It’s a veritable tribute band heaven at Church this weekend.
The former kirk on Ward Road has the aptly named Depeche Mode homage The Devout tonight, with Frank Zappa devotees Pygmy Twylyte set to rock the joint on Sunday.
Veterans of the tribute circuit, The Devout were formerly named after their electro rock heroes’ debut album Speak And Spell and feature former Killing Joke keyboard player Reza Udhin in their four-man line-up.
Pygmy Twylyte, meanwhile, were formed in 2018 and have carved out a reputation for live shows that recreate much-missed avant-garde rocker Zappa’s own genre-defying live performances.
A day of Hordes X
Also in Dundee, along the road at Beat Generator there’s an all-day session featuring a bucketload of extreme noiseniks in prospect tomorrow.
It’s the annual Hordes X offering – formerly Hordes Of Belial – at the North Lindsay Street venue, with death metal outfits Saor, Catalysis, Karybdis, Drekavac, Volcano X, Shadow’s Far, H8teball, Aeons, Nocturne Wulf, Blood Thread, Extort, Alpha Signal and Primitive Vices all part of the event, which kicks off in the early afternoon.
Beat G also has a visit from American hillbilly hard rock exponents and AC/DC obsessives Hayseed Dixie on Thursday, in a gig that’s been moved from the venue formerly known as Fat Sams.
The parodic Nashville four-piece returned to the UK charts after a 15-year absence in 2020 with their 15th album Blast From The Grassed, with a follow-up, Shattered Grass, released last October.
Fronted by John Wheeler since forming in 2000, Hayseed Dixie also play a sold-out show at Stirling’s Tolbooth on Wednesday, and then PJ Molloys in Dunfermline next Saturday (October 1).
Stone the Crows legend
Separately, live music makes a welcome return to the Green Hotel in Kinross tomorrow with the first of two shows from Stone The Crows legend Maggie Bell and her long-time sideman Dave Kelly, the renowned slide guitarist.
Veterans of the blues and soul explosion of the late 1960s, the pair are going to be performing a brace of acoustic gigs, including a sold-out set on Sunday night.
There’s also an appearance from Deborah Bonham – sister of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham – at the Green on Thursday.
The Worcestershire-born performer recorded her first demos aged 17 with Zep frontman Robert Plant, shortly before her sibling’s passing in 1980.
Now 60, Debs enjoyed success on the NME Chart and in Europe with her 1985 debut LP For You And The Moon, before singing to three million listeners on an LA-based radio show in the ’90s and joining her drummer nephew Jason – John’s son – on stage in West Hollywood.
This century, she’s released The Old Hyde (2001), Duchess (2008) and Spirit (2013), and linked up with ex-Free star Paul Rodgers at gigs in both the UK and the USA.
Her latest offering is a collaboration with her husband and regular band guitarist Peter Bullick.
Wyldest in Fife
Elsewhere, PJ Molloys welcomes Wyldest tomorrow, with support from Jemima Coulter.
Originally from Wiltshire but nowadays based in London, Wyldest is the alter-ego of dream pop producer Zoe Mead, who merges ambient loops and samples with electro beats and dreamy guitar riffs to produce a sound reminiscent of the likes of Beach House, Warpaint and Still Corners.
Still in Fife, there’s live sounds at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews next Friday in the shape of the Lost In Music offering.
It’s a themed performance from an ensemble of music-makers including Alex Neilson – best known for his work with Trembling Bells and Alex Rex – bdy_prts’ Jill O’Sullivan, Robin Campbell and Xenia Garden.
Lastly this week, two of Scotland’s finest folk talents are appearing in Courier Country in the coming days.
Siobhan Miller is at the Tolbooth tomorrow, while Hannah Rarity is Crieff Folk Club’s special guest at the town’s Strathearn Arts on Thursday.
