Gut Reactions (post-gig memories and other trips): Deacon Blue, "All The Old 45s - The Very Best of Deacon Blue", OVO Hydro, Saturday 14th October 2023

They say parking spaces are too small for the size of cars these days. I think the same could also apply to the seats at the OVO as a generation of Deacon Blue fans expands. If the band continue to fill the venue year after year, the OVO management is going to have to replace the current seats with bigger ones. Just an observation that applies to me as much as the people sitting around me, side belly to side belly.

The place looked a sellout, every tier packed. With no support act, most people knew to get there early. I was very early, not bothered by drinking at the bar or dining on the fast food available in the foyer. I sat at my empty row, sucking a Werthers Original, flicking through Facebook on my phone wondering if any of my FB were in attendance, and then reading a book on my Kindle app. Very rock n roll.

I was there alone, my wife hating the music of Deacon Blue with a passion. The woman seated on my left arrived with her husband, carrying two half-pint tumblers, handles conjoined. She showed me her OVO Lounge wristband and sang its praises, informing me that the Lounge had its own toilets and the service at the bar was so quick. "It's free you know, so long as you book it. We always do. The couple in front of us hadn't booked and tried to blag their way in but the staff were having none of it." I must have given her a look she interpreted as 'I think this woman is crazy' because she assured me she wasn't drunk. She informed me one of her drinks was water. She wasn't one of those who got drunk and missed half the show. She was too big a fan to do that. Deacon Blue has been an integral part of her life since she was thirteen. She asked me what my favourite song was and I picked one that I could remember (I don't really have one). She told me hers. Though she was chatty, carrying the conversation herself, with me struggling to think of anything to ask, I did actually enjoy talking with her.

Then the band came on to perform the first set acoustically. The sound was crystal clear and while I didn't know all the songs, I still enjoyed them. The audience remained in their seats so my view was fairly good, though my photos suffered a bit from bonce creepage.

At the interval, most of my row disappeared to the bar (wristbands). By the time the lights went down again, not all had returned. Then the 'excuse me's' started, as they filtered back. I didn't realise the last person was wanting past, thinking she was the woman who had been on my left, so sat back down. Her indignant excuse me was worthy of Steve Martin causing me to leap back up again, apologising. Obviously, I didn't vocalise my thoughts: Waddle back quicker, next time, bitch.

Deacon Blue went on to play another full electric set. Whether it was the old 45s, 55s or 65s, age didn't matter because the songs were timeless. Ricky's voice has a statesman-like quality: clear, precise, and note-perfect and everyone listened. He's got his moves and his stories and we love him for it. He's a Caledonian poet at heart. Lorraine was as bonkers as ever, her voice divine, her spirit demented like the music inhabited her. My view of the part of the stage where she sang was unfortunately eclipsed by a tall bloke in a baseball gap most of the time.

The woman on my left burned out midway through the show. She'd been singing and dancing and then suddenly sat down, reaching into her handbag for a battery-operated fan. She wafted cool air at her face for a while, then left to go to the toilet and was away for a couple of songs. To her credit, she returned fully energised and continued to gie it laldy for the remainder of the show.

The band played from 8 pm till 10.45 pm (albeit with a twenty-minute interval and a short break before the encore). What impressed me was how at home they looked on that stage. The light show, the screens, the music and the sing-a-long adulation of the huge audience gave the performance a scale that showed Deacon Blue deserved to be there. They gave us what we wanted and so much more. They might have been bigger in the eighties and nineties but they've matured into a fine outfit that wears well today. A great night!

Setlist

Set 1 (Acoustic):

Wages Day (acapella first verse)

A New House

She'll Understand

Chocolate Girl

Cover From the Sky

He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now

S.H.A.R.O.N.

Queen of the New Year

Raintown (James Prime, Lorraine McIntosh and Ricky Ross)

Set 2: