RockScotland

Possible Chasar reunion!

Alec Pollock, Jim Marshall and Ian Tait rehearsed together this week and are looking into the possibility of playing some gigs ... watch this space (or check the links below) for more news as-and-when!

http://www.myspace.com/chasaronline
http://chasaronline.tripod.com

Craig Hughes wrote:Alec Pollock, Jim Marshall and Ian Tait rehearsed together this week and are looking into the possibility of playing some gigs

That's certainly something to look forward to!

Personally however, I'd like to see a classic 3 piece line up - with Alec on vocals.

I know you disagree Craig, but most people preferred the 3 piece line-up!

digital_man

P.S. La Paz kicking off a wee NWOGHM resurgence? WHo'll be next? Glasgow, Zero Zero?

Actually, I don't particularly disagree - I loved the original lineup (although 'most people'? Really? Certainly didn't seem like it then ...). But there's no 'classic' lineup without Peter; this is the next best thing. Who knows, maybe Alec will handle some of the vox? Actually having just typed that, I doubt it - back in the day Alec didn't like/want to sing, which was the reason for bringing in a singer first time 'round.

'NWOGHM'- nice! Mind, Chasar wasn't a Glasgow band ... 'NWOSHM' maybe?! 'NWOAHM' ... nah ...

Craig Hughes wrote:But there's no 'classic' lineup without Peter; this is the next best thing.

Maybe there'll never be a "classic" line-up personnel wise but the 3 piece Chasar format was certainly the best and to most people who can remember them, the 3 piece line-up was the "classic" format.

I think that back in the day people went for the 3 piece Chasar line-up because it echoed what their influence actually was - RUSH. Not forgetting that the band appealed to the "musos" who loved the double necks and the Taurus pedals etc.

I have to agree that a lot of people who previously made the effort to go to see Chasar just lost interest when Peter Scallan was brought in and the music veered towards USA style melodic rock. Songs like Just Another Heartache, although decent MOR rock, just didn't cut it with the people who had previously turned out to hear things like 2112 and Xanadu and other "muso" type performances.

Let's not forget that this was in a time before the "Tribute" act and Chasar were the next best thing to RUSH in the West of Scotland. The change in line-up and more importantly style, definately lost them a large number of fans and they became just another standard Glasgow (Alloa) heavy rock act.

Ian Tait, again a good vocalist, just didn't offer anything else either to the RUSH fans and the response to the band was never the same.

Might be worthwhile posting a poll with your next post Craig and let people have a vote on what version of Chasar they liked the best.

Craig Hughes wrote:'NWOGHM'- nice! Mind, Chasar wasn't a Glasgow band ... 'NWOSHM' maybe?! 'NWOAHM' ... nah ...

Neither was La Paz, (the majority of) who were from Wishaw but the Glasgow "scene" (RIP) was what these bands ALL wanted to be a part off.

des

destiny wrote: the Glasgow "scene" (RIP) was what these bands ALL wanted to be a part off.

Maybe, like anywhere, the local scene seemed more important where it was based. No disrespect intended to anyone involved, but I'd honestly never heard of many of the bands listed here until very recently due to mentions here and on the Glasband80 site. Sounds like it was a thriving scene and within Glasgow and its immediate surrounds it was probably a big deal but elsewhere? Not so much. Speaking for myself, I'm from Alloa, and although I saw Chasar many times and traveled with them to various other locations, I never once saw them in Glasgow and never gave it a second thought. As a scene, I'm not sure it had that much national resonance.

Like I've said, I've no problem with anyone favouring the classic lineup. I loved it. After all it was that lineup that made the album, which was a killer. I just don't get all the negativity about the latter lineup on these boards, and the slight re-jigging of history that's gone with it. But then maybe we all just like what we knew best - which for me was the lineup with Ian.

And that's plenty from me on the matter ..!

(PS/edit)
Oops - forgot - I don't know if I've made this clear or not but unless I've picked this up wrong, the lineup currently rehearsing IS a three-piece; Ian apparently is an excellent bass player (I remember a post on the Chasar Online guest book a few years back saying he was singing + playing bass for a metal covers band, complete with Taurus pedals etc.). That's what I meant in my last post about it being the 'next best thing' and Alec maybe taking the occasional vocal. I'll check out the details, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

Craig Hughes wrote:I don't know if I've made this clear or not but unless I've picked this up wrong, the lineup currently rehearsing IS a three-piece; Ian apparently is an excellent bass player (I remember a post on the Chasar Online guest book a few years back saying he was singing + playing bass for a metal covers band, complete with Taurus pedals etc.). That's what I meant in my last post about it being the 'next best thing' and Alec maybe taking the occasional vocal. I'll check out the details, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

No, you certainly didn't make that clear at all Craig!

That's certainly a more promising prospect for the Chasar fans.

All we need now is for the guys to adopt the current trend of playing a "classic" album in it's recorded form (a la GUN with Taking On The World etc) and just play the Chasar album in it's entirety! Now there's a prospect.

I don't think anyone has been entirely clear in their posts and I think that people were more against the later material rather than the actual number of people in the band.

Certainly, it was the RUSH connection (and covers) that brought the band to everyone's attention and I'd still bet that that's what people will want to hear!

Bottom line is - I'll certainly make the effort to attend the first gig anyway and hopefully the band will play somewhere easily accessible to everyone and not just Alloa!

des

Craig Hughes wrote:No disrespect intended to anyone involved, but I'd honestly never heard of many of the bands listed here until very recently due to mentions here and on the Glasband80 site. Sounds like it was a thriving scene and within Glasgow and its immediate surrounds it was probably a big deal but elsewhere? As a scene, I'm not sure it had that much national resonance.

