Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks performing 'Yes' Epics, Classics and More, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. Monday 28th September, 2026

In sixth year, one of my pals, David, insisted I listen to Yes. He raved about how brilliant they were and loaned me one of his albums as a taster. Before I knew it, I was up the Barras tracking down cheap, secondhand vinyl of their albums. 

Yes still tour occasionally, but not with Jon Anderson. He left the band in 2008. To me, Jon was always the band's voice. I didn't care so much about who played the instruments, so when I realised Jon was going to tour with the Band Geeks, I thought, "Cool, let's go." The only problem was it was practically sold out already, with only a few rubbish seats left.

I set up a Twickets alert and waited. Eventually, one seat popped up whose view I felt justified the price. 

On the night, I noticed the audience was predominantly older. I might have been the youngest person there, except for the young lad sitting beside me. I wondered if he'd sold me my ticket, but didn't ask. The music pre-gig was one track, Création du monde by Vangelis, on a loop. It set the evening's tone.

There was no support act, so at 7.30 pm, the hall lights dimmed, and Stravinsky started playing over the PA. The band appeared, followed by Jon, and began playing Close To The Edge to an appreciative crowd. At the end of the song, a large proportion of the audience in the stalls rose to give the band a standing ovation. This repeated after every song. I've never seen such an appreciative audience (there might have been a slim possibility some were rising to boost their circulation, fearing a clot). 

Jon's iconic voice was still pitch-perfect. He sang from his square platform at the front and centre, with monitors available for lyrics when he needed them, such as on the newer numbers. His moves reminded me of something between Tai Chi and a soft shoe shuffle, as if the music was flowing through him, guiding his movement. He was clearly having a ball, loving his time on stage, and that feeling transferred to the audience. 

The band were brilliant at recreating the Yes sound. The spinning rear projections gave the stage a seventies feel, appropriate for the music, yet didn't feel out-of-date. Although I was unfamiliar with some of the songs, particularly the non-Yes material, I still enjoyed the performance and stayed engaged. 

They played from 7.30 pm till 10.15 pm with a twenty-minute interval, which is fantastic when you consider Jon is eighty-one. It was a great night. 

 

I've Seen All Good People

 

Starship Trooper

Setlist

Set 1:

Intro music - Firebird Suite (Igor Stravinsky)

Close to the Edge (Yes cover)

Perpetual Change (Yes cover)

Counties and Countries

And You and I (Yes cover)

Giving Is Living

Soon (Yes cover)

Set 2:

Awaken (Yes cover)

I've Seen All Good People (Yes cover)

Once Upon a Dream

Leaves of Green (Yes cover)

Starship Trooper (Yes cover)

Roundabout (Yes cover)

Outro Music - Land Of Hope And Glory

Ticket Price: £65.00 & Twickets Fee £9.10 = £74.10 from Twickets

My (early) view of the stage

stage mascot

Time for a dance with his wife, Jane.

Everyone downstairs is on their feet

Thank you for a great night

Two Doors Down Live, OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Sunday 27th September, 2026.

I love the TV series, so snapping up tickets for this show was a no-brainer. I never paused to consider how the show would translate to the cavernous OVO Hydro. 

Our seats were upstairs, front row, section 205. No photos or videos were permitted during the show (I took this one before - the others are cribbed from the press pack @IG Ltd and The Sun).

From this distance, viewing the actors' facial reactions, a key element of the TV show, was going to prove problematic. Thankfully, the giant screens on either side of the stage saved the day, with the director shooting the action just like in the show. I spent most of the night watching the screens rather than the stage, occasionally glancing over to see what wasn't being shown. 

This could have sunk my enjoyment, but it didn't. The screen format actually made the show feel more intimate. The script was fantastic, with sly digs at the venue and the shows the cast had appeared in before. Cathy's catty barbs were as sharp as ever, as were Christine's withering complaints. Alan's comment about the parking being a whoor at the Hydro was spot on tonight. We ended up on a double yellow up beyond the McDonald's. We didn't get a parking ticket, but I was concerned we might. 

During the interval, they played Proclaimers' songs over the PA, fitting given Alan and Michelle were supposed to be at the Hydro to see the brothers.

The staging made good use of the large Hydro stage, with the house front sliding open to reveal the Bairds' sitting room. The small buildings on either side were used too, turning to reveal a Piccadilly Subway station alcove and Colin and Cathy's front room. The screens above the set displayed the skyline over the residences and also served as the backdrop for scenes in the caravan, which was raised and suspended over the stage, travelling over the set for the finale. 

