I took a wee jaunt down Sauchiehall Street last Thursday into ‘Nice N Sleazy’ to see ‘Pinc Wafer.’ Supported by ‘Fraser MacCallum’, and ‘Maxwell Weaver & The Fig Leaves.’ These are 3 artists I had previously never heard any music from, and keen to approach it from a fresh perspective, I avoided researching any further and went in with a clean slate.
Whenever you talk to someone about music or bands, they always seem to have that one in a million story that consists of them seeing a band perform to a comedically small crowd, before they unexpectedly rose to the top. After paying a whopping £6 for a pint, I and about seven others were treated to the groove of the Fig Leaves.
You’d think the 5-piece outfit had no idea of the lack of an audience in front of them. They may have made up around half the room themselves, but the constant movement from the band and lighthearted songs created only pure fun in the room, which packed the place with something worth much more than a few more punters. The frontman, Maxwell Weaver himself, literally had his hands full as he had to balance lead vocals, keyboard playing, and the occasional rattle of maracas. All of this helped to create half an hour of Glaswegian synth-pop goodness. Which left a great taste in my mouth. I hope to tell people 5 years down the line about my experience of the Fig Leaves in such a small capacity.
Contrasting to such a tight-knit group of a band, we were treated to a set from the next support act, ‘Sister Madds’ guitarist Fraser MacCallum, who used only himself and his acoustic guitar to create something much bigger. By this point, there was an increase in numbers and MacCallum had us all hooked. His unpredictable nature that bled into the songs meant that no one knew what was coming next. His soft but verging on bizarre tracks created such a warm atmosphere as if we were all sat round the campfire of Nice N Sleazy. Between the constant chatter with the audience in between songs and an abrupt conversation with his own mother. (Which was the best type of interlude I’ve ever seen) This all had me considering if this was a stage persona or a real-life human being. In conversation with MacCallum afterwards, I recall telling him that ‘you either get your music or you don’t. And I get it.’ It’s not as if the songs don’t have substance either. My personal favourite was ‘Goat on a Tower’, the single from last year which incorporates all the musical skills of the artist, whilst keeping his peculiar nature centre stage.
At this point, I had no idea what was left in store on this Thursday evening. Fraser MacCallum’s set took me as close to what I imagine the feeling is like whilst on psychedelic drugs. I was fully loosened up and ready for anything.
The headliners arrived and certainly looked and felt the part. Their tracks oozed experience and class, constantly changing their vibe and tempo. The warm, chilled-out atmosphere that was created earlier in the night was only capitalised on by Pinc Wafer, except they added their own funky twist onto it through pure energy and charisma. This is what set them apart from the others on the night. They weren’t exactly one hundred times better than the other artists, but they played like it. They took the opportunity to have the already excited crowd in the palm of their hands, as well as still having their true whimsical selves shining through. Shown best when they proceeded to tuck the crowd into bed before a song. Don’t worry, I also had no idea what they meant.
Pinc Wafer don’t fit into any traditional genres as such, they’ve found their own niche and will reap all the rewards from it. The Glasgow scene is always crying out for something different and each of the three acts gave me just that, trying out new music you’ve never heard of might just open up your eyes to something you never knew you liked. I won the treble for that feeling on Thursday night.