Those Damn Crows, February 2023 Tour. The Garage, Glasgow. Tuesday 21st February, 2023

Sometimes a song on the radio sticks in your head so much, you feel compelled to learn more about the band, seeking out their back catalogue and searching the tour listings to see if they're coming to town. Such a song was "Man on Fire", a catchy head nodder that received heavy airplay on Planet Rock Radio. Having listened to and liked their other work, it was a no-brainer to go with the lads to this gig. Better still, it was on a Tuesday, my regular day off from work, so no problems getting there on time.

But we were meeting in the pub and some were running late so we didn't arrive at the venue till after seven (doors open at 6.30pm). The place was rammed. I've never seen The Garage so full so early. Valhalla Awaits were mid-set and it looked like we were going to struggle to find a spot except at the back. What I didn't know was we had booked a booth. With six of us crammed in, my nutsack came in for a bit of a crush, legs pressed together, and I knew this position would be untenable for the duration of the gig. Fortunately, Alan and Bob wanted to stand so the increased space became bearable.

Sitting properly on the seat, the view was poor. I could barely see the second support act, which I wasn't overly bothered about. The music didn't move me. They played their set. That's about all I can say about them.

I was here for Those Damn Crows. They did not disappoint. Choosing to perch against the wall on the top of the backs of the seats, my view was much improved except for the pipe on the underside of the balcony which restricted it marginally, becoming an issue only when the lead singer or bassist stood on the platform at the nearside of the stage.

The sound was good, the music had depth and the lead singer enjoyed himself immensely, teasing us that we couldn't be better than Swansea (the band are Welsh, as in fact were all the bands tonight). He even climbed onto the balcony to lead the singalong, returning to the stage through the crowd.

This was their first UK headline tour and I think they played safe picking the 700 capacity Garage. I don't know if they could have filled the Barrowland but that is a gig I want to see.  Maybe there the other guitarist would have had more stage to play with instead of being stuck in the corner.

I predict great things from this band. They will fill arenas one day.

Setlist

Fill The Void

Wake Up

Sick of Me

Kingdom of Dust

Sin on Skin

Blink of an Eye

Who Did It?

Send the Reaper

Rock N Roll Ain't Dead

Go Get It

Takedown

Man On Fire

Waiting For Me

Encore:

This Time I'm Ready

Play Video

See You Again

Ticket Price: £18 plus fees.  

The timings slipped slightly on the night

James & The Cold Gun

Sara Pascoe, "Success Story". The Pavilion, Glasgow. Friday 3rd February, 2023

No support act for Sara tonight. It was a proper stand-up tour show with two halves and an interval (so The Pavilion could sell us ice cream, sweets and alcohol). 

From the publicity leaflet: "Sara decided she wanted to be famous when she was 14 years old. since then, she had auditioned for Barrymore, scared Pete Burns and ruined Hugh Grant's birthday - but look at her now... (please look, she needs you to look. And clap. And laugh. And then clap again)."

This covered the first half. Some of this material I'd heard her perform previously, on chat shows and the like. The familiarity didn't make it less funny.

In the second half, she discussed her path to pregnancy, her lactating boobs ("maybe they'll attract more men to my show") and her feelings towards her son, Siegfried Sassoon (not his real name - that's Theodor) and her dog, Mouse, which confused the pest control person she'd called in when she had a rodent problem.

I do like Sara. She doesn't do big gags but instead races along, almost getting breathless at the speed she talks, casually throwing out funny line after funny line, often as the butt of her own jokes. She presents as warm and authentic and says what she believes. She puts a lot of craft into her routines while making them feel effortless. 

One thing that appeared strange was seeing so many spaces in the audience. We had tickets in the front-row Circle and there were four empty seats beside me (I've ceased taking it personally) with more gaps elsewhere. Did people forget about the show? Were they ill? Or were the tickets purchased by touts who couldn't resell them? I'll never know. Or need to know. 

What I do know is tonight was a success... a success story! 

(Ticket price: £15 plus fees)

An actual paper ticket!!

Danny Bhoy, Work in Progress, The Stand, Glasgow. Wednesday 1st February, 2023

Oh Bhoy, what a brilliant comedian this man is. Even for a work-in-progress show, this was superb. Yes, the flow was occasionally a little stilted between routines but he'd taken two years off because of the pandemic so that was to be expected. He's still polishing his set. The quality of the jokes is exquisite (a work of art in one case) and his performance adds so much to the comedy (acting out a conversation between a penguin and a giraffe or queuing at a Spanish supermarket, for example). He possesses such great stage charisma, it's hard not to instantly warm to him.  

