Gut Reactions (post-gig memories and other trips): GUN, Intimate Hombres Album Launch Show. St Luke's and the Winged Ox, Glasgow. Friday 26th April, 2024

It was my mammy's birthday today, so I took the day off to take her out for lunch. I won't tell you what age she was, but she has more wrinkles on her face than she has years.

Then, because I'm getting old, too, I had to have an afternoon nap in preparation for tonight's gig. I did manage to set up and test my new subwoofer before I left, so the afternoon wasn't a complete bust.

GUN were playing two shows at St Luke's tonight after the first gig sold out. This meant the second show was pushed to start later than originally scheduled. We arrived around 7.45pm for an 8pm doors open, with GUN due on stage at 9pm. The queue was fairly long, already stretching as far as the pavement. Not as long as the queue at the Barrowland for Rob Lambertini ( a popular George Michael tribute act), though.

I didn't get frisked on the way in, so my initial concerns about having to explain why I was wearing a back brace were unfounded. It was just as well, as I later discovered I had a pair of scissors in my back pocket from when I opened the speaker's packaging.

As we got to the front of the queue, I overheard the couple in front being told there were seats available upstairs, so we went up, too. We sat on the centre pews at the back, close to the middle, with one pew in front and another behind. Signs on the wall behind the sound desk/VIP area indicated no standing was allowed there, so I figured our view would be fine.

Unfortunately, the people in the pews in front decided they would stand for almost the entire gig, so taking videos was out, and my snaps had to be mostly snatched from between their shoulders.

The lady on the right took umbrage with one cheeky chap when he stood in the corridor in front of her. She leaned across and prodded him on the shoulder, gesturing for him to bugger off. He apologised and sank to his knees to continue videoing the song on his phone from ledge level. Afterwards, when he turned to apologise again, she turned up her nose at him and then smirked at her pal. Not a nice person. I half expected her to breathe fire. She videoed almost every song in portrait but only partially, as if her attention span couldn't tolerate that amount of time.

Crouching Fan, Looming Dragon

GUN were on fire (as I'm contractually obliged to say as a lifelong fan). Actually, they were good, even from my seated position. The venue sound wasn't great, with a lot of distortion. It might have come across better from floor level.

The band played a number of tunes from the new album, Hombres, as well as the crowdpleasers of old. The new songs are brilliant and earned their right to stay on the setlist for years to come. Dante's voice was a bit rough at times, having completed one set an hour earlier, but he still belted out the songs. I couldn't really make out the banter when Jules spoke because of his quiet mic, which was strange because, at times, the backing vocals almost drowned out Dante.

I stood for Shame On You, the last song before the encore, so I got a couple of uninterrupted snaps while singing my heart out.

On the way out, I spied Pauline McNally, a former colleague, on the stairs opposite, but she didn't notice me waving (or my anonymity struck again). It's been a while. She still looks great.

As we walked to the car, I asked my wife if she'd changed her mind about attending the Barrowland gig in December. She smiled. "Yes. I'd like to go. They were good."

Praise indeed!

Before that, though, I get to catch them at the Maid In Stone Festival in Kent.

Setlist:

Lucky Guy

Here's Where I Am

Don't Say It's Over

All Fired Up

Better Days

You Are What I Need

Boys Don't Cry

Falling

Take Me Back Home