Status Quo - Last Night of the Electrics Tour - SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Tues 20th Dec 2016

Two support acts tonight on a very wet and cold Glasgow evening: The Lounge Kittens and REO Speedwagon. The Christmas traffic was very heavy so I missed most of the opening act, a trio of ladies with unusually coloured hair, one of whom played keyboards. All three sang lounge tune versions of popular rock songs. The bit I saw came across like a RADA Edinburgh Fringe novelty act. A bit weird.

REO Speedwagon, like Quo, have been going a long time and they've a swagger that comes with constant touring. Even if the crowd were less than enthusiastic at first (the hardcore fans were noticeable in their vocalness and by virtue of the fact that they were alone in standing in a seated venue), the band still gave it their best. I'm not overly familiar with them, bar the hits in the Eighties. The lead singer reminded me of a Paul O'Grady lookalike, the bassist resembled a male Julie Goodyear with her hair down and the drummer was definitely a reincarnated Cozy Powell in black leather vest and gloves. Everything cried old school. But they rocked and kept on rolling. If they were an unknown support act, I would have been impressed. Thumbs up.

This was my first time seeing Status Quo live. The venue was about half full with the upper tiers curtained off and a few empty seats downstairs too, perhaps a sign that £62 was a bit steep. Nevertheless, the crowd was up for a party. On stage, Francis Rossi is very much a grandfather figure now, still full of cheeky charisma but very obviously missing his old mucker Rick Parfitt. The sound was still classic Quo but it could have been a tribute act (called SQ, according to the drum kit) which the old man had come along to assist. Quo have an amazing back catalogue of riffs, and a few fiddle-de-dee new ones to keep the crowd buzzing. From the first bars of 'Caroline' to 'Bye Bye Johnny Be Good', the crowd wo-wo-woed along as the band crammed in the hits. By the end, I had been won over and was still singing 'I like it, I like it, I like it' in the car home as 'Twelve Gold Bars' rocked me along the M8.

Quo are probably past their 'best before' date but I still enjoyed it.

Now for the less serious bit.

The security guard insisted I open my Barbour jacket (no denim jacket covered in rock album patches tonight - this is how much marriage changes a guy), only to apologise when she discovered the bump underneath was my stomach.

Not many photos came out tonight due to lots of big-eared, balloon-headed loons between me and the stage. The way their gangly arms waved reminded me we are all descended from apes, who are the original Status Quo fans, having seen them perform during their Stone Age tour (or 'Rock Age' tour perhaps). Time may have moved on but only the haircuts have changed.

Setlist

The Drone (intro tape)

Caroline

The Wanderer (Dion cover)

Something 'bout You Baby I Like

Rain

Softer Ride

Beginning of the End

Hold You Back

What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again

Paper Plane

The Oriental

Creepin' Up On You

Gerdundula

In the Army Now

Drum Solo (The Caveman)

Roll Over Lay Down

Down Down

Whatever You Want

Rockin' All Over the World (John Fogerty cover)

Encore:

Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)

Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Rod Stewart, 'From Gasoline Alley to Another Country Hits 2016' arena tour, SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Tues 13th Dec 2016.

The support act was 'The Sisterhood', a country-folkish duo, half of which is Rod's daughter, Ruby Stewart. Both wore black, knee-length boots that sparkled like an old black and white TV with a fuzzy signal. The brunette played guitar and wore a wide-brimmed hat; the blonde (Ruby) banged a tambourine dangling with streamers. Both sang.

It was pretty dull (pretty and dull).

A chequered curtain descended to allow the stagehands to prepare the stage. I'm surprised Rod rejected the option of a Celtic green and white hoop design. Maybe that would have been too much, even for Glasgow.

As soon as the curtain raised and Rod stepped onto the stage, old bingo wings at the front stood up and waved her arms and marched her feet like she was stomping on a cross trainer, while clutching an e-cigarette in one hand and a large plastic Irn Bru cup in the other. The white-haired geriatric beside her, but not with her, was unamused but sat quietly not wanting to cause a fuss because she had even larger friends further along the row. I'm sure it wasn't Irn Bru in the cup. She danced and swayed for the whole concert. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or she just didn't know how to stop as it was a friend's hug that eventually wrestled her back to a seated position.

