Alanis Morissette, World Tour 2022, Celebrating 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill. OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Sunday 19th June, 2022

Alanis constantly races across the stage as if determined to get her daily steps up and although she's not as slim as she once was, her voice is still pure and controlled and has a fantastic range.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Beth Orton and her band, in support, gave a performance that sounded like it needed a proper soundcheck. Her voice was fine but the band sound was muddy and indistinct. I didn't doze but my eyes felt heavy for most of her time on stage. She has a voice reminiscent of Alanis's but I feel her intimate songs would have worked better in a smaller venue.

Later, when Alanis burst onto the stage with long, blonde hair, I was a bit surprised and wondered if this was an impersonator playing a prank on us. Alanis, as I remembered, had dark hair and was pencil-thin and didn't rush all over the stage as if attempting to avoid a sniper. Seeing the microphone held away from the mouth, even when Alanis's vocals are soaring further compounded this thought. After some time it became evident this was not the case and that this was Alanis as she is now. She had to hold the mike away from her mouth sometimes because she was singing so loudly.  

Her voice was the best part of the night. Everything else was a letdown. 

This was a bare-bones production with minimal staging, average lighting and no cameras to show those on the upper levels what was going on. The three large screens at the back of the stage only showed video clips and images, nothing of the live performance. I ended up using the zoom function on my phone camera to watch the show. She practically sold out the OVO so she did deserve to be there but she put on a show that would have worked better in the Armadillo where the audience wasn't so far away. It felt like a show planned by the candidates on The Apprentice where they'd cut out anything non-essential that would risk their profit.   

The one time the images on the screens made an impact on me was when she showed footage of Taylor Hawkins, her former drummer, whom she introduced to Dave Grohl. It was touching to be reminded of him as a young man at the start of his career. The song Ironic carried a screen dedication to him at the end.

The fans were in fine voice during many of the songs, their chorus filling the auditorium, particularly during the more well-known numbers. Many also exited for the bars/toilets during the less popular album tracks, small streams of people flowing in and out regularly.

As usual, I can't go to a concert without experiencing some audience gripes. The female diagonally in front of me kept elbowing my knee whenever she put her arm around her partner (which she did a lot). And whenever the round girl beside me stood up to dance, I experienced flashbacks to the boulder scene from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. She was a big fan, knew all the lyrics and clapped like a seal between songs. Deep down, I knew I wasn't in any danger but there was always the fear she might trip. I was most surprised when she left with her pal during one of the more famous tunes and was away for ages. They returned later with armfuls of alcohol but then had to exit again later for a toilet break. I don't understand this behaviour. You've paid a lot of money to be at a show by an artist you love. So be there. Experience it. 

And then gripe about it afterwards like me. 

Ticket Price: £65 plus £10 in fees each. Total £75 each.

Setlist 

(The show opens with a video retrospective) 

All I Really Want

Hand in My Pocket

Right Through You

You Learn

Hands Clean (Segue 1)

Forgiven

Everything (Segue 2)

Mary Jane

Diagnosis (Segue 3)

Reasons I Drink

Head Over Feet

So Unsexy (Segue 4)

Ablaze

Nemesis (Segue 4½)

Perfect

Losing the Plot (Segue 5)

Wake Up

Not the Doctor

Ironic ((In memory of Tyler Hawkins))

Sympathetic Character (Segue 6)

Smiling

I Remain (Segue 7)

You Oughta Know

 

Encore:

Your House

Uninvited

Thank U

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, Barrowlands, Glasgow. Friday 17th June, 2022

I didn't feel too good before this gig. Not in a Covid way, fortunately. Just sore and tired. I'm now someone who sometimes takes drugs before a concert, albeit Co-Codamol (that constipation's going to bite me in the ass tomorrow).

They'd kicked in by the time I arrived at the venue. Inside, I was frisked and then asked to confirm I wasn't carrying any weapons (I resisted saying just my wits). After a brief pause to have my ticket scanned at the foot of the stairs, I was allowed up the steps. On the dancefloor. I picked my spot ready to watch the first support act, Lola in Slacks. The band were good but I didn't warm to the singer. She reminded me of a slowed-down, Glaswegian Stevie Nicks. Not in appearance. More in the way her deep voice droned. The songs were okay but nothing special. You could tell the singer was thrilled to be playing the Barrowland. A real wow moment for her if not for me. I did like the band though. Very tight.

While I was waiting for the next support, Callum Easter, I flicked through Facebook only to look up and see two giants had taken root between me and the stage. Time to move to another location. Fortunately, the dancefloor was relatively empty with plenty of spaces. I selected another position behind three shorter ladies of rather plump dimensions. No one was going to push in front of them, thus protecting my view. 

