KISS - KISSWORLD 2017, SSE Hydro, Sat 27 May 2017.

As a support act, we wanted the best but got The Dives. They had the look and sound of an American high school band playing prom night. A four piece, stylised in separate but distinct outfits, in greys, creams and blacks, they played sixties style guitar pop, with lots of backing vocal oohs and aahs. Each member sang lead at one point but the main vocalist was obviously the leading man, the Lennon of the group, front and centre, whipping his guitar up and enjoying their first night in an arena. Their one concession to the fact that it was a Kiss concert seemed to be the lightning flashes on the main man's guitar strap. An odd choice of support. I won't be rushing to download their new EP.

Then came the hottest band in the world: KISS. They've been coming to Scotland since 1976 and still do what it says on the face paint tin - pyros, fireworks, lasers, big screens, confetti cannons, streamer cannons, rising stages, flying band members, breathing fire, bleeding mouths and plenty of tongue. A two-hour show, with lots of energy and audience clapping, cheering and singing along, it was party time in Glasgow.

One irritation for me was the fact that Paul Stanley sounds more and more like Mark Hamill as the Joker (in the Batman Animated Series), an effect enhanced by the white face paint. If he'd donned a purple jacket and wide-brimmed hat, I'd have been looking around for Harley and wondering if the next pyro was going to be pointed at us. His on show six pack had a faint hint of cosmetic enhancement but he's certainly spritely for his age.

Gene Simmons is a monster who owns the stage. Sharing lead vocals on a number of songs, his mannerisms and extended tongue flicks are part of the joy of the band.

They chug out anthem after anthem, some I was not familiar with, and the audience laps it up. With all the flying about and rising stages, a highly entertaining show.

Setlist
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin song) (tape)
Deuce
Shout It Out Loud
Lick It Up
I Love It Loud
Firehouse
Shock Me
Guitar Solo
Flaming Youth
Bass Solo
God of Thunder
Crazy Crazy Nights
War Machine
Say Yeah
Psycho Circus
Black Diamond
Rock and Roll All Nite

Encore:
I Was Made for Lovin' You
Detroit Rock City
God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II (tape)

Take That, Wonderland Tour, SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Thurs 11th May 2017

No proper review tonight. My wife won't allow any criticism. But... I'm not a fan of the round stage. It worked for the carousel sequence but other than that they had to divide their time going round and round and back to the middle. It felt like they were always performing for the next person rather than me. However, they had good sound, great visuals, clever staging - a Cirque du Take That. All Saints in support were looking and sounding good too, even if Nat rarely smiled. The others looked like they were really enjoying themselves. She looked like a contractual obligation. The audience was a bit 'oestrogen and alcohol' but everyone enjoyed themselves and no one I could see embarrassed themselves.

Setlist

Wonderland
Greatest Day
Get Ready for It
Giants
Kidz
Underground Machine
Relight My Fire (Dan Hartman cover)
Superstar
Hope

Jungle Acoustic Medley
Beautiful World
Wait
Satisfied
Lovelife
How Deep Is Your Love? (Bee Gees cover)

New Day
Shine
Back for Good
Patience
Pray
It's All for You
The Flood
Cry (Sigma cover)
These Days

Encore:
Never Forget
Rule the World

GUN / Black Star Riders, O2 ABC, Glasgow Wed 8th March, 2017

I had a moment tonight.

It wasn't on the way to the gig, sitting at the traffic lights, eyes glancing over at the window of the gym, where various bodies in all stages of musculature stretched, crunched and pushed to their own inharmonious rhythm.

It wasn't at the Wetherspoons pub where three meals and three pints got me change from £21 (I wasn't being greedy; there were three of us).

It definitely wasn't during the support act, Backyard Babies, whose punkish rawk left me indifferent, despite the jeers from the quivering guitarist (when he wasn't wiping his nose with long swipes of his wrist).

It wasn't even during the rock posturing of Black Star Riders, playing a co-headline gig with GUN at the O2 ABC in Sauchiehall Street. They were good but I preferred them when they played a more balanced mix of Thin Lizzy and their own stuff.

It came during the opening bars of GUN's "Better Days". It felt in an instant that the years were peeled away, shedding the baggage I've collected both physically and mentally over the last thirty years. The music took me back to my early twenties, a time when I had no responsibilities, no ties but was generally shy and quiet. I loved rock music and local band GUN in particular. The live GUN experience was so freeing, unleashing my usually repressed emotions to jump and bounce, sing and shout, pump the air and go wild along with everyone around me. I took the tunes into my heart and they made it beat faster. They reminded me I was alive.