Rod's voice was not strong. His moves were started then aborted, unable to be sustained across the stage and back, a pale reminder of his glory days. He sat for a good thirty minutes, still doing the moves from his seat. He kicked footballs into the audience, showing he still has the foot for it. The band and backing singers were great.

The concert was carried on the strength of the material. The songs are still fantastic and the crowd lapped them up, singing for him, holding him in their hearts. It was a greatest hits package and there wasn't a dud among them. He gave a good two hours.

In years to come, I can imagine Rod entertaining the wrinklies in the care home, wearing his red suit, white shirt open to the chest, and silver shoes, giving it his best throaty rasp, throwing out his arms and legs like an epileptic mid-fit, then sinking back into his cosy chair to croon some more. Actually, that sounds remarkably like what I just saw. Let's just leave it at that.

Arise Sir Rod, before you need a zimmer.

Admiral Fallow, Paisley Town Hall, Fri 14th Oct, 2016

I've raved about this band before. There is something about them that speaks to the Scotsman in me. Louis Abbott's vocals are as Scottish as whiskey blending perfectly with the indie pop voice of Sarah Hayes. Everything about the band melds, with multi- percussion, clarinet and flute, heavy drum beats, pounding bass and tuneful guitar licks. Their lyrics are poetic and heartfelt. They have three albums to their name, with a fourth due sometime next year, yet they've never had a hit, which is probably why the gig was not sold out.

It wasn't a perfect night: I forgot my phone so no piccies of the gig;

prior to the show, the server in Saporito messed up our order (no biggie and sorted quickly with apologies); then, after a stressful week, we elected to sit in the balcony, only for a G4S goon to strut in suited all in black, except for his ID lanyard, company striped tie and silver sideburns with receding slicked-backed grey hair, announcing the balcony was closed and we were all to get out, pointing down to the ground floor standing area like some referee sending us off. Grudgingly we complied, only to find others who objected were allowed to remain. There were about thirty of us decanted, with four objectors 'sitting' their ground. What really pissed me off was watching the balcony slowly refill with people obviously unaware the balcony was closed. As the gig wasn't a sellout, I can understand why they wanted to make the floor look more full but if you're going to make a rule, stick to it. It scunnered me.

The support act, Andrew Wasylyk, from Dundee, played solo on guitar and keyboards and was fine. A bit one tone but he has a good voice. A bit like a skinny, bearded seventies singer-songwriter playing from the heart.

The sound in the venue was great right up to the encore when the sound guys forgot to switch half the speakers back on until midway through the final track. It was disconcerting only hearing the music from above, like a gig in another venue bleeding through.

As we left, it looked like the Abbey and its grounds had been graffitied at a jaunty angle with the 'Paisley 2021' logo but it was just a projection. This time.

Take That, British Summer Time, Hyde Park, London. Sat 9th July 2016.

This was a slick show, so tightly choreographed that it left little room for spontaneity. The three boys know how to put on a spectacle better than Specsavers. With a team of dancers in various costumes throughout the show, and guests Lulu and DJs Sigma, they wowed the crowd for nearly two hours. They won me over despite it being Take That.

Despite the expense, the VIP Diamond tix were well worth it, getting to listen to the majority of the support acts while sitting in the VIP Garden, with proper toilets and lots of bars and food kiosks. Our special section in front of the stage was brilliant with only a few drunks occasionally spoiling things.The 65,000 strong audience on the other side of the stage walkway reminded me of the Walking Dead (singing dead?) stretching back as far as the eye could see. They must have been well jealous.

The main support was Olly Murs. He gave a great 45mins too, running through his hits, duetting with Ella Eyre who had been on earlier, and covering a medley of dance classics, ending with Uptown Funk. A great warm-up for the main event.

