Stag & Dagger, Various Venues, Glasgow

Unlike last May, when Glasgow was basking in sunshine, this year’s multi-venue Stag and Dagger all-dayer takes place during a deluge of near-biblical proportions. The weather forces people indoors early and the first few bands on the bill play to a packed house.

Unable to squeeze into the Captain’s Rest for The Victorian English Gentlemens Club, I retreat to Nice ‘n’ Sleazy’s for She’s Hit, who appear to be worshipers at the alter of Psychocandy – they have the youth if not the attitude of early Jesus & Mary Chain: a stand up drummer, a moody bassist, a befringed guitarist and a skinny singer who wields a smoke machine as if the steam being exuded by the damp crowd isn’t creating enough humidity. They play direct, noisy garage with surly punk poses. A cover of Joy Division’s ‘No Love Lost’ shows what they’re made of; if they’d put a ounce of that passion and confidence into the rest of their set they might have made a more lasting impression.

Next up are Tall Ships. The Brighton three-piece demonstrate a synthy bombast without the precision of their most obvious comparison, Foals. I don’t stick around to see if they take their funk tendencies further as it’s time to head over the road to the ABC to catch a band from the more mature end of the bill, Domino Records stalwarts Clinic. Clothed in their familiar surgeon’s garb of scrubs and masks they perform ‘Lion Tamer’, from their ‘Bubblegum’ LP. It hones a formula which seems to have been in place for over ten years, indeed ‘The Return Of Evil Bill’ proves that reassuringly little has changed.

Following, Admiral Fallow get in some of their anthemic, jangly folk doused with flute and enthusiasm. I don’t stay for much of their set however, preferring to go back to ABC2 for the more subtle charms of Withered Hand. Dan Wilson plays songs from his album ‘Good News’; there are a small yet devout congregation who know all the words to ‘No Cigarettes’ and ‘New Dawn’, and by the end of his set the rest of the room has been silenced. ‘Religious Songs’ is played for those disappointed by the Rapture’s failure to materialise (the world has evidently not ended and we’re all still here).

Upstairs, Warpaint take the stage but test the patience of a room full of people waiting for them to play ‘Undertow’ with a moody new song. Retreating once more downstairs, I find the comforting sounds of James Yorkston’s “grumpy Scotsman with an acoustic guitar”. Understated and perhaps ill-suited to such a mixed bill, he still easily outclasses the competition with songs like ‘Sweet Jesus’ and ‘Steady As She Goes’.

It’s hard to leave until Yorkston’s finished, and I don’t beat the rush back to Sleazy’s. There is a huge queue outside and I abandon any attempt to see Yuck. By now it’s also too late to see Sons & Daughters (apparently trying out their more electronic new direction), and there is another huge queue outside the Art School. Besides, it’s still raining. Overall Stag & Dagger makes for a rather disparate selection of music, but as a showcase there’s more than enough quality to choose from.