-
-
Artists
Get your tour dates seen by one billion fans: Sign up as an artist
Concert in your area for Comedy, Indie & Alt, Rock, and Electronic.
Find out more about Comedy, Rock, and Electronic.
Originally formed with a host of influences ranging from punk rock to new wave, Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie first began by banging dustbin lids together and playing fuzz-guitar. Primal Scream’s debut performance came in 1982, however it wasn’t until 1984 the band made their recording debut with the single “The Orchard”, released on school friend Alan McGee's Essential Records. In 1985 Primal Scream signed with Creation Records, however despite a number of single releases, didn’t find success until Gillespie departed his other group the Jesus and the Mary Chain.
With the addition of Andrew Innes and Robert Young, the band found their single “Velocity Girl” end up on an NME cassette tape. The result was huge exposure for the developing band, and they fit the indie pop image like a hand to a glove. The band’s debut album “Sonic Flower Groove”, issued in 1987, was received with critical acclaim, as was is successor the self-titled “Primal Scream” in 1989.
The band's subsequent release saw a move away from the rock and roll aesthetic of the Rolling Stone and the Stooges, and towards the growing electronic and acid house scene. The result was “Loaded” a reworking of the existing song “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have”, making rock and roll accessible to dance fans and dance accessible to rock and roll fans. Primal Scream’s subsequent album “Screamadelica” represented an epoch in UK pop history, it brought techno and house to a mainstream ear. The album earned remarkably rave reviews and later won the very first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.
1994’s “Give Out but Don’t Give Up” saw the band return to their hard rock element, although in comparison to its predecessors faired neither well in the charts or nor among critics. Shortly after Primal Scream contributed the lead track to the cult film “Trainspotting”, which paved the way for a darker themed well-received electronic album titled “Vanishing Point” in 1997. The band subsequently released the albums “XTRMNTR” in 2000, “Evil Heat” in 2002, “Riot City Blues” in 2006, and “More Light” in 2013.
Founded by the original drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain, Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream are absolute legends of the eighties post punk scene. Fed up with the so called “new wave”, Gillespie set out to create a different sound. Let the record reflect that he succeeded. Eventually finding a happy medium between hard rock and acid house, to see them live in their prime was a joy and delight.
Catching one of their festival sets in the early nineties (they still make the festival rounds in the UK, so you haven’t missed your chance) was one of the highlights of my misspent youth. From the very start Primal Scream had the crowd on their feet and well…screaming. With a fairly unadorned dark stage, absolutely packed with musicians, this is a band that knows it doesn't need any bells and whistles to please its audience. Effortlessly switching from a funky dance beat to a more bluesy sound (think the Stones) and back again, these Glasgow rockers cannot fail to make an impression. By the time they got around to playing their big hit, the crowd was practically in a frenzy of wild sweaty joyful movement. There is a reason why true music fans consider Primal Scream such legends and this was it.
Log in to your account