Setlist
Nessun Dorma (Giacomo Puccini song) tape intro
Shine
Greatest Day
Get Ready for It
Hold Up a Light
Patience
Pray
The Garden
Up All Night
Said It All
Everything Changes (first performance since 2011)
It Only Takes a Minute (first performance since 2011) / Could It Be Magic
A Million Love Songs
Back for Good
Relight My Fire (Dan Hartman cover) (with Lulu)
Cry (Sigma cover) (with Sigma)
The Flood
These Days
Rule the World
Never Forget

Vintage Trouble, The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow. Sat 25th June 2016

'Leave your troubles at the door, we're having a dance party tonight in Glasgow.'

But first...

The support act tonight were Slydigs, a band from Warrington who plug away with a sub-Oasis manc-rock. I had trouble understanding the bescarfed, vest wearing bassist when he occasionally made a comment on the mic but musically they did a fine job warming up the crowd of Troublemakers, most of whom were 40+. Just before the main act took to the stage, you began to notice the influx of sneaky teenagers, with their youthful energy, squeezing through the lard.

The audience anticipation was tangible and Vintage Trouble didn't disappoint. They have always been a great live band but tonight it struck me how tight they have become, visibly enjoying the performance, confident in their talent, yet humble that we decided to spend our time with them. Each of the waist-coated marvels was superb, packing more into 90 mins that a lot of bands ever give. The keyword was energy.

The audience sing-a-longs were loud, proud and word perfect showing how devoted a following they've picked up. Tye Taylor, the lead singer, loves to get among the audience and he was everywhere tonight: main stage, floor, tech board, side balcony, rear balcony and on top of the audience. He's like a dance preacher, with 'hands in the air' shouts and demands to dance, clap and sing that get all ages responding, showing his own moves like a dance-dynamo. The only time the audience energy sagged was when they played an unfamiliar new number that had a different groove. By the end of the show, my palms were so sore from clapping I had to fake clap.

I believe, now that the world has lost some of its musical greats, Vintage Trouble deserve to claim one of those fallen crowns. If you get the chance, go and see them. You won't be disappointed.

Setlist
Run Like the River
Nobody Told Me
Strike Your Light
Another Man's Words
Roller Coaster
Turn the Sky to Blue
Highland Dance Party!
Trouble Makers Medley: You Better Believe It (With elements of Total Strangers) / Soul Serenity / Angel City, California / Jezzebella / Gracefully / Total Strangers
Doin' What You Were Doin'
Blues Hand Me Down
Pelvis Pusher

Encore:

Nancy Lee

Sarah Pascoe, 'Animal', The Stand, Glasgow. Mon 20th June 2016

Sara Pascoe was superb tonight at The Stand, Glasgow, performing her 'Animal' tour. An hour and a half of solid comedy material, interweaving stories, funny thoughts, callbacks and bizarre ideas, like, she's decided she could be the Prime Minister but a pacifist one, who sells Trident on eBay and uses the cash to fund the NHS and pay nurses serious wages, like Sultan of Brunei money. But she'll only be the Prime Minister of those who want her cos she'll let the ones who don't want her to leave. (I do not do her material justice).

She talks almost non-stop and there are so many little funny gems along the way that you are enthralled by her. She describes wanting to be more confident, even adopting a baseball cap before the interval so 'Confident Sara' can plug her book, 'available for sale in the corridor', but I can see she has grown so much since her first tour.

She can be both erudite and silly in the same sentence. She's not afraid to explain a concept laughter-free knowing there's a punchline, a callback and a point to follow. Her material may be feminist friendly but she still appeals to both genders, with a routine on a local Sex Dungeon, her poor ability at giving handjobs and empathetic porn pop-ups and banners to teach men about the truth of relationships.

(I just mistyped relationshops* - what a brilliant concept - a shop where you can buy advice on being a better partner. But I digress.)

I could see the material she's written for this tour translating beautifully into a BBC2 sitcom, to rival Miranda, but with less pratfalls and more promoting the joy of female pubic hair.

Intelligent, whimsical, coy and magnificent: Sara is her own beast and well worth catching.