Craig, in those days the Glasgow scene was the only rock scene that existed in Scotland. I lived in Edinburgh back then but we still had to travel to Glasgow in order to see any decent live music. Edinburgh despite being the supposed Capital, never had (and still hasn't) any heavy rock scene to speak of.

I know that you keep saying that you're from Alloa but saying that you'd never heard of any of the other bands just suggests that you weren't that interested in that type of music. Kerrang! was still a heavy rock mag back then and although it's a rarity now, they regularly featured reviews of La Paz, Zero Zero and even Trident. Radio Clyde also regularly featured these bands on Tom Russell's Friday Rock Show. These bands were all relatively well known outside Glasgow (and its immediate surrounds ). Again, although it doesn't happen now, Glasgow gigs like the Venue etc were packed in those days with people travelling in from other areas.

destiny wrote:I think that people were more against the later material rather than the actual number of people in the band.

I have to agree, it was really the later material that just made people lose interest in Chasar. Except possibly in Alloa? As Des says nobody had any problems with the personnel in the form of Peter Scallan or Ian Tait, it was the change of direction into just another heavy rock act that lost them the interest.

Chasar were actively followed by RUSH fans and were a novelty - like it or not. The later material unfortunately had nothing new to offer the RUSH fans and brought the band back to the level of all the other wee standard heavy rock acts plodding around the circuit.

Hopefully, Alec and Jim will realise this and concentrate on the material that got them accepted in the first place.

tp

thistle_princess wrote:Craig, in those days the Glasgow scene was the only rock scene that existed in Scotland. I lived in Edinburgh back then but we still had to travel to Glasgow in order to see any decent live music. Edinburgh despite being the supposed Capital, never had (and still hasn't) any heavy rock scene to speak of.

Yes I remember Edinburgh as being infamous for that. However, the 'big city' attitude is definitely at play here - those of us from the 'provinces' had to get used to even mid-sized bands coming nowhere near us on tour, media ignoring the local lads etc. People from Glasgow and Edinburgh seem to think that if it's not happening in the cities it's not happening at all (hate to say it, but I've lived in Glasgow for coming on 20 years now, and I find myself thinking the same way!). In fact the Alloa area scene from the mid-80s to around 1990 (when I left, so I can't vouch for any later) had an odd but cool live scene which was made up of punky-garage-blues and metal - all of which regularly appeared in perfect harmony on the same bill - there were rock 'discos' and at least one ambitious local promoter who made sure that many of those mid-sized acts did come our way. Traveling out to gigs with Chasar, I got the impression of similar scenes around and about.

Which perhaps is part of my point - Chasar was a touring band who played constantly around Scotland and the UK. It's a matter of perspective - out of Chasar's live schedule, the Glasgow area may have accounted for as much as 1 in 10 gigs (off the top of my head, and there is a certain amount of creaky memory at work here so give me some leeway). Now, if you were at that 1 gig in 10 every time it came around, it may have seemed that it was the gig that mattered ... but to the hundreds of people seeing them at the other gigs ..?

thistle_princess wrote:I know that you keep saying that you're from Alloa

Nope, only said it once. Until this post anyway!

thistle_princess wrote:but saying that you'd never heard of any of the other bands just suggests that you weren't that interested in that type of music.

I said I hadn't heard of *many* of the other bands. Maybe these bands didn't tour? I saw Glasgow in Alloa (now there's a weird sentence!) but I don't remember any others. Maybe at the time I did hear their names on the Clyde rock show/in Kerrang! and so on, but they just never stuck with me.

destiny wrote: it was really the later material that just made people lose interest in Chasar. Except possibly in Alloa?

...it was the change of direction into just another heavy rock act that lost them the interest.

Like I've said, that period was Chasar's busiest as a touring band. 'Lost interest' implies 'lost audiences' which just wasn't the case. Although maybe it's the case that some of their original audience fell away but a new one came along? I was young at the time (15 - 18 or 19 from first gig to last. Ish.) and remember a lot of people around my age at the gigs. Looking at it that way, I may have really been a part of that 'new' audience.

destiny wrote:Chasar were actively followed by RUSH fans and were a novelty - like it or not.

Happily, after years of maintaining the Chasar website and having had a great deal of communication about the band from people around the country and elsewhere, I can say with some confidence that that just isn't the case. Most people who were into the band (including me) fondly remember the Rush covers that were part of an encore-tradition, but Chasar were a novelty? No. Sorry you feel that way.

I'm surprised at the stuff I've read on these boards - it's like some 24 years-old backlash! I can only hope that there's more positivity around the reunion if and when it actually happens.

Much of the band's rep now stems from the album, most often with people who never saw them at all, so it'll be interesting to see who does show an interest. Me, I was really chuffed when I was told about the reunion and happily the reactions elsewhere have been great too.

I'll post any updates here as and when I get them, but I think I'll probably be limiting my participation here to that. Failing that, check the links below.

Cheers.

http://www.myspace.com/chasaronline
http://chasaronline.tripod.com

Chasar (Alec Pollock - guitar/vocal, Jim Marshall - drums, Ian Tait - bass/vocal) plays Zico's, Wishaw on June 20th 2009.

Check the links below for more news as-and-when.

http://www.myspace.com/chasaronline
http://chasaronline.tripod.com