Mason Burns, Craigflower and The HausPlants Rock Lana Lou'

Words by Keir Nicoll

Three bands played the epic and intimate local dive, Lana Lou's, this past Friday. Before the performance, I had a chance to talk to leadman Mason Burns, of his own power-trio project, opening the night. Discussing the composition of the band, Burns revealed they are comprised of himself, as lead-guitarist and vocalist, Adam Bowen as bassist and vocalist and Jackson Hutton as drummer. All of the songs they play are originals, mostly composed during the Covid pandemic. They are currently looking for a release, after forming only hours before their debut performance. Burns described their drive as being Raw-Glam, citing their influences as being T. Rex's Marc Bolan, the Stones and the Velvet Underground. He promised that there may be some high-falsetto vocals, saying that they have a more 70s style, not so indie and trying for the VU sound that has so stood the test of time. Something still fresh, that spans generations. He cited the Sheepdogs and the Struts as being more contemporaneous bands that he finds inspiration from. The latter's Freddie Mercury vocals he also said were important. As they donned the stage with their prowess, they wore pointy boots, flares and glittery shirts.

As they began their classic-rock set, with their first song, “Love On The Run,” Burns introduced the number with some adept hammer-ons and pull-offs on his Flying-V, before getting into some steady hard-rockin' riffs with right-on vocal harmonies, fulfilling the earlier promise of falsetto-lines, courtesy of Bowen. The next song, “I'm Gonna Make You Cry,” continued the lover's theme, with lyrics like, “There's no-one these days/who keeps me amazed like you.” Throughout, there were hot and dirty guitar-lines that kept the crowd moving. “Rock n' Roll Soldier” was pretty groovy with “nice,” well-placed-licks with a definite Stones influence. Burns sounded like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards rolled together into one. He sang, “C'mon, you're an animal, C'mon, you're a criminal,” with a reckless abandon. Continuing, his music sounded like Iggy & The Stooges, with powerful licks between power-chords. Great guitar and bass posturing during these songs, as the bandmates held a strong form at the front of the stage. Before the next song, Burns played the Jimmy Page solo from “Heartbreaker” note-for-note and then broke into “Velvet Lover,” with many Rock n' Roll manoeuvres onstage. There was a jam-out section with legs kickin' during this song, as they sang, “My Velvet Lover, She's Gonna Shake You Down,” ooh-ooh's effectively in place. At this point, Burns got up on a table close to the stage, playing as he broke one of the table-legs, before jumping down and onto the stage again – a pure rock-star moment. Next, they played “Rebel Rebel” by Bowie and then their own song again, “Around.” This seemed to be about seein' somebody around, with an easy-rockin' feel with some dirty-grungy-styled solos. All around – this was a classic power-trio, classic-rock feel and with the currency that comes from the universality of the music that has changed the form over time. They showed an intensity and fullness that drove their sound for the time they played that encouraged a hard-rock atmosphere to form. Generally, a sound presence and fortitude for the opening act of the evening.

The second band, Craigflower, had a sound that was like Shoegaze meets Hardcore. The singer roared, “I don't want to sleep alone,” for the first song, while the next had a more delicate touch, sounding like the Pretenders with its rhythms and sculpted guitar-lines. They had some pretty straight-ahead guitar-solos and the one-time beat-out with the one drumstick. Some Grand-Funk style drums and bass with a guitar-solo that was reminiscent of Led Zeppelin. The next song, the singer was describing “losing my mind,” while there were Jimi Hendrix tones on the guitar. Then a slow-jam blues to bring in more of a 70s feel to the night. There last song was called “Craigflower,” about a fight the leadsinger described with a girlfriend.

HausPlants, the headlining act, came on full-force with the intensity of intricate 80s indie pop-rock. The lead singer and bassist, with a Sinead O'Connor or Ani diFranco look, had the vocal intensity, too. Swooning and keening vocals over melodic guitar-lines from a soloist who accepted no boundaries in his stretching outside of the classic-rock form. They had a slow-intro with a funk bass over beating drums and beautiful melodic guitar-lines. The guitar actually had the sustained grooves and currency of “the Edge” or Slowdive surrounding. The overall sound could have had tinges of the Breeders, Kim Gordon or P.J. Harvey. The huge effects-board, lent itself to many scintillations of sound for the guitar and there were poppy and searing guitar-lines, throughout. The drums had Elvis Costello beats and the singer wore a little-black-dress, to match her female drummer and male guitarist counterparts. She played a Hofner bass. 

Overall, a strong showing from three local bands who are ploughing through the lockdown aftermath at a local venue that just won't quit. They are in fact a relief for anyone who wants to see talent that comes from the grassroots. Anyone who appreciates the musical legacy that comes from the Classic-Rock era of the 70s, up through Indie in the 80s and Grunge in the 90s, could find a 'home' for their ears in this melange of strange and beautiful sounds at Lana Lou's this night. Look for them at new and upcoming shows.