Eddie Izzard, Force Majeure (In English), The Stand, Glasgow. Sun 19th June 2016

Tonight's summary: human sacrifice, dogs, Caesar salad, a chicken, giraffes, lions & tigers, moles, horses and someone called Steve. Yes, I was at the Eddie Izzard 9pm gig tonight at The Stand. (performance in English, mostly, with occasional clucks). Fun stuff but I was too feart to take a piccy.

All proceeds from the gigs are being donated to the charities that Jo Cox supported.

Coldplay, 'A Head Full of Dreams' Tour, Hampden Park, Glasgow. Tues 7th June 2016

Despite the Yellow weather warning from the met office, the rain stayed away above Hampden. Even if it had, I don’t think it would have dampened the mood because the Coldplay audience were having an Amazing Day (if it had been at Parkhead, I could have used the ‘Para-Para-Paradise’ line).

As you entered the stadium, each person was handed a wristband (or Xyloband). Instructions on how to activate it and wear them appeared on the big screen prior to the show. The lighting effect of tens of thousands of these across the whole stadium was amazing, like rainbow fireflies dancing above the audience. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We had seats in the West Stand, with a stretch of tarmac and the First Aid tent between us and the packed standing area. It felt like we were sitting in an overflow car park, the distance it left us from the stage and its long extension through the middle of the audience. The squinty First Aid sign also frustrated me, but not so much that I could be bothered faking an illness in order to get through the barrier to the Standing area to straighten it.

We missed the first support act but caught the second. Lianne La Havas offered some strong vocals and a guitar groove that was infectious, even if few of the audience agreed when she asked them to sing ‘Turn up your love’. The camera pan on the big screen displayed a sea of staring, closed-mouthed fans. Nevertheless a fine support act.

Coldplay came on at 8.45pm and played through to 10.50pm. There were fireworks, explosions of floating colour, giant balloons, lasers and even shooting flames, most of which lost their impact until the sun set. This didn’t matter though because deep down Coldplay is about four blokes playing great stadium pop-rock. Chris Martin is a charismatic frontman and musician and the band is solid.

A lot of people mock Coldplay, a fact which Chris Martin acknowledges, but I think those people just don’t get it. Coldplay capture and share joy in performance. Chris Martin is a man-child who never had his dreams crushed by life. He loves what he does and it shows: with talent, with humour and with uninhibited dance moves, like you might have done as a kid and not cared. It’s all about being happy and having fun. What's not to love?

They played from three different locations within the stadium: main stage, end of walkway stage and in the Stand opposite the stage, none of which were any closer to us, a fact for which Chris apologised. Nice guy.

As always, a few fans caught my attention. The tall Chris Martin clone, with the University of Glasgow lanyard and cycle helmet, who sat in front of me was an annoyance, because, when he was sitting, he used the back of his seat as an elbow rest and kept hitting my knee, and when he stood up he blocked my view.

The dancers on the tarmac were heart-warming. Two, in particular, stood out: the one I imagined to be Susan Boyle’s blond sister, in a black top and leggings, who performed her own form of expressionistic dance during the entire concert, adding a purple balloon prop later on. She was brilliant, even shimmying all the way up to the fencing at the First Aid tent for a quick vape; and the bare-backed squaw in the yellow dress and gold sandals, wearing sunglasses and a hairband, who performed a ‘keep the rain away’ dance with her lanky male partner for the entire show provided lots of vigour. Not a dance inhibition between them. (videos to follow)

Overall, it was a great concert experience, despite the view.

Setlist
A-Stage:
O Mio Babino Caro (Maria Callas song) tape
A Head Full of Dreams (extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech)
Yellow
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
The Scientist
Birds (with "Oceans" excerpt in intro)
Paradise (with Tiësto remix outro)

B-stage:
Magic
Ink
Everglow (Single Version)

A-stage:
Clocks
Midnight (Partial)
Charlie Brown
Hymn for the Weekend
Fix You (with "Midnight" excerpt in intro)
"Heroes" (David Bowie cover)
Viva la Vida
Adventure of a Lifetime

C-stage:
Kaleidoscope (extended)
In My Place (acoustic)
The Hardest Part (audience request song; acoustic)
See You Soon (with a snippet of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers)

A-stage:
Amazing Day (extended intro)
A Sky Full of Stars
Up&Up
End Credits (concert credits on screen)

MUSE, Drones tour, SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Sun 17th April 2016

I was really looking forward to this gig. 'Drones' was my favourite album of last year and, although our seats were in the upper section, MUSE had promised a spectacle.

