LIVE IN GLENROTHES [1996]
THE SILENCERS LIVE CLICK IMAGE
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
I approached Jimme O'Neill, the singer/songwriter of The Silencers not long after we shot Julian Cope and his HMV PR Marketing Gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I was looking for more opportunities to film live bands and The Silencers were on tour in 1996 and were keen to have a record of this tour in particular. Glenrothes was suggested as a location and Rothes Halls to be the venue.
I had to source camera talent from Edinburgh and I gave Phil Gurney another opportunity to expand his showreel material and I had heard of two cameramen named Scott Ward and Will Potter via the Edinburgh Film and Video Access Centre. So, they were all on board after a short meeting. At the time Edinburgh had a healthy band scene at the time with guys like Hub, Mystery Juice, Annie Christian, and Finley Quaye all performing at Cafe Graffiti at the time so I would always bump into cameramen at these locations.
I managed to find 4 x SD Cameras for the shoot from various sources, including Edinburgh's Telford College. The live sound was a concern and I had to make a fine point of getting this right as pictures are pointless without good sound.
Task & role included;
Directing, Producing, Cinematography, Logistics, Budget, Healthy and Safety.
Transport to venue in Glenrothes and back to Edinburgh
Filming of soundcheck and behind the scenes of band.
Hire of Production crew, cameras, tape stock, tripods, and cables.
Post Production Direction with Editor
The track list did not disappoint with a lot of the hits from the band accumulated from the 1987 to 1996 were played to a very animated audience in Glenrothes. Track list as follows and the duration on stage was 100 x minutes.
SOMETHING WORTH FIGHTING FOR
KILLING FOR GOD
I SEE RED
IT'S ONLY LOVE
SYLVIE
NUMBER ONE FRIEND
ABOUT THE SEA
THE COLOUR OF THE MOON
ROSANNE
BULLETPROOF HEART
I WANT YOU
WALKMANS AND MAGNUMS / EXODUS
SACRED HEART
I CAN FEEL IT
WILD MOUNTAIN THYME
PAINTED MOON
SCOTTISH RAIN
THE REAL McCOY
THE SILENCERS ARE:
CHA BURNS
JIM McDERMOTT
PHIL KANE
STEVIE KANE
AURA 'MURPHY' O'NEILL
JIMMIE O'NEILL
Filming concerts doesn't leave much room for creativity unless you have designed motion graphics for a backdrop screen or your the lighting engineers, however the camera angles and durability of the camera operators make this archive event unique and worthwhile. Thanks to Phil Gurney, Scott Ward (R.I.P.) and Will Potter for their hard graft and focus on getting quality material on Standard Definition, these were the days just before HD and 4K broadcast camera resolution. The sound is exceptional on this recording for sure a highlight of the re-edit of the full hour and 40 x minutes of classic Silencer tracks.
This concert has been re-edited and enhanced for archive asset distribution, we're hoping The Silencers will include this rare material in their forthcoming 40th anniversary in 2026? It certainly is ideal for documentary material for sure. The soundcheck material is great also.
There is certainly a lot of great visuals of Cha' Burns who was one of the founders of the band, Cha died of cancer in March 2007. A month earlier The Silencers held a concert at the ABC in Glasgow as a tribute to Cha, and it was called 'The Silencers Burns Night' which was a fantastic night indeed, DVD available online.
