The Love Parade appeal

GREENOCK TELEGRAPH, Thursday, 16 November, 1989

SO the sparklers have fizzled and the bonfires are spent... what now on a cold November night? The House Of Love at Greenock Town Hall, that's what! writes Chris Davidson.

The largest gathering of people ever for a rock event in Inverclyde (since those heady days of the Sixties megastars at Cragburn) queued patiently in the Carriageway, a sense of hushed expectancy in the air.

Fame, success and mass appeal wasn't long; in comng for Alan McGee's proteges; to think that two years ago they were supporting the devastatingly brilliant Felt at the Inverkip Hotel!

Support group for the evening, Something Pretty Beautiful, turned out to be something pretty ordinary. The most striking aspect of their performance was Joss Cope's transformation from the rotund, pasty faced blonde who fronted Freight Train at the legendary Subterranean's club in '86, to the stick insect-like replicant of his infamous big brother, Julian.

And was that The Weather Prophets Greenwood Goulding lurking on the wing with the bass? Hmm . . . anyway, a quick beer or two in the Salon bar and then a hasty sprint back to the hall as the strains of The House of Love's new instrumental intro conies wafting through. Not ones to mess around, H.O.L. go straight for the jugular by following this with their two most classic songs to date, 'Christine' and 'Destroy The Heart'.

The P.A. system is crystal clear (though fairly quiet sound limits imposed?) and the familiarity of the material sends the bouncy bouncy squad at the front into raptures.

Things settled down after this and some new songs mostly excellent, are mixed with recorded material ('Sulphur', 'Hope', 'Salome') and the highlight of the event, the wonderful new single 'Don't Know Why I Love You'. After ten songs . it's double encore time, The Velvet's 'Can't Stand It Anymore' being a perfect replacement for The Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog', with which they had regaled audiences over the years as a blistering finale.

All in all, a fine evenings entertainment, but with reservations; Guy Chadwick's voice does tend to become monotonous at times, and, like The Mary Chain, H.O.L. seem to have got themselves into a bit of a rut. They make glorious Mary Chain and H.O.L. music, but that's the limitation; the original sparkle and innovation has been dissipated.

Petty quibbling aside, the lads from Eva deserve a big pat on the back for their vision and effort in attempting something on such a grand scale and in such a fine venue. Perhaps we can now expect to see some of the bigger names (Wedding Present, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses etc.) stopping off in Greenock?

Or why not become a bit more adventurous lads? - instead of feeding us with a constant diet of Sandkings, Sandkings and Sandkings, why not bring us the delights of some of the incredible bands currently touring the U.K., e.g. Pale Saints, Nirvana, Buffalo Tom, Wild Poppies and, dare I suggest it, Galaxie 500?