A lovely touch about tonight's show was he was donating the ticket money to a Glasgow food bank. A punter at the front gave him a giant Toblerone but I think she intended it for him rather than as a donation. He joked about it being racist as she'd given him the white one, not the brown one.

If you get the chance to catch him live, do not hesitate. You will not be disappointed. 

Ticket price: £12 plus booking fee.

  

Omid Djalili, "The Good Times Tour", The Stand, Glasgow. Sunday 29th January, 2023

I mentioned to a neighbour that I was going to see Omid and he replied, "Oh, the accents man". This was something unknown to me as, in truth, I wasn't that familiar with Omid's work. My interest had been piqued when I saw he was playing The Stand (always a great venue) with Boothby Graffoe, a rather good, offbeat comedian/musician, in support.  

We arrived at 6.15 pm to join the queue for the 6.30 pm doors open. It was blustery wet outside so unsurprisingly the queue wasn't too long (still within the confines of the building grounds rather than up the street). Ahead of us, one bearded punter, whose haircut consisted of a mop on top, shaved sides and a rat's tail, was filling the air with unnecessary expletives. I said an internal prayer that he would not sit near us, which fell on deaf ears. Who knew God wasn't a mind reader? 

The gig was sold out so I was pleased to snag my regular seat, offering a clear view of the stage. No possibility of a tall punter blocking my view (see above).

Once the place filled up, there was standing room only but that didn't stop one female from getting her friend to bring her a barstool so she could sit at the end of my row. She wanted to be near her other friend who had taken the last available table seat. Her joy was short-lived as the soundperson returned and instructed her to move, reminding her she was blocking a route of escape. Her charms fell on deaf ears when she begged him to remain. 

Later, someone else took up position on the steps and was told to move. I love it when the staff enforce the rules with latecomers. It makes standing in the queue in the rain all the more worthwhile. 

I spotted a Middle Eastern punter sitting along the row from us. With his bald head and beard, I had to do a double-take to check it wasn't Omid (it wasn't - the chap was too young). The gentleman then moved to sit at the front, right beside the stage. I wondered if he was a plant for Omid's show (he wasn't - just a fan).   

Boothby was terrific. A seasoned veteran, he loves to wrongfoot his audience with gags out of nowhere (though he did tell the old one about the wife on holiday complaining about the manner in which she'd been told her cat was dead - punchline: 'So your mum was on the roof'). He spotted the Middle Eastern chap and engaged him in some audience banter. It turned out Vaheem was Iranian, worked in the army in logistics ("Which army?" asked BG faux nervously) but was living in East Kilbride. Omid later cleverly incorporated him into several gags, giving him a fist bump in thanks. 

The beardy bloke with the rat's tail ended up so drunk he failed to understand Omid wasn't talking directly to him and started replying in a loud but unintelligible manner. Thankfully, Omid didn't engage and the beardy bloke settled down allowing the night to continue smoothly.

Omid has a great charm even if his material is just okay. He is engaging and amusing and even used his platform to raise awareness of the current plight of Iranian women, finding some humour in a serious subject. He also told a gag about football chants that Mark Thomas had used albeit tagging it to a different team. His proper act did get some big laughs but overall I'd agree it was the Good Times Tour as opposed to the Not Bad Times Tour or the Seriously Great Times Tour. His accents are incredible, however.

Ticket price £22 plus booking fee.

Paolo Nutini, The OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Sunday 18th December, 2022

I like to seek out one big gig for December each year. This year, it was local boy, Paolo Nutini.

I'd persuaded my wife to slum it for dinner (a Macdonald's) so we could head up early and nab a parking spot near the venue. The order screen machine failed to provide a receipt but I didn't panic. I could see other customers being handed food without showing their paperwork. Not so calm were a trio of French lads (with their beautiful wavy hair) who despaired vocally as they realised their long receipt had no ink on it and they couldn't remember the order number. Fortunately, some Scottish lads bonded with them by displaying their own blank receipt, before commiserating with them over France losing in the World Cup final against Argentina, a dialogue ripe (from the Scottish side) with friendly F-bomb adjectives. 