So thank you GUN for reawakening that feeling inside. It was great to be reminded of better days. There's no better high than feeling young again.

GUN Setlist

Let It Shine

Word Up! (Cameo cover)

Don't Say It's Over

Better Days

Hold Your Head Up

Money (Everybody Loves Her)

She Knows

Labour Of Life

Inside Out

Steal Your Fire

Shame on You

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) (Beastie Boys cover)

BSR Setlist

Heavy Fire

Bloodshot

The Killer Instinct

Dancing With the Wrong Girl

Soldierstown

When the Night Comes In

All Hell Breaks Loose

The Boys Are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover)

Cold War Love

Who Rides the Tiger

Testify or Say Goodbye

Kingdom of the Lost

Bound for Glory

Finest Hour 

Status Quo - Last Night of the Electrics Tour - SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Tues 20th Dec 2016

Two support acts tonight on a very wet and cold Glasgow evening: The Lounge Kittens and REO Speedwagon. The Christmas traffic was very heavy so I missed most of the opening act, a trio of ladies with unusually coloured hair, one of whom played keyboards. All three sang lounge tune versions of popular rock songs. The bit I saw came across like a RADA Edinburgh Fringe novelty act. A bit weird.

REO Speedwagon, like Quo, have been going a long time and they've a swagger that comes with constant touring. Even if the crowd were less than enthusiastic at first (the hardcore fans were noticeable in their vocalness and by virtue of the fact that they were alone in standing in a seated venue), the band still gave it their best. I'm not overly familiar with them, bar the hits in the Eighties. The lead singer reminded me of a Paul O'Grady lookalike, the bassist resembled a male Julie Goodyear with her hair down and the drummer was definitely a reincarnated Cozy Powell in black leather vest and gloves. Everything cried old school. But they rocked and kept on rolling. If they were an unknown support act, I would have been impressed. Thumbs up.

This was my first time seeing Status Quo live. The venue was about half full with the upper tiers curtained off and a few empty seats downstairs too, perhaps a sign that £62 was a bit steep. Nevertheless, the crowd was up for a party. On stage, Francis Rossi is very much a grandfather figure now, still full of cheeky charisma but very obviously missing his old mucker Rick Parfitt. The sound was still classic Quo but it could have been a tribute act (called SQ, according to the drum kit) which the old man had come along to assist. Quo have an amazing back catalogue of riffs, and a few fiddle-de-dee new ones to keep the crowd buzzing. From the first bars of 'Caroline' to 'Bye Bye Johnny Be Good', the crowd wo-wo-woed along as the band crammed in the hits. By the end, I had been won over and was still singing 'I like it, I like it, I like it' in the car home as 'Twelve Gold Bars' rocked me along the M8.

Quo are probably past their 'best before' date but I still enjoyed it.

Now for the less serious bit.

The security guard insisted I open my Barbour jacket (no denim jacket covered in rock album patches tonight - this is how much marriage changes a guy), only to apologise when she discovered the bump underneath was my stomach.

Not many photos came out tonight due to lots of big-eared, balloon-headed loons between me and the stage. The way their gangly arms waved reminded me we are all descended from apes, who are the original Status Quo fans, having seen them perform during their Stone Age tour (or 'Rock Age' tour perhaps). Time may have moved on but only the haircuts have changed.

Setlist

The Drone (intro tape)

Caroline

The Wanderer (Dion cover)

Something 'bout You Baby I Like

Rain

Softer Ride

Beginning of the End

Hold You Back

What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again

Paper Plane

The Oriental

Creepin' Up On You

Gerdundula

In the Army Now

Drum Solo (The Caveman)

Roll Over Lay Down

Down Down

Whatever You Want

Rockin' All Over the World (John Fogerty cover)

Encore:

Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)

Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Rod Stewart, 'From Gasoline Alley to Another Country Hits 2016' arena tour, SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Tues 13th Dec 2016.

The support act was 'The Sisterhood', a country-folkish duo, half of which is Rod's daughter, Ruby Stewart. Both wore black, knee-length boots that sparkled like an old black and white TV with a fuzzy signal. The brunette played guitar and wore a wide-brimmed hat; the blonde (Ruby) banged a tambourine dangling with streamers. Both sang.

It was pretty dull (pretty and dull).

A chequered curtain descended to allow the stagehands to prepare the stage. I'm surprised Rod rejected the option of a Celtic green and white hoop design. Maybe that would have been too much, even for Glasgow.