Callum had problems with his backing-track machine and lots of the sound crew were shining torches and pulling cables and twisting wires to get it to work again before he could begin his set whereupon a stand-up drummer joined him to belt out the beat. Callum does a poor Jack White impression on the guitar, using lots of distortion and feedback on his voice, possibly deliberately. A few isolated souls were really into him, dancing along and I really wanted to have my Blues Brothers hit-by-the-spotlight moment so I could join in but it didn't happen. I sense Callum is a triumph of confidence and swagger over talent.

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie were on top form, Martin Metcalfe acting as the maniac ringmaster to us, his circus of freaks. This felt like a gig of old with them playing the special songs they love rather than just the crowdpleasers from the first two albums. I felt the audience was a bit muted early on. The song Hard used to get a mosh on but this crowd were appreciative rather than active. Possibly down to their age or lack of Co-Codamol consumption. Later, they did find their voice and their bouncy feet and by the finale, the place was jumping. Indeed, I found my shoulder was often being used to support the gentleman beside me as he bounced and bounced like an inebriated Tigger.

My voice is hoarse but it was worth it. Highlights for me: Hard, Face to Face (because I didn't think they played it anymore), Goodwill City and the eponymous Goodbye Mr Mackenzie to finish.

Ticket Price: £27.50 plus £2.50 booking fee, £1.00 transaction charge

Total £31.00 

Setlist

His Master's Voice

Open Your Arms

Hard

Working On The Shoo-Fly

You Generous Thing

Sick Baby

Love Child

Blacker Than Black

Niagara

Amsterdam

Face to Face

The Way I Walk (Jack Scott cover - Big John on vocals)

Normal Boy

Now We Are Married

The Rattler

Encore:

Goodwill City

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie

       

   
 

Horse, "The Same Sky – 30th Anniversary Tour", Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Sunday 5th June, 2022

I fell in love with this album when it came out in 1990 playing the cassette constantly on a loop. The songs were beautiful, touching and catchy. Horse's vocal range was fantastic. Later, I got to see her perform live at the Tramway (Saturday, April 9th, 1994) when she and her band appeared second on a bill that included Ed Alleyne-Johnson, Gin Blossoms and Texas.  It was an amazing night. Looking back at the acts appearing on the other nights of Sound City '94, they would all have been great. The Thursday gig had Oasis as the opening act!

Thirty years later, coincidentally, I revisited the same sky having picked it up cheaply on CD from Music Magpie, again finding enjoyment from listening to it over and over. When Regular Music announced Horse was playing an anniversary show in Glasgow to celebrate the album, it was a no-brainer to get tickets. Then along with everything else, it got rescheduled. 

After the pomp and spectacle of Queen and Adam Lambert, this was always going to be a more low-key kind of show. It was in a posh theatre, there was no stage set to speak of except a dark backdrop with her seahorse logo (which at times reminded me of the tail of a chest buster from Alien) plus a few lights. Mostly, it was about the music.

With the theatre half empty at first, the first act, Terry Logan, came on and introduced the evening, playing two numbers, neither of which were particularly bad. She then introduced the main support, The Eves, who played as a duo tonight. The pair reminded me of two musically-talented Primary School teachers putting on a show for the kids. Pleasant tunes, pleasant costumes, pleasant songs. Marissa reminded me of Sara from Sara n Junbug in voice but without the tattoos or the rapping. During their last song, Horse and her band paraded on stage behind them for a lark, wearing face masks depicting the duo. 

During the interval, the place filled more completely as the Horse faithful took to their seats. And Horse delivered for them in spades. If anything, her voice is even better now than it was all these years ago. She is so comfortable on stage and creates a cosy atmosphere. Everyone is enjoying themselves, both on stage and in the audience. She plays through the album in the correct order (she doesn't like the shuffle function - she put effort into thinking about how the album should flow), with Careful, accompanied by the string section being particularly good. She also reads dedications to some of her most devoted fans. 

Having played the entire album in full, she moved on to other material,  covering a Glen Campbell song and "Could it be Magic" by Barry Manilow, playing her favourite songs from her other work. She even went live on Facebook to share the night with her fans who couldn't make it.

At the end, the other acts came back on to singalong and they finished lining up and kicking their legs to what I thought was the This is Your Life theme (correct me if I'm wrong).

The only fan to stick out tonight was the one being wafted by the woman sitting to my wife's left, a proper Southern belle if ever I did see one. My, she waved that thing like she was having continuous hot flushes (which wouldn't have been possible given her age, unless she'd really gone to town on the HRT). 

Sorry, I don't have a setlist.

Not a lot of photos as it didn't seem appropriate to go overboard in such a venue.

Ticket Price £34 each 

(booking fee £7.80, transaction fee £2.85)

Terry Logan

The Eves

Horse showing off her Lifetime Achievement Award.