If I had any complaints, I would say I wasn't so sure about the songs that Jamie sang. His voice is okay, but hardly strong enough to fill the Hydro. I suppose it fitted the character's story, given he wanted to succeed in the music business. 

I would have loved to have seen this show somewhere smaller, like the King's, for obvious reasons. That was never going to happen, though, given the high demand for tickets. Overall, I'd say the show was a great success. Another big plus was that I never got frisked by security on the way in for the first time ever since they introduced the new scanners. 

Ticket Price: £59.50 x 2 + Service Fees £16.10 + Venue Fees £5 = £140.10 from Ticketmaster (OVO Presale) 

Sam Campbell "Kid Giblet", King's Theatre, Glasgow. Saturday 26th September, 2026

The one thing you can expect from a Sam Campbell show is for it to be unpredictable. He sets the tone with his pre-show music, playing an album by Parchís, a shrill 80s children's musical group from Spain, who sound like the lovechildren of The Banana Splits and Pinky and Perky. 

Parchís

The stage is busy, with a bobbing toy duck on a pedestal, dunking its beak into a glass of water, the activity livestreaming on the big screen at the back of the stage. A substantial wooden desk holds a monitor and a laptop. Beside that is a display stand of plastic sunglasses. Then there's the table bearing the sign "Wet Wipes", upon which is a row of ten open bottles of wet wipes. Finally, on the right is a bizarre tri-legged artwork containing a badly hand-drawn portrait of Sam. Comical slides, particular to the King's, intermittently interrupt the duck live feed to keep us amused while we wait for the show to begin. 

A slide pops up asking us to select our opening act, with the link taking us to a poll with options like Slash, Jackie Chan, and The Old Lady. Tonight, we got Friendy, a toy puppet, whose face was filtered onto Sam's on the screen to provide its expressions. Fortunately, the act didn't last long once the joke wore thin.  

Aussie comic Jordan Sharp played Sam's assistant, channelling his inner Joe Wilkinson by wearing a suit and growing a messy full beard. His tasks included starting the video feeds and occasionally filming proceedings, such as when Sam went into the audience to kiss some bald heads. 

In the first act, a member of staff came on to inform Sam that a fire alarm was about to go off. Cue some messing around with the alarm sounds. I thought I recognised the woman as comedian Kate Dolan, recent winner of the Comedians' Award at the Edinburgh Fringe (I'll never forgive her for targeting me at the BBC New Comedy Awards during their Barrowland heat).  

I was proved correct in the second half, which, for reasons I won't spoil, she got to perform for the audience, at least until Sam reappeared in one of the boxes upstairs. I thought this was a clever way to incorporate the support act's slot into the show.

Kate Dolan

In between all this, Sam throws out zingers, interacts with the video screen and the audience, and shows us videos he's made. He delivers everything in his manic style. I struggle to make out everything he says, partly because he doesn't always speak clearly and because the sound in the room isn't great (again), but what I do comprehend is funny as fuck. 

One typical moment at the start had Sam arrive on stage wearing no trousers. Realising his gaffe, he pulls out a wet wipe from every bottle, venting his frustration as he throws each one away. Assistant Jordan then produces an extra-large wet wipe bottle, and Sam pulls out what turns out to be a pair of trousers. The glass of water the duck had been dunking its beak into turned out to be rubber, as we discover when Sam tries to lift it and stretches it out. He had loads of these sight gags.  

My wife enjoyed the show but confessed she wouldn't bother seeing him again. I, on the other hand, delighted in his unpredictability. The only section that disappointed me was the finale. I'd seen him do the phone-number bit and the firing gloves into the audience before (this time he used inflated washing-up gloves rather than water-filled surgical gloves). His long, meandering tale at the end had a weak payoff, more an exercise in making the journey than reaching the destination.

Ticket price:£32.69 x2 + Transaction fee £3.95 = £69.33 from ATG Tickets 

Vittorio Angelone "you can't Say Nothing any more" Tour, King's Theatre, Glasgow. Thursday 24th September, 2026

"Vittorio Angelone has always denied any involvement in stand-up comedy or stand-up-comedy-related activities."

I was disappointed with this gig, possibly because of my high expectations. Online, Vittorio is sharp, cutting and subversive. In person, at a sold-out King's Theatre, I struggled to make out what he was saying from my seat in the middle of the Grand Circle. Part of that was due to his Belfast accent, despite his slow, precise delivery, but mostly it was the room's acoustics, which are usually very good.

