Bands unite to support Scots rock star Dale Barclay's cancer battle

Musicians from across the UK will come together to support a Glaswegian songwriter battling an aggressive form of cancer.

Dale Barclay with his wife, musician Laura St Jude. The Glaswegian songwriter is battling cancer. Picture: Apolonia Wieland/Contributed

Dale Barclay, former frontman of cult rock band The Amazing Snakeheads, was diagnosed with grade four Glioblastoma brain cancer late last year at the age of 32.

He is now fundraising to pay for a course of private specialist treatment after completing a six month NHS clinical trial.

A benefit show will take place at the Broadcast venue in Glasgow on August 23, with the SAY Award-nominated Catholic Action among those on the bill, while a second gig is planned for September 7 at the same venue.

A third fundraising show in London on August 7, headlined by The Fat White Family and Shame, has already sold out.

Writing on his crowdfunding page, Barclay said he would be “living with cancer for the rest of my life”.

He added: “I have grade four Glioblastoma brain cancer, diagnosed December 2017. I have had one craniotomy which removed 90 per cent of the initial tumour. After that, I did six weeks of radiotherapy and six months of a clinical trial alongside chemotherapy. My tumour has two mutations which make it rarer than average (had to be!). The cancer has returned. The fight continues with the power to face it raging in me.

“There is no doubt, whatsoever, that I’ll be living with cancer for as long as I am alive. However time pans out, it’s here, it’s now and it’s not going anywhere. The NHS have been stellar, true heroes - too many to mention. They have done everything in their power for me, but my treatment from here on out is going to cost money. I need specialist care. I am officially a customer. This is the reality.

“So, on to the point, I am asking for your help. All contributions will be greatly and deeply appreciated by me, my wife and my team. I do not stand alone and it gives me tremendous strength.”

Barclay won critical acclaim with The Amazing Snakeheads following the release of their only studio album, Amphetamine Ballads, in 2014.

Their music was described in The Scotsman as “a collision of indie rock ‘n’ roll and frenzied rockabilly which throws together, without subtelty or fear, those familiar tropes of religion and music”

Released on the seminal London-based record label Domino, the band were known for their incendiary live performances, with one London-based critic claiming that he found their stage presence “overwhelming”.

The band split in 2015, with Barclay later forming And Yet It Moves.