Gut Reactions (post-gig memories and other trips): Collateral

Showing posts with label Collateral. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 April 2026

Tyketto "Closer to the Sun" UK Tour, The Garage, Glasgow. Tuesday 21st April, 2026.

A Tuesday night gig at The Garage: the queue is down as far as the Gentings Casino by the time we arrive. The doors are due to open at 7 pm, with Collateral on stage at 7.15. The entry process is smooth, and, bypassing the merch room, we make our way to the main hall, where we end up five-deep at the front.

A couple are on my left, the woman as short as the man is tall. Her view of the stage is good until a white-haired pensioner with hearing aids, thick-rimmed specs on a cord, and a walking stick shuffles through the crowd and stops right in front of her. The husband is irate, demanding that the man move, which he doesn't. There's no room. The pensioner brasses it out and stays where he is, forcing the unhappy pair to slide over.

Collateral both look and sound great once my ears adjust to the room. Frontman Angelo Tristan packs charisma with a fine voice. He brings the energy, demanding we raise our game so they can fulfil their role in warming us up. He succeeds. A great start.

However, my photos are shite.

Collateral

It doesn't take long for Warrior Soul to sap that energy. Their intro takes forever before the lead singer joins them on stage. I wished he hadn't. If you're going to copy the look of David Coverdale and the dance moves of David Lee Roth, you shouldn't do it as they are now - vocally strained and arthritic. Any singing voice this man had is long gone. He still bears the demeanour of a rock god, but I quickly grow tired of his shouting into the mic. I don't mean in a death metal way. This is not death metal. If anything, this is the death of metal. The solos the guitarist shreds sound more like instrument abuse than music. If I'd had a magic amp, I'd have rubbed it and wished them to stop. Forever. As I haven't, I close my eyes and wait for it to be over. Interminable!

Warrior Soul - look at us, we used to be middlingly famous

This rather dampens my feelings towards Tyketto. As does the clean-shaven Hagrid in a leather jacket, who uses his heft to push forward to stand in front of the girl beside me. She taps him on the shoulder. He pretends not to notice. She taps more insistently. He turns and fake apologises, edging over slightly. She still can't see. She tells him to do one. He relents and eventually slides sideways to be a pain in front of someone else. (He returned during the set, standing in front of the couple on my other side, but the husband, who was as tall as him, 'encouraged' him to keep going. I didn't see where Hagrid went after this - hopefully home.)

Tyketto frontman Danny Vaughn is a humble soul. He appreciates how the fans have stuck with them for their thirty-five years. He's retained a powerful voice and his sense of humour, and is an easy presence to like. I'm not overly familiar with their music, though I did give the new album a couple of listens (it's a grower). The hardcore fans sing along, while I try to work out what the words are. The talented guitarist keeps playing at the side of the stage, out of the spotlight, which is a bit frustrating. I don't think he realises he's in shadow.

I don't attempt to shoot any video footage. Too many heads at the same level as mine. Besides, the tall bloke to my right seems to have his phone permanently on record, with an unobstructed view of the stage, so his footage will be superior to mine. Let's hope he shares it on YouTube.

Mr Video

I never managed to snag a photo of the setlist, but noticed a poster of the stage times behind the bar. The barmaid saw me taking the picture, asked if I wanted it, and handed it over. Tyketto never stuck to the 'strict curfew', finishing at 10.45 pm.

The Garage printer needs a new ink cartridge.

Overall, the gig was fine, but I would have enjoyed it more without Warrior Soul's set.

Setlist:

Rescue Me

Wings

Burning Down Inside

Higher Than High

Strength in Numbers

Reach

Closer to the Sun

The Run

We Rise

Circle the Wagons

Seasons (preceded by the opening verse/ chorus of "Stuck in the Middle with You" by Steelers Wheel)

Harleys & Indians (Riders in the Sky) (Roxette cover)

Standing Alone

Lay Your Body Down

The Brave

Forever Young

Ticket Price: unknown (Bob owes me for tickets, and I owe him. It balances out in the end).

