Deacon Blue, "Cities of Love", OVO Hydro, Glasgow Saturday 7th May, 2022

My wife detests Deacon Blue. She'll switch stations if one of their songs comes on the radio so I only bought one ticket for this show. It was supposed to be a 2020 Christmas present to myself but then that gig got pushed back, twice. 

Usually, prior to a gig, I'll listen to the band's music to familiarise myself with their songs but this one kind of crept up on me. I hadn't kept up to date with the band's latest music and got a surprise when I discovered they'd released a new album, Riding on the Tide of Love last year. I played it on the way in (and back) and liked it a lot.

Tonight, I found a parking space with no problem, entered the venue without fuss (no queue in my line) and even snagged a spot relatively close to the stage in the middle where there were no tall people in front of me. I stood behind two short people so had an uninterrupted view.

The support act, interlopers, came on at 7.30 pm. I'd never heard of them and didn't realise the main man was the guy from The Big Dish until they played their hit, Miss America. I have to admit I found their music a bit soporific, a bit like Marillion on Mogadon. If I'd heard them on the radio, I probably wouldn't be aware of listening until halfway through and even then I'd only be mildly interested. At least they only played for thirty minutes. That's probably doing them a disservice. Their studio recordings may well be wonderful. I did amuse myself when I realised the fifth member of the band, who never turned around and had a strap on his back, was actually the bassist's reflection.  

Then, before Deacon Blue launched into their show, at 8.30 pm, the tall people appeared: one woman with an afro, her equally tall partner and another beanpole who pushed in front of them. This was okay though because they were on my right. I still had a super view. Then a group of four overexcited ladies appeared on my left, all full of chat, posing in various group combinations for selfies while slugging downing their drinks. I was momentarily distracted when one of them, the buxom one, decided to use her cleavage as a drinks holder, lodging the tumbler's handle down there to free up her hands for waving and selfie-taking. It was a wondrous sight and from what I could see from her dry T-shirt, despite her weird poses, not a drop was spilt. Quite a feat. During the course of the show, the girls metastasised to infect nearby individuals with their friendliness, putting their arms around strangers and engaging them in conversation. I'm not the kind of bloke that attracts that level of female attention so observed them with amusement. Unfortunately, the group of four only lasted till the end of the main set, departing before the encores because one of them burned out too soon, the alcohol and the dancing leaving her with the dead-eyed stare of death. 

By now, the mingling had allowed the tall people to drift in front of me and I was consigned to watching the rest of the gig on the big screen except when I peeked between their necks. Photos had to be snapped with arms extended above my head. The afro lady filmed the end of the show so I did get to watch it on the small screen of her phone. 

Deacon Blue shouldn't work as a band but somehow they do. They were never hip, never huge (but had plenty of hits) yet the audience of this nearly sold-out Hydro show retain a strong affection for them. Tonight, I think I figured out why.

Love.

Ricky loves to write well-crafted songs, he loves to tell stories, he loves to perform and he loves playing with his bandmates, especially Lorraine, whom he loves dearly. Tonight, she was as wacky as ever, a free spirit dressed like an escapee from a mental asylum in her long white gown, dancing like she was aff her meds. The vocal harmonies between her and Ricky shouldn't work but they do, giving the band a dynamic that forms its heart. 

During their two-and-a-half-hour performance, I did feel some nostalgia for their golden era but this gig was so much more. It was a delight and a pleasure to attend and I loved it.

The only downer came afterwards as I walked alone back to the car with no one to share the experience. Although those four girls from earlier were loud and more interested in themselves than the gig, they at least had each other (and lots of weirdly posed photos to show for it afterwards). I hope they all got home safely. 

Ticket Price £45 

Service Charge £6.10

Setlist

 

Skunk Anansie, "Celebrating 25 Years", O2 Academy, Glasgow. Tuesday 26th April, 2022.

Prior to leaving for the gig, my wife berated me for my lack of dedication to my diet, noting my weight was experiencing compound inflation. Indeed, it is true I have put on about 25% more weight in the last twenty-five years, which is nothing to be proud of. I also have sore feet, tinnitus and lumbago and am feeling my fifty-plus years.

This gig was postponed twice due to the Covid regulations, originally scheduled for December 2020, then June 2021. It was supposed to celebrate 25 years but it's now more like 28.5 years. I'd missed their last tour due to illness, selling my ticket to an old school pal, so I was really looking forward to seeing the band live again. I wasn't disappointed.

Arriving early, on my own, I was able to pick my spot in the crowd and for once no tall idiot stood in front of me. Sorted. 

The first support act were a band called Holocene, not a period for the existence of future dinosaurs but a two-piece fronted by a young woman (on vocals, guitar and keyboards) and a male drummer. They were rather good, her vocals particularly strong.

The second act, Gen and the Degenerates, were something else. Gen comes across like the love child of Siouxsie Sioux and Buster Bloodvessel, with her portly frame thinly veiled by a gossamer dress. She totally owns the stage with bundles of personality and attitude, pulling loads of RuPaul poses as she sings. The music was often raucous, and not always to my taste, but they won me over. Totally flabulous, darling.

Skunk Anansie were simply immense. From the moment they took the stage, Skin claimed the audience as her own. They wheeled through nearly two hours of their repertoire, plus a cover of AC/DC's Highway to Hell, to much adulation from the crowd. Since I saw them last, the band have added another member on percussion and vocals and it added another dynamic to the performance and sound. Indeed, I was impressed by both the sound and lighting tonight, the O2 not usually famous for either.

The crowd were well behaved, not too drunk but very bouncy, possibly due to many of them being quite short, though the band had added a walkway platform at the front of the stage, improving everyone's view of them. 

