Micah P Hinson - Broadcast, Glasgow, 27/4/2014

  by Tony Gaughan

published: 3 / 5 / 2014

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Article

Having witnessed Micah P Hinson's last Glasgow show and also having reviewed a promotional copy of his latest album 'Micah P Hinson and the Nothing', this was not going to be a show I was going to miss, particularly as the Texan based artist had a very fortunate escape. He was almost killed in a car accident in Spain a couple of years ago and required the help of musician friends including the Twilight Sad to help him make the record, as he had temporarily lost the power of his arms and could not work on the 'bunch of demos' he had collected between projects. I only caught part of the London support act Buriers which features featuring artist/poet James P Honey and cellist Jamie Romain, but heard enough to know they were a perfect fit for this show. Clearly influenced by Leonard Cohen, they played tracks from their debut album 'Filth', including their self-titled and very strong single, and the crowd were highly impressed by their efforts. The venue was packed, and it would have been impossible to shoehorn another soul into it. Micah P arrived carrying a walking stick, the only indication to his previous accident, and announced that he would be playing 'The Nothing' pretty much in its entirety, except for one song which he could not remember the piano part for which provided much mirth amongst the eager crowd. He opened with its first song 'How Are You Just a Dream?', and true to his word went on to play 'On the Way to Abilene' and 'Same Old Shit', after which he produced a huge carton of milk which he swigged from regularly, claiming mockingly that he had been told that milk and cigarettes were "bad for the voice." The Texan drawl and croak of his unique but compelling voice was clearly going down a storm with the attentive audience. You could have heard a pin drop throughout the set, and the only interruption was one rather rude punter who decided to take a seat on the stage during the performance and who was deservedly chastised by Micah for his cheek!. Hinson then introduced his travelling companion and wife Ashley to join him on drums and backing vocals for some of the set. 'The Life, Living Death and Dying of a Certain and Peculiar L.J Nichols' was introduced as a tribute to Micah's Grandpa, whom he proceeded to tell the audience was an old racist and bully who was forever telling him he would amount to nothing. Micah still had time for a few of the older classics like the magnificent 'Seven Horses Seen' from the 'Pioneer Saboteurs' album, before inviting Jamie the cellist from Buriers, to join him and Ashley on stage to end an unmissable evening.

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