Common Ground - Glasgow - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - Saturday 14 June 2014
On the night England kicked off their World Cup campaign against Italy, I decided to take up an invitation and headed to King Tut’s to check-out up and coming band ‘Common Ground’.
Hailing from Kilwinning in Ayrshire, Common Ground is a five piece band consisting of Sean McKay (lead guitar), Chris Price AKA Posh Boy (bass), Craig Bryden (drums), Lee Robertson (rhythm guitar) and Wullie Bhoy (vocals). Before the lads took to the stage I got the pleasure of meeting them and sharing some banter and instantly I was impressed with Wullie who had both swagger and charisma, characteristics I feel are vital ingredients in being a great front man. I also heard Wullie warm up his vocal chords with a bit of a Kinks song and that was it….I was into this and looking forward to hearing how the lads would sound on the stage.
Prior to the headliner the crowd was warmed up by three other acts; ‘Opportunity Club’, ‘Steady State Regime’ and ‘The Tranquil’. Breaking my notorious recent trend of being late for gigs I did manage to get through nice and early for this one and managed to catch the entire sets of Opportunity Club and Steady State Regime and some of The Tranquil. Despite the football and cracking summer night a decent crowd was packed into Tut’s by the time Opportunity Club took to the stage. For me, the standout track of the opening set was called ‘All Over The Ship’ (I think). Next up was Steady State Regime who impressed with strong vocals that reminded me of Jim Morrison. The Tranquil also made an impression and a number of people in the crowd appeared to enjoy their set.
On the night England kicked off their World Cup campaign against Italy, I decided to take up an invitation and headed to King Tut’s to check-out up and coming band ‘Common Ground’.
Hailing from Kilwinning in Ayrshire, Common Ground is a five piece band consisting of Sean McKay (lead guitar), Chris Price AKA Posh Boy (bass), Craig Bryden (drums), Lee Robertson (rhythm guitar) and Wullie Bhoy (vocals). Before the lads took to the stage I got the pleasure of meeting them and sharing some banter and instantly I was impressed with Wullie who had both swagger and charisma, characteristics I feel are vital ingredients in being a great front man. I also heard Wullie warm up his vocal chords with a bit of a Kinks song and that was it….I was into this and looking forward to hearing how the lads would sound on the stage.
Prior to the headliner the crowd was warmed up by three other acts; ‘Opportunity Club’, ‘Steady State Regime’ and ‘The Tranquil’. Breaking my notorious recent trend of being late for gigs I did manage to get through nice and early for this one and managed to catch the entire sets of Opportunity Club and Steady State Regime and some of The Tranquil. Despite the football and cracking summer night a decent crowd was packed into Tut’s by the time Opportunity Club took to the stage. For me, the standout track of the opening set was called ‘All Over The Ship’ (I think). Next up was Steady State Regime who impressed with strong vocals that reminded me of Jim Morrison. The Tranquil also made an impression and a number of people in the crowd appeared to enjoy their set.
So onto the headliner Common Ground! The
lads took to the stage and were visibly hungry and up for this one. From the
off, Wullie led the band and engaged the crowd with opening song aptly titled ‘Come
With Me’. Granted, I did not know the tunes but this was my kind of music and instantly
appealed to my senses. The set was raw talent at its best, high intensity live
music and there was no let-up from the off. There were a few tracks that stood
out for me, ‘Big Reputation’ and ‘Ten Feet Tall’ being two, and influences from
the likes of Oasis and Kasabian were clearly evident. It was also clear Common
Ground had much in common with many in the crowd who sang the lyrics
passionately back at the band.
Between songs Wullie was at ease with the crowd, many of whom had travelled on a ‘Happy Bus’ from Ayrshire to support the boys at the gig, and at one point shouted “is there any casuals in the crowd”? This brought a smile to my face as I had not heard the term “casual” for a while although the recent return in fashion to much of the 80s/90s so called ‘casual clothing’ has not been lost on me. Similar to the recent uprising of young Mods, the current youth and early Twentys of the nation appear be searching for something more than is currently on offer in the mainstream and it my belief (and hope) the music scene in the UK could be about to experience some form of uprising in the way ‘Britpop’ exploded in the 90s (please step forward Mr McGee). Back the gig, importantly the track that followed the casual shout ‘Mr VIP’ was a clear winner and perhaps my favourite of the night. Dedicated to a “casual” the lads know called Thomas O'Donnell the song was delivered with a passion and fire suggesting to me these lads could go places.
Next up for Common Ground is a showcase event at the Sheffield O2 Academy and then a support slot with Mark Morriss of Bluetones fame at the Classic Grand in Glasgow (tickets are available here).
Words: Bazza Mills
Between songs Wullie was at ease with the crowd, many of whom had travelled on a ‘Happy Bus’ from Ayrshire to support the boys at the gig, and at one point shouted “is there any casuals in the crowd”? This brought a smile to my face as I had not heard the term “casual” for a while although the recent return in fashion to much of the 80s/90s so called ‘casual clothing’ has not been lost on me. Similar to the recent uprising of young Mods, the current youth and early Twentys of the nation appear be searching for something more than is currently on offer in the mainstream and it my belief (and hope) the music scene in the UK could be about to experience some form of uprising in the way ‘Britpop’ exploded in the 90s (please step forward Mr McGee). Back the gig, importantly the track that followed the casual shout ‘Mr VIP’ was a clear winner and perhaps my favourite of the night. Dedicated to a “casual” the lads know called Thomas O'Donnell the song was delivered with a passion and fire suggesting to me these lads could go places.
Next up for Common Ground is a showcase event at the Sheffield O2 Academy and then a support slot with Mark Morriss of Bluetones fame at the Classic Grand in Glasgow (tickets are available here).
Words: Bazza Mills