The Bathers - full band
Tickets: Ticket Event £18.00
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The Bathers
Sunday 13th September - 20:00
Tickets: £18.00
Chris Thomson – Vocals / Acoustic Guitar
Callum McNair – Electric and Acoustic Guitars / Vocals
Hazel Morrison – Percussion / Vocals
Nico Bruce – Bass
This is a rare opportunity to see the critically acclaimed Scottish chamber band The Bathers performing live in England. Created by singer/songwriter Chris Thomson, the band have released seven albums of original material. Unusual Places to Die (Go! Discs), described in Record Mirror as ‘intellectual pop’ emerged in 1987, following the break-up of Chris’ first band, Friends Again. The lush and more experimental Sweet Deceit, on the renowned Island Records, followed in 1990.
Chris also got together with Stephen Irvine and Neil Clark from Lloyd Cole and the Commotions in 1990 for a side project under the name Bloomsday and they released the album Fortuny featuring Mark ‘Bedders’ Bedford from Madness on bass.
Continuing as The Bathers, Chris then released three albums for German label, Marina Records between 1993 and 1997, Lagoon Blues, Sunpowder, featuring the vocal talents of Liz Fraser -Cocteau Twins/Massive Attack) and Kelvingrove Baby, each album a collection of sweeping, cinematic songs of love and longing drawing on the world of art and literature for inspiration. Pandemonia followed in 1999 and produced live favourites The Belle Sisters, Twenty-Two and Trocadero Girls, which may well be featured on the night.
A long hiatus followed, but Chris and the band made a welcome return in 2023 with the release of Sirenesque, which made number 7 in the UK Independent Album charts and also featured on the BBC’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
Chris has also been kept busy with the reunion of Friends Again, including original members James Grant (Love and Money) and Paul McGeechan (Starless). Their first comeback show, at a 1500 capacity venue in Glasgow (supported by Lloyd Cole), sold out within hours of tickets being made available and they have more Glasgow shows lined up, including one with The Bluebells (also sold out).
Back to The Bathers, joining Chris on stage at Zeffirellis, will be Callum McNair bringing impeccably nuanced lead guitar work, Hazel Morrison on percussion and soaring vocals (and possibly some piano too) and Nico Bruce providing deliciously melodic electric bass.
The sound of The Bathers is hard to categorise, and the music press has struggled to find a genre for them, but if you like Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Portishead, Tom Waits, Roxy Music and 1970s era Bowie then you are in for a treat.