Live Review: The Primary 5/Ally Kerr @ Nice'n'Sleazy, Glasgow, Scotland, 14th October 2004

by anna battista

Tonight singer and songwriter Ally Kerr is joined on stage by fellow guitarist Chris Leonard. Together they go through a short acoustic set, with tracks mostly taken from Ally's debut album "Calling Out To You". Songs such as "All Alone Again" and "And All The Stars Above Us Will Remember" are delivered in soft-spoken tones, the lyrics are always gentle, at times sad, at times hopeful, always full of love. While listening to Ally's music, you easily realise why this fine tunesmith has reached cult status in Japan.

Soon after Ally, ex-Teenage Fanclub and ex-Soup Dragon Paul Quinn gets on stage with the other members of his new band The Primary 5. They launch in an energetic rendition of "Comin' Home", the first track on The Primary 5's debut album "North Pole". More tracks from the album follow, among them "Everybody Knows It Hurts", "Happy" and "Shine On", all of them bearing the Teenage Fanclub imprint, that is guitars, warm voices, poppy nuances and an intrinsic power to make you feel outside it's still summer and the sun is shining. The only fault during this gig is that, between one song and the other, there are long breaks to allow Quinn to change his guitar. These intervals seem to disrupt the continuity of the set and, having perhaps realised this, Quinn excuses himself, reminding us he's basically been a drummer in the many bands he played with. To prove it, Quinn leaves his guitar and takes the drummer's place during a few songs, among them the Beach Boys evoking "Surfer". Throughout the gig (and apart from the breaks), The Primary 5 seem to be quite relaxed and professional and Quinn seems well at ease with his new role of singer/songwriter/guitarist/drummer. The Primary 5 might be destined to be minor stars in the music sky of Glasgow, where too many bands are already shining, yet they might also have the energy, the tunes and the melodies to astonish and to shine stronger than many others. We'd better keep an eye on them.

Issue 27, October 2004