Vic’s Picks: March 2026
BBC broadcaster, author, actor, musician and DJ, Mr Galloway flicks through some music listings to choose top March gigs in variously sized rooms and across different genres…
Away from the media glare and trending zeitgeist is often where most artists quietly conjure their unassuming masterpieces. Making music with The Hazey Janes and Idlewild, alongside many other collaborations, Andrew Wasylyk (pictured above) has gone solo in recent years and proved himself an exceptional composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. On the brink of a new album, Irreparable Parables, with vocal contributions from Gruff Rhys, Stuart Murdoch, Kathryn Joseph and Molly Linen, Wasylyk and his ensemble play Stirling Tolbooth, Aberdeen Lemon Tree, Edinburgh Pleasance, Glasgow Mackintosh Queen’s Cross and Marryat Hall in his Dundee hometown (Tuesday 3–Saturday 7 March). Trundling, hypnotic, unobtrusive and tender, his compositions tap into jazz, post-rock, neo-classical and ambient music to create something truly special.
The word ‘genius’ is too often bandied around in relation to musicians these days. Dearly departed Tim Smith was an actual visionary, however, and certainly someone deserving of the G-word. Once pilloried by pop purists who detest any kind of complexity or eccentricity, his brainchild Cardiacs are now achieving the plaudits they richly deserve. Years after leaving the world with a set of half-finished songs and scraps of collaged composition, former bandmates and fans rallied to complete his final album. LSD was released in 2025 to wide acclaim, holding the essence of Smith’s work while exploding along different tangents. Touring the project has exceeded all expectations and a venue upgrade from St Luke’s to Glasgow QMU (Friday 13 March) shows an appetite for their prog-punk magnificence.
Some bands have the ‘Marmite’ effect and current high flyers Geese certainly split the crowd, with hipsters and classic-rock fans screaming the odds. Are they raggedly brilliant or annoyingly atonal? Find out for yourself as they make the move into bigger UK venues such as Barrowlands (Saturday 21 March). Cameron Winter and band holler for all their worth, so expect the lop-sided skronk of Tom Waits, the wailing indie of Cold War Kids and the freewheeling guitar shapes of Television. Ten years and four albums in, it looks like they’re doing something right. Honk, honk!
Listen to Vic Galloway every Monday night on BBC Radio Scotland or anytime on BBC Sounds; Vic hosts From Punk To Paolo at Paisley Town Hall, Sunday 29 March, featuring Richard Jobson, Emma Pollock, Kathryn Joseph and C Duncan, as part of Paisley Arts Festival; picture: Tommy Perman.
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