Saturday, 6 September 2025

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.

Saturday, 14 December 2024

GUN 'Hombres" Tour, Barrowlands, Glasgow. Saturday 14th December, 2024.

If I'd been prepared to travel, I'd have had quite a choice of rock gigs to attend tonight: Those Damn Crows in Cardiff, These Wicked Rivers in Derby, and King King at the QMU in Glasgow. There was really only one choice, though. It had to be GUN at the Barrowland, the band's spiritual home.

I managed to snag a position close to the stage. My view was excellent, and for once, there was no crush. I only had one shaven-headed gentleman between me and the barrier. Shortly afterwards, a young woman on her own stood beside me. She was brunette, with long, straight hair, her features similar to Aubrey Plaza. Quite a beauty. She had a persistent smile like she knew a secret that made her the happiest girl in the world. She bopped along to the rock music playing over the PA like she couldn't help it. It was in her soul. We never spoke, but we did share a dance (if you count us moving at the same time, both of us facing the same direction, not looking at one another except out of the corner of my eye). To my amazement, every time I glanced at her, she was still smiling. I usually possess a talent for stifling girls' smiles as soon as they see me, but hers persisted, even when she looked directly at me as I passed her across a cup of water from the security person. By then, she was even hotter than at the start.

Anyway, Collateral opened the show and played an excellent set. I'd never seen or heard them before, but I'd describe them as 80s-style melodic rock. The singer was tall with long, shoulder-length hair and liked acting out his lyrics, putting his whole body into the performance. The bassist wore a kilt and, later on, little else, playing topless. They performed like they deserved to be on that stage, which is always a good sign. One to keep an eye out for another time.

Technical problems delayed the start of Kira Mac's set, curtailing it. Kira's powerful voice was louder than even the guitars. However, they didn't play my favourite song of theirs, Scorned, and it was not on the setlist, which was disappointing. Maybe they will play it next year when they return to Glasgow.

GUN were immense. Getting our vocal cords warmed up with The Sensational Alex Harvey band's version of Delilah as an intro, they kicked off with Lucky Guy from the new album, its thumping bass rhythm and 70s vibe whipping up the crowd. The band's stage sound is stronger now, with Roo, Andy and Jools providing backing vocals. I felt a couple of songs were unusual choices, namely Vicious Heart and Pride, but the rest of the set was so good.

During the encore, the legend that is Donald C MacLeod (of the clan MacLeod) came on wearing a Santa hat to present the band with an award for Best Scottish Album of 2024.

I did make a bit of a fool of myself at the end. I got so excited that I started jumping during the last song, Shame on You. I haven't done proper jumping for years (because I'm old and fat with slightly dodgy ankles). Maybe I'd been mesmerised by the smiling girl's swaying moves or emboldened by the bouncy crowd around me. I managed to retain the sense to hold down my phone, which was poking out of my shirt chest pocket, but I neglected to consider my jacket, which I'd tucked around the buckle of my belt. After a couple of jumps, my jacket slipped onto the floor as I bounced in the air. Upon landing, I bent down to recover it but failed to address my centre of gravity, my lack of balance sending me head-first into the shaven-headed gentleman's thighs. I signalled my apologies as I corrected myself and didn't leave the floor again. My sweaty face hid my blushes.

After the gig, I hung around. All the bands mingled and hugged on stage as David Lee Roth's Just Like Paradise played over the PA. Collateral's lead singer spotted the smiling girl and pointed to her, smiling himself. I reckon she was his girlfriend, though I never did find out.

I wasn't lucky enough to bag a setlist, but I did manage to take a photograph of one from someone who did. Note it doesn't list the extra acoustic song, The Only One (from the Swagger album), that Dante and Jools played at the start of the encore.

Such a fabulous music gig to end 2024.