As soon as the curtain raised and Rod stepped onto the stage, old bingo wings at the front stood up and waved her arms and marched her feet like she was stomping on a cross trainer, while clutching an e-cigarette in one hand and a large plastic Irn Bru cup in the other. The white-haired geriatric beside her, but not with her, was unamused but sat quietly not wanting to cause a fuss because she had even larger friends further along the row. I'm sure it wasn't Irn Bru in the cup. She danced and swayed for the whole concert. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or she just didn't know how to stop as it was a friend's hug that eventually wrestled her back to a seated position.

Rod's voice was not strong. His moves were started then aborted, unable to be sustained across the stage and back, a pale reminder of his glory days. He sat for a good thirty minutes, still doing the moves from his seat. He kicked footballs into the audience, showing he still has the foot for it. The band and backing singers were great.

The concert was carried on the strength of the material. The songs are still fantastic and the crowd lapped them up, singing for him, holding him in their hearts. It was a greatest hits package and there wasn't a dud among them. He gave a good two hours.

In years to come, I can imagine Rod entertaining the wrinklies in the care home, wearing his red suit, white shirt open to the chest, and silver shoes, giving it his best throaty rasp, throwing out his arms and legs like an epileptic mid-fit, then sinking back into his cosy chair to croon some more. Actually, that sounds remarkably like what I just saw. Let's just leave it at that.

Arise Sir Rod, before you need a zimmer.

Admiral Fallow, Paisley Town Hall, Fri 14th Oct, 2016

I've raved about this band before. There is something about them that speaks to the Scotsman in me. Louis Abbott's vocals are as Scottish as whiskey blending perfectly with the indie pop voice of Sarah Hayes. Everything about the band melds, with multi- percussion, clarinet and flute, heavy drum beats, pounding bass and tuneful guitar licks. Their lyrics are poetic and heartfelt. They have three albums to their name, with a fourth due sometime next year, yet they've never had a hit, which is probably why the gig was not sold out.

It wasn't a perfect night: I forgot my phone so no piccies of the gig;

prior to the show, the server in Saporito messed up our order (no biggie and sorted quickly with apologies); then, after a stressful week, we elected to sit in the balcony, only for a G4S goon to strut in suited all in black, except for his ID lanyard, company striped tie and silver sideburns with receding slicked-backed grey hair, announcing the balcony was closed and we were all to get out, pointing down to the ground floor standing area like some referee sending us off. Grudgingly we complied, only to find others who objected were allowed to remain. There were about thirty of us decanted, with four objectors 'sitting' their ground. What really pissed me off was watching the balcony slowly refill with people obviously unaware the balcony was closed. As the gig wasn't a sellout, I can understand why they wanted to make the floor look more full but if you're going to make a rule, stick to it. It scunnered me.

The support act, Andrew Wasylyk, from Dundee, played solo on guitar and keyboards and was fine. A bit one tone but he has a good voice. A bit like a skinny, bearded seventies singer-songwriter playing from the heart.

The sound in the venue was great right up to the encore when the sound guys forgot to switch half the speakers back on until midway through the final track. It was disconcerting only hearing the music from above, like a gig in another venue bleeding through.

As we left, it looked like the Abbey and its grounds had been graffitied at a jaunty angle with the 'Paisley 2021' logo but it was just a projection. This time.

Take That, British Summer Time, Hyde Park, London. Sat 9th July 2016.

This was a slick show, so tightly choreographed that it left little room for spontaneity. The three boys know how to put on a spectacle better than Specsavers. With a team of dancers in various costumes throughout the show, and guests Lulu and DJs Sigma, they wowed the crowd for nearly two hours. They won me over despite it being Take That.

Despite the expense, the VIP Diamond tix were well worth it, getting to listen to the majority of the support acts while sitting in the VIP Garden, with proper toilets and lots of bars and food kiosks. Our special section in front of the stage was brilliant with only a few drunks occasionally spoiling things.The 65,000 strong audience on the other side of the stage walkway reminded me of the Walking Dead (singing dead?) stretching back as far as the eye could see. They must have been well jealous.

The main support was Olly Murs. He gave a great 45mins too, running through his hits, duetting with Ella Eyre who had been on earlier, and covering a medley of dance classics, ending with Uptown Funk. A great warm-up for the main event.

Setlist
Nessun Dorma (Giacomo Puccini song) tape intro
Shine
Greatest Day
Get Ready for It
Hold Up a Light
Patience
Pray
The Garden
Up All Night
Said It All
Everything Changes (first performance since 2011)
It Only Takes a Minute (first performance since 2011) / Could It Be Magic
A Million Love Songs
Back for Good
Relight My Fire (Dan Hartman cover) (with Lulu)
Cry (Sigma cover) (with Sigma)
The Flood
These Days
Rule the World
Never Forget