Queen Symphonic with the RSNO, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. Sun 16th February, 2020

Having experienced "The Music of Bond" last year, We thought we'd give this concert a go. It featured the RSNO with a five-piece rock band and four singers from the West End production of 'We Will Rock You'.

Splitting Freddie's vocals over four singers was a good idea. None of them got his teeth or his moves but they each brought a different element to the vocals and together produced album quality harmonies. They were not attempting to reproduce a Mercury performance, just creating a feel-good show and they succeeded. 

When the orchestra took the stage, it looked like the lead violinist was Brian May only smaller, even in her high heels. It took me a bit of time to get used to the amalgamation of rock band and orchestra, with the rock drummer sticking out and the guitars sounding muted. Brian May has a distinctive sound which these guys didn't quite match. They gave it a good attempt though.

By the second half, with the singers warming up the crowd, getting them on their feet, the show took on more of a concert feel with people singing along and doing the iconic Queen claps and arm salutes. The audience appeared predominantly bald and wrinkly but there were a deceptively large number of young ones too. 

Not every song was a success. At one point I thought I was listening to Mary Poppins sings Queen as one of the girl singers enunciated each lyric most eloquently. The long-haired bloke singer does a good rock vocal though, giving plenty of oomph to Tie Your Mother Down.

Bohemian Rhapsody was a class performance from everyone and finished the main show, leaving We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions for the encore. Overall, it was a good way to spend two and a half hours on a windy Sunday evening (thanks to Storm Dennis).  

 

    

Ásgeir, Classic Grand, Glasgow. Sunday 9th February, 2020

The omens were not good: a wife reticent to leave the dog alone at the cabin while Storm Ciara battered the UK with 80 mph winds; a car tyre that deflated twice on the way to Glasgow; the multi-storey car park whose pedestrian exit was closed due to refurbishment; getting puddle splash in my socks on the way to the venue. Everything was saying Don't go.

Yet, I was determined. The dog would be fine - the big bad wolf only blew down the wooden house in a fairy tale. I had an electric pump so reinflating the tyre was not going to be a problem. The car park had other (slightly more inconvenient) exits. My socks would dry.

Firstly, before the gig, we dined at the Amber Regent. As always, a glorious Chinese feast. A good start.

The venue was new to me but we arrived well after doors open so we got straight in after the ticket checker painted a dot onto the back of our hand. Then, up, up and up all those stairs. The room had a low stage at the front, a balcony on two sides and a long bar on the other side. We didn't have long to wait for the support act, two local lads with guitars, one acoustic, one electric, who played some pleasant songs. A decent support act.

Having realised the invasion of the tall people had begun, I looked around for a better view, spotted a gap in the balcony and decamped. The room wasn't so large that being at the back was going to be an issue. It also got us away from the beam of the orange spotlight that had blinded me during the support. Our new position was right behind the sound engineer. We could see the setlist on his laptop. Sixteen tracks followed by two more for the encore. 

Some men wearing hats appeared through the doors beside us and wandered through the crowd. This, we discovered shortly afterwards, was the band. They wandered onto the stage, did some final checks of their equipment and headed backstage again. Then, at 9 pm, they started the show.

Asgeir sat at his keyboard for the entire show, giving a shy, static performance, rarely chatting between songs. His four bandmates also did not move around, possibly due to limitations of the small stage. Despite, the low-key performance, the audience was transfixed, appreciative of the aural landscape being created. There were no annoying conversations between friends, few troubled the bar staff despite the bar being open and there were only a few camera phones being held up from time to time. Everyone was there for the music. 

He only sang one song in his native Icelandic yet everything about his sound embodies the spirit of his culture. It's unlike anything I've heard before and quite beautiful. 

Despite the omens to the contrary, it was a gig to savour. 

Sublime.