The evening had begun unusually. Usually, the PA plays a playlist of tracks chosen by the comedian, but tonight a four-piece Traditional Irish band was playing on stage. Very fiddle-de-dee. You could almost taste the Guinness.

The lights dimmed at 7.30pm for the show to begin, and the band left the stage, leaving their instruments on or beside their chairs. Vittorio came on, asked us to thank the band, and explained that they were called Cúig and usually performed as a five-piece, but he could only afford four. He then introduced his support act, Rosco McClelland. I'd heard some of Rosco's material from his Edinburgh livestream, but he was still okay. 

After his set, there was an interval, and the band returned. A nice touch to boost bar sales by driving people out of the auditorium. I tried to blot them out and read a book.

Vittorio returned dressed smartly in a suit, with a white shirt and a thin tie. He reminded me of how I looked as a store manager at an area meeting. His material began with his relationship to the Troubles, only discovering that his family's ice cream shop had been blown up by the IRA when he read it in an old newspaper. The fact that his father never mentioned it just shows how little those who lived through the Troubles talk about it.

Vittorio had some great lines: He's lost weight the old-fashioned way, not with Ozempic, or, as it's known in Ireland, O'Zempic, with an apostrophe; and regarding the ice cream shop bombing, he asked why the newspaper didn't run with the headline "Bloody Sundae".

One weird thing happened when someone popped open a can and interrupted Vittorio's flow. He paused the show to ask everyone with a can to open theirs together on his count. One woman at the front complained she wasn't ready to drink hers, but he wasn't having it and insisted she comply. She wouldn't. Everyone else did; the sound of all the cans opening at once amused Vittorio. Later, the woman interrupted Vittorio to explain she'd managed to open her can of gin without disturbing the show. The irony!

I felt the show would have worked better in a club rather than a theatre. His delivery begs for intimacy, drawing you in, but a theatre show needs something bigger, which was rarely on show. He complained that someone at the Edinburgh Fringe recorded his finale, spoiling it for anyone who later attended. It also caused him grief, leading to a show being cancelled in Guildford because the subject matter was taken out of context. I won't spoil it for anyone here, but it was fitting.

Playout music: The Mary Wallopers - Cod Liver Oil & The Orange Juice

Ticket Price: £32.69 x 2 & £3.95 Transaction fee = £69.33 from ATG Tickets.

Vittorio Angelone has announced a 24-date 2026 UK tour of his brand-new show, You Can't Say Nothing Any More.

Vittorio Angelone will be performing a sold-out run of You Can't Say Nothing Any More at the Edinburgh Fringe this August. Two additional shows have been added at Underbelly's McEwan Hall (Fri 8th & Fri 22nd August) due to demand.

The 2022 Best Newcomer nominee is returning with his third hour, where he reflects on his upbringing in Belfast without the unrest his parents' and grandparents' generations experienced, and the guilt and twisted jealousy of not having lived through The Troubles himself. Join Vittorio as he considers whether comedians are obliged to be activists and to use their platform for good, while he examines where the proverbial pendulum stands in the Culture War and the related debate around offence in comedy.

Maisie Adam "Whatsherface", The Pavilion, Glasgow. Wednesday 23rd September, 2026.

 

WHATSHERFACE

UK TOUR 2026

 

Straight off the back of Taskmaster, A League Of Their Own, and Last One Laughing,
Maisie Adam is back with her brand new show Whatsherface.

Join the “tall, chaotic one with the weird hair”* as she returns with her trademark wit,

firecracker gags, and probably a few angry outbursts along the way.

​
*A genuine description given by her best friend’s Mum at a wedding this year.​​​

I bought tickets to this show on a Ticketmaster presale, constantly declining the front row and far-side seats until I was offered something closer to the middle but a few rows back. That's not important, except to mention that the ticket scanners wouldn't recognise the Ticketmaster QR codes, so the usher had to scroll through the page to verify the information visually before letting us in.

I'd seen Maisie perform a work-in-progress for this show earlier in the year at The Old Hairdressers, so I knew roughly what to expect. Tonight was very similar, but much slicker, especially the bits that appeared off the cuff. I can attest that the Glasgow WIP crowd did say the heckle about Edinburgh that she remembered. 

A few differences from the WIP (working backwards):

The video ending. We didn't see the video at the end of the WIP. I'd hoped to see a montage of clips from all the comedians who wished her well but couldn't be at her wedding. I realised when the special was filmed that getting permission from all these comedians might be costly and time-consuming, once their agents got involved, so it made sense to keep it in the family. 