The first disappointment came on arrival when everyone was being funneled into huge lines through the south entrance. At this point, the doors had been open for forty minutes so I wasn't expecting such a long queue. It took fifteen minutes to get through in a bitingly cold wind as security searched (almost) everyone for booze or weapons. Our queue didn't have a female security person so the women didn't get a frisk. The man who searched me was in a right mood, pausing his search to repeat, 'I said are you carrying any beer, bottles or cans?' when I failed to respond to his initial mumble. If you expect an answer, don't address my chest, talk to the ears. Welcome to the Hydro.

The second disappointment was realising we couldn't see the round screen above the stage from our seats because the sound and lighting rigs obscured our view. This was a small irritation but enough to trigger my negative mood.

The support act were not the ones listed on the Ticketmaster email. Instead, we got Phantogram, an American electro-rock band with a female lead singer. They never managed to own the large circular stage. Being unfamiliar with their work, their songs never engaged me and I was glad when they stopped.

MUSE have a powerful sound. It's a shame they didn't get the acoustics right last night, with a lot of sibilance on Matt Bellamy's vocals. I didn't think he was on top form, his guitar work occasionally sloppy, his vocals missing the big notes consistently. Matt also failed to personalise the show for the Glasgow fans, bar three obligatory mentions of Glasgow and two of 'Scotland'. No chat, little crowd work; it was the same show that everyone else gets. He didn't even introduce his bandmates.

I did think the staging was imaginative, with its turntable centre and raised wings; the lighting was amazing and the floating spheres added another dimension. The screens that descended occasionally worked well sometimes, such as when displaying the hands pulling the puppet strings, but were weaker when projecting live images of the band. Maybe it was the angle we were looking at them, though.

The crowd on floor level looked like they were really enjoying themselves, bouncing and rippling, with an occasion mini mosh pit erupting during the faster numbers. Upstairs we wobbled our legs, nodded our heads and were told to sit down if we deigned to stand. Probably for our own good given how drunk some were. The chatting behind me really irritated me during the quieter numbers but that was perhaps due to a lack of engagement with the band. It didn't stop me imagining turning around and lifting the squawking woman bodily from her seat and propelling her over the balcony to the floor below. Give her something to really talk about. A couple of rows in front of me the tall lads, in their late twenties/ early thirties, with formerly athletic frames built in the gym and lost in the pub, regularly popped off for another quartet of pints, forcing everyone else in the row to stand up to let them out. I understand why they don't but it would be great if the venue would shut the bars during the performance to avoid this disturbance. I was amused by their air hugging at the end, necks too tired to support their lolling heads.

If I went to see MUSE again, I would only want to do so if I was standing. I'm left with a feeling of 'seen that, done that, box ticked, move on' which I'm sure is not the impression MUSE want to give their fans.

Setlist
Drones (Intro tape) 
Psycho
Reapers
Map of the Problematique
('Who Knows Who' riff + Rage Against The Machine's 'Maggie's Farm' riff outro) 
Dead Inside
Bliss (Extended outro)
The 2nd Law: Isolated System (Shortened)
The Handler
Supermassive Black Hole (The Jimi Hendrix Experience's 'Voodoo Child' intro)
Prelude
Starlight
Citizen Erased
Munich Jam
Madness
[JFK]
Stockholm Syndrome (Rage Against The Machine's 'Township Rebellion' riff + 'Execution Commentary' riff outro)'
Time Is Running Out
Uprising (Extended outro)
The Globalist
Drones (Reprise)

Encore:
Take a Bow
Mercy
Knights of Cydonia (Ennio Morricone's 'Man With a Harmonica' intro)