only seeing them on screens - their music videos are legendary and always worth a look - to suddenly have them appear a few feet in front of her she found a bit bizarre, but she definitely enjoyed herself. It's a shame that she didn't get to meet Keith, Chris or Carne as chatting with them is often what makes a We Are Scientists gig extra special. However the next day they announced a larger tour in the spring and she immediately asked if we could go so I guess we'll have a second chance then!
