Jad Fair @ Stereo, Glasgow (31/05/2011)

So, Jad Fair played and, as expected, it was a bit of a riot!  With Jad's shows, there's always a story to tell afterwards and this time that story concerns his...er...bendy guitar (!).  I'm pretty sure I've never witnessed a show where the guitarist physically bent the neck of his guitar in the pursuit of sound and sensation and I've certainly never seen a show which finished with the guitarist playing an instrument whose neck has become separated from its body before!  Crazily, the neck bending antics yielded some great sounds.  If someone had blindfolded me and told me that I was in fact listening to a live Jad Fair album that had been left next to a piping hot radiator all winter, I would've believed them.  His set was studded with frequently aired gems from yesteryear like "Red Dress", "This Could Be The Night" "Roman Candles" and "Bashful Jad" but all were made lemon fresh by Jad's loopy-eyed energy and the odd lyrical tweak.  His Jad-libs (sorry - couldn't resist that!) were a hoot e.g. "I may not a Beatle, but I have a Beatle's needs" and from the length of some of his mid-line pauses, he could, in a Crocodile Dundee style, say to Harold Pinter, "Ha ha ha, that's not a pause.  THAT's a pause!".  Gilles Rieder on drums was a rock, all maximum feel and, crucially, minimum chaos - a great complement to Jad.  A true highlight was when the pair left the stage and Jad, breathing hard and sweating from his exertions, sang a cappella while Rieder drummed on the stage-front and then the floor.  Tremendous!