A lovely touch came at the end after the encore when the lights went up. My Hero by Foo Fighters started playing over the PA and the band remained on the stage conducting the audience in a singalong in dedication to the recently deceased Taylor Hawkins.

I enjoyed tonight so much, jumping about and getting sweaty. Who knows I may even have lost a few pounds, which will please my wife. An excellent gig which reminded me of the good old days but even better.

Ticket Price £33.20 (including booking fee) 

Transaction fee £2.50

Setlist:

Yes It's Fucking Political

And Here I Stand

Because of You

I Can Dream

Weak

Twisted (Everyday Hurts)

My Ugly Boy

Can't Take You Anywhere

Love Someone Else

I Believed in You

God Loves Only You

Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)

Without You

This Means War

Intellectualise My Blackness

Tear the Place Up

Charlie Big Potato

Encore

Piggy

Brazen (Weep)

The Skank Heads (Get Off Me) (Up to End of 1st Chorus)

Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover with Band introductions)

Little Baby Swastikkka

The Skank Heads (Get Off Me) (reprise)

Best of You (Foo Fighters song - played from tape)

Lifted from the band's FB page

Lifted from the band's FB page

Restless Natives (Big Country Tribute), RocknRollas, Paisley. Friday 8th April, 2022

I'd purchased tickets for Big Country, playing at this venue later in the year, and received these tickets for free. I wasn't bothered about going but a pal was home from down south and it seemed apt to have a catch-up at the gig. It was free after all, even if the lager prices were extortionate. 

We arrived early and were warmly greeted by the legendary Jackie Mills in reception, flattering me by saying even if I hadn't tickets she'd have added me to her guest list. She's an icon of the local music scene.  

Inside, Kenny bought the drinks and we grabbed two comfortable seats at the side with a clear view of the stage. The band came on at around 8.30 pm and played until 10.50 pm. As you can imagine, that is a lot of Big Country songs and I'm more of a greatest hits fan, not so much a diehard, so a lot of the material was obscure to me. When the lead singer said they'd promised to play The Crossing in full, I didn't know if that referred to the song or an album but realised pretty quickly it was the latter.

I was a little disappointed by the sound. Big Country have a distinctive guitar sound and tonight the band seemed more bass and drum-heavy with the vocals swamping the guitars at times. When the guitars were clear they sounded great and the singer both looked and sounded like Stuart Adamson, probably more so than the current lineup of Big Country. Occasionally, when I didn't recognise the song, my mind drifted onto other artists I'd like to see play here, like Iron Maiden or the Sisters of Mercy, tribute acts obviously, such was the effect of the bass and drum heaviness. 

The venue itself is fabtastic (that's a typo but I'm keeping it), an old church that was converted into a retail unit then converted again into a bar and performance space. With only about fifty people in attendance, it was difficult to judge the atmosphere properly but I reckon I'll be returning and not just for Big Country.

Of course, any gig, even one with such a low attendance will still have idiots. This was during the gig. He returned twice, moving on quickly each time, fortunately. 

Come on, man - I may be a wallflower but I'm not invisible - have some respect.

Ticket Price: Free with purchase of tickets for Big Country. 

No setlist so here are some pictures instead:

  

Tommy Tiernan, "Tomfoolery", King's Theatre, Glasgow Sun 3rd April, 2022

I love the dark humour of Tommy Tiernan. The diminutive Irishman has an impish quality like the Devil's come to town to make us laugh. His material tiptoes along a barbed wire, fully aware one wrong foot and he's going straight back to hell. But he knows all the steps like a secret dance.

It's a brave comedian that comes to Glasgow and, from the off, nails his colours to the wall, celebrating the Celtic victory earlier today by painting a verbal picture of the crowd waving the Papal flag and singing a series of borderline sectarian crowd chants. He could so easily have split the audience. But not his audience.

His beard is now long and white and he wears the style of a Samuel Beckett tramp, only in a beanie hat, not a bowler. His humour lies not just in the situations he relates but in his exquisite turn of phrase (for example, describing his family's yappy dog as a cross between a mop and a panic attack). His comedy is like tantric sex only with tickles as he knows exactly how to hold an audience to tease out the laugh. His bit about his appearance on Ireland's Late Late Show was a masterpiece in audience control, steering us from one dark place to another darker one, knowing exactly where the laughs were. I was sore from laughing.

Or maybe it was the Covid, generously being doled out by the maskless couple behind us, both of whom had horrendous coughs. Hers was persistent like she was hocking up the Sahara from her lungs, followed by a gentle ha-ha-ha as she finished her laugh. His had flavour, not that I'm experienced enough to identify which cigarette brand he smoked. Between them, they sounded like a faulty respirator. Not healthy and they probably shouldn't have been there. If I do catch it, I'll blame Nicola now that she's made lateral flow tests mythical creatures.  

On the way home, the after-effects of the Old Firm game were very much in evidence. Having been diverted off the motorway, we drove along Paisley Road West and encountered fans crossing the junction heading to Marios Takeaway. They weren't interested in green men (so Rangers supporters) and dolefully staggered towards the brights lights of the chippy signage like drunken moths in search of vinegared grease. And as everyone knows holding a hand up in front of a speeding Mercedes is a foolproof way to stop the car.

Then outside Capital Chinese Takeaway on Causeyside Street, a brave lassie who'd aborted crossing in front of the passing cars elected to perform traffic signals from the pavement helpfully waving us on with her thumb like she was giving us permission to pass. Either that or she still thinks people pick up hitchhikers that can barely stand. 

I forgot to mention that the support act was Eleanor Tiernan, Tommy's cousin. She was far better than the nepotism would suggest and seemed to enjoy her set while playing with the microphone cord. 

Ticket Price £25.40 each