The punchline to the joke she tells about her mother questioning whether the audience pays to see her landed harder at the WIP, where a free gig might be possible. This was The Pavilion she was playing tonight - a theatre, not a small room above a bar. Of course, people were going to pay. The line still got a laugh, so this is only a minor niggle. 

Maisie is a talented, professional comedian, so I can forgive her the artifice that her mother, "and I swear this is true", questioned her two nights ago about why she was going to Scotland, even though the mother asked the same thing six months ago using the same tone and subtext.

Maisie performed crowd work for the first half of the show. It went horribly for her but fantastically funny for us. 

In one of the Royal Boxes was a man wearing a circus ringmaster's jacket. His hair was tied back in a short ponytail, and he sat square and centre at the front of the box, with his three pals behind him. Maisie clocked him immediately and started a discussion. His name was Lee, and he was an actor. He had come directly from rehearsals for the Pavilion's pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bonnie Bears. His pals, or entourage as Maisie called them, were a plumber, a cameraman, and an electrician. She got some mileage from the panto theme. Oh yes she did. 

In the other box sat an older couple who met online twenty years ago. They were both retired. She had run a student support department, and he had worked as a librarian. Neither was chatty. During the discourse, Maisie noticed the other box was now empty and begged us to tell her she hadn't just imagined the previous fifteen minutes. Cue the biggest unwritten laugh of the night, when she asked where they had gone, and someone shouted forcefully, "They're behind you", causing her to turn around. Of course, they weren't behind her, but the fact that she looked brought a massive cheer from the crowd. It turned out the actor and his entourage had moved to empty seats at the back of the Circle. They did later return to the box for the second half.

In the interval, Maisie looked the actor up online and revealed his full name and the name and address of his agent, to whom she would be writing a letter of complaint. She also said she'd bought tickets for the Royal Box for his opening night and would sit up there to have her revenge. (She didn't - she'll be on tour).

It was a good night. Her star is clearly on the rise. I suspect she'll have her own game show or presenting gig before long. 

Playout Music: The Specials - Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) 

Ticket Price: Ticketmaster Presale Ticket: £27.00 x 2 + £5.40 + £2.50 = £61.90.

Bloody Scotland 2026 - Sunday 20th September, 2026

 

Denise Mina presents Ardal O'Hanlon

Sunday 20th September - 13:30

Careful now. Much-loved comedian and actor Ardal O’Hanlon will be neither small nor far away but on stage in the Albert Halls to discuss his crime fiction debut. The star of Father Ted, My Hero, and Death in Paradise has previously written two novels but has now turned to crime with A Plot to Die For, the first in a dazzling new mystery series.

It’s small-town Ireland meets big-time murder as a celebrity gardener tries to solve a killing or two amid the fanatical fever of the annual Tidy Towns competition.

Ardal will be in conversation with guest programmer Denise Mina.

Tickets £14.75/£13.75 incl bf

I have loved Ardal as a stand-up comedian ever since I heard him tell this joke on TV:

"So condoms, they're useless, aren't they? They're useless and they're ineffective and they burst and your stomach just can't cope with the sudden impact of two kilos of cocaine, eh?"

I've seen him perform many times, but a lesser-known fact about him is that he is also an author. He was here to discuss his new book, "A Plot To Die For".

His previous books featured crimes but weren't marketed as crime novels. This one was, quite deliberately. Ardal isn't so keen on the term cosy crime, but agrees it fits that genre. He wrote the book with the intention of it becoming a series, but had to do a lot of research into gardening, as he is not much into it in real life - certainly not enough to pull off pretending to be one of the nation's top 4 TV gardening experts.

Originally, he had the idea for the second murder in the book while working on Death in Paradise. He kept it to himself, though, as if he'd told it to the producers, they'd probably have used it themselves in the programme. 

When he writes, he blocks off six months to complete the draft, working rigidly from ten till five each day. He outlines using 'lily pads', as he calls them, knowing he has to hop from pad to pad to reach the conclusion. Then, he combs through the work to ensure all the threads tie up.

Denise, again, was a fantastic interviewer, swearing occasionally but affectionately. She was fully invested in drawing out the best from a slightly shy performer.

And that was all I did this year at Bloody Scotland. Five events, but still worth the travelling.

My pal Belinda Bauer knows how to back a great debut author and gave this quote to Frances Crawford's "A Bad, Bad Place":