Collateral plus guests, Classic Grand, Glasgow. Saturday 6th September, 2025

Initially, this gig was due to take place in The Cathouse. Then, it got moved to the Classic Grand for the same date, but with a new door time of 5 pm to accommodate the addition of two more bands to the bill:  Those Made Broken & Victory or Die. An unusual move, but it offers better value, although it scuttled my plan to take the car. Still, another chance to buy a discounted train ticket with my Scot 50 card. And I was able to join the others for dinner at the local Spoons (The Crystal Palace).

I'm not particularly fond of The Classic Grand as a music venue. The sound is generally awful, but it wasn't an expensive gig. Collateral were great when they supported GUN last year at the Barrowland. 

The guy at the door was struggling to scan the ticket of the punter in front of us. I noted that at least a dozen guest list envelopes were sitting in a pile, rather more than usual. It made sense, though, given there were now four acts, each of which would have been given an allocation of freebie tickets. A clever way to boost attendance.

To my surprise, Juliet's Not Dead, the original support act, opened the show. They used to be called Twister, and I'd seen them perform at Maid of Stone last year. Bob reminded me of a peculiar quirk of the lead singer: how his tongue protrudes from his mouth when he sings. Once seen, never forgotten. This became a distraction from the music, now that it had been brought to my attention. Despite this, they gave a strong, confident performance, albeit with the guitar lacking in the sound mix.  

Juliet's Not Dead

Next up was Victory or Die, named after a Motorhead song. A local band, whose music borders between rock and punk, they powered through their setlist, with a bit of banter in between. Again, the guitar sound was lost, overpowered by the bass, drums, and to an extent, the vocals. I got bored with them before the end. They did have some simple, catchy choruses.

Victory or Die

Next were Those Made Broken, another local band, who seemed keen to emulate the angst of Linkin Park and their ilk. The lead singer called for some energy from the crowd, but I was all out, still recuperating from the cold that had scuppered my attendance at Anchor Lane's gig the previous week. TMB might be a good band, but again, I couldn't tell because the sound in the hall was awful. I leaned against the back wall of the balcony, wishing I had a seat. 

Collateral did something that turned the gig around for me. Not only was their performance joyous, they brought their own sound tech, so it sounded great too. The set wasn't long, over just as I was getting into them, but it was enough to stamp a big tick in the 'good' box. 

The one unusual thing, though, was that about a third of the audience left at the start of their set. The downside to swelling the audience with fans of the other bands was that they would depart after seeing them perform, thus leaving the back of the hall empty. Still, those who remained were given a delightful set.

Bob had purchased the Juliet's Not Dead album, having borrowed back the cash he gave me for the ticket to pay for it, their card reader having been packed away before the end of the gig. I also carried it home for him, while he and his brother went to the pub for a jar or two. I was happy to go home early before the night train got too rowdy.

Sound Tech checking the levels on the right

Sound Tech checking the levels on the left 

Did the missing third leave at 9pm to get their bedtime Horlicks?

No setlist as setlist.fm doesn't even list the gig, never mind indicate which songs they played tonight.

Ticket Price: 3 x £18 = £54, plus booking fee 3 x £2 = £6, plus eTicket fee £0.50 = £60.50 from Tickets Scotland. 

Robin McAuley UK Tour 2025, Classic Grand, Glasgow. Saturday 16th August, 2025

A last-minute offer of a free ticket brought me out to this gig at the Classic Grand. As such, I was a wee bit underprepared, having only listened to a few tracks from his most recent album.

Support act, Lyin Rampant, have been around for years. Not that I've ever seen them, to my recollection. At the start of their set, the sound was awful, as if I was listening to them through a wall, with only the bass registering. It got slightly better later, but by that time, I'd already tuned out. The lead singer looked as if his mop of a perm was too heavy for his neck, singing most of the songs into the floor. I've seen a few older rock singers do this, but it's usually so they can read their lyrics from a monitor. I don't think that applied tonight.

Robin McAuley is not a name that troubled me in the past. He sang with Grand Prix and Michael Schenker, and had his own solo career, but I couldn't name a single song he sang. That didn't help tonight. The sound was much improved for his set, but still, it's difficult to sing along if you don't know the words. His music is very much generic 80s melodic rock. If this had been a festival show, I'd have wandered off to find a seat. 

On the quieter numbers, the club music blasting out in a room on a lower floor muddied the sound. I really don't like the Classic Grand as a music venue.   

Still, it was free, it finished just after 9.30, and it reminded me that not every gig can be a winner. Well worth the money I paid, if not the time.

Setlist (assuming it didn't change from the first date of the tour)

Save Yourself (McAuley–Schenker Group song)
Standing on the Edge
This Is My Heart (McAuley–Schenker Group song)
Shout (Grand Prix cover)
Keep on Believing (Grand Prix cover)
Take Me Back (McAuley–Schenker Group song)
The Best of Me
Alive
Bad Boys (McAuley–Schenker Group song)
Gimme Your Love (McAuley–Schenker Group song)
Anytime (McAuley–Schenker Group song)
Samurai (Grand Prix cover)
Love Is Not a Game (McAuley–Schenker Group song)

Ticket Price: Free (comp courtesy of Trev from Shock City Productions

Lyin Rampant

Robin McAuley

Both bands on stage for the final song

Electric Boys, Classic Grand, Glasgow. Saturday 7th June 2025

A bonus gig tonight after one of Bob's mates informed him there were comp tickets at the door if he wanted them.

I'd never heard of either of the acts, but went along prepared to be impressed. The venue was small, the attendance smaller (certainly for the support act), and my head was still rejoicing in the afternoon's comedy show spent watching Elf Lyons. My imagination was firing on all cylinders as I imagined what her next show would be like, having seen a rough teaser preview.

I spent longer jotting down notes about that show than watching the one I was at, so this review is brief.

The Spangles - punk, like Green Day or Weezer.

Electric Boys - funky.

Both looked old, but the music was good. It takes a particular sensibility to keep going, plugging away night after night to small audiences, playing the music you created, hoping to build an audience. So, hats off to them for that.

Setlist?

Ticket Price: Free.

The Spangles

Merch table

Electric Boys

 

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.