Later, at the venue, because I'd purchased the tickets in an OVO presale, we got to use the OVO entrance. There, the queue was short. However, we had a slight delay as the pair in front of us were refused entry because their tickets were for the general entrance. As they had already queued and been frisked, I would have felt sorry for them had one of them not tried to intimidate the young G4S girl into letting them in. To her credit, she stood her ground and the pair reluctantly had to leave to make their way to the rather long queues at the main entrance. As I stepped forward for my security check, my frisker, yet again, failed to check under my hat. Not that there was anything there except my head but there could have been. An emergency McFlurry perhaps.

We got our wristbands and made our way to the toilets, the cold walk from the restaurant having shrunk our bladders. Then we headed into the arena. Finding a spot off-centre to the right,  close-ish to the front, we slowly edged closer to the stage trying to plug any gaps that appeared. As more people arrived, we prayed no one tall would squeeze their way in.

The support act, NewDad, was okay. Their music had an 80's Sonic Youth vibe but was a bit too indie for me. All the band were young, the two males possessing the same lush head of hair as the Frenchmen I'd seen earlier. It was great that Paolo had given them this opportunity to play in such a large venue. Oddly, as their drummer did his stuff, his mouth mimicked that of a goldfish, opening and closing to the beat. It was mesmerising to watch. 

After NewDad's set, we were indeed unlucky as multiple tall people pushed in, stopping ahead of us, reducing our view. I noticed one of the youths was so under the influence, one of his eyes was half shut, yet he possessed the energy of the Duracell bunny, pumping the air with his fists through most of Paolo's set. Many of my photos had to be deleted because of that arm (and the tall people's heads). 

Regardless, it was a great night.

Paolo has charisma oozing from every expression and a voice that is both divine and diabolic, capable of expressing fragility during tender folk ballads and rocking the roof off with primal roars ripped from his soul. Your eyes can't help but be drawn to his performance even though there is a whole band playing alongside him. The music was amazing. Most of the set came from the latest album and he reworked the older tunes to match the tone of his new stuff. Jenny Don't Be Hasty got rocked up, merging into Teenage Kicks then in New Shoes. The young crowd got most excited during the older songs. One bloke behind us kept shouting out a request for "Jew-lee-Aaaan" (a track from the latest album) starting mid-way through the set. I knew that song was coming in the encore but he didn't. Every time a song ended, he'd shout it out, over and over. On one occasion, one cheeky chappie shouted back "She's gone home", which raised a titter. Then, after Paolo had played Julieann, the bloke changed his request to "A-Bi-Gaiiiiiil". 

The screens throughout the night had a trippy, psychedelic feel with 70s-style Top of the Pops video effects played over them. It matched Paolo's look: all long hair, blue jeans, denim jacket (with Paisley Pattern patches on the front) over a black and white lined T-shirt. The audience, primarily in their teens/ twenties, loved him. He was their hero. 

I think he became mine too.

Ticket price: £58.45 each inc. fees.

Setlist (subject to third-party confirmation)

Afterneath

Lose It

Scream (Funk My Life Up)

Let Me Down Easy

Acid Eyes

Stranded Words (Interlude)

Radio

Heart Filled Up

Better Man

Through the Echoes

Johnny and Mary (Robert Palmer cover)

Coming Up Easy

Petrified in Love

Pencil Full of Lead

Jenny Don't Be Hasty / Teenage Kicks / New Shoes

Take Me Take Mine

Candy

Everywhere

Encore

Julianne

Iron Sky

Shine a Light

Caledonia (Dougie McLean cover) (acoustic)

Frankie Boyle: Work in Progress, The Stand, Glasgow. Sunday 11th December, 2022

After a late Saturday night at GUN at the Barrowlands, I enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning knowing I had this to look forward to in the afternoon.

Works in progress, by definition, can be hit or miss but they generally have a more relaxed vibe as the audience is aware the material is being tried out. Today, Frankie was testing the script for the End of Year edition of his BBC2 series, New World Order. Essentially, he read out the entire, printed-out script from a clipboard, including his opening monologue, links to all the clips they might use in the final edit and the end monologue. There was little chitchat with the audience, except to comment when he felt something wouldn't make the cut or to react to our reaction about the joke he just told. As anticipated, the material was dark, brutal and shoulder-shakingly funny. In this unedited version, the band U2 came in for some serious carnage involving the consequence of their helicopter flying over an active volcano. It will be interesting to see how much makes the final broadcast.

There was also a surprise support act, Ray Bradshaw, who performed a lot of funny but familiar material about having deaf parents. His chatty, relaxed style was conducive to big laughs and he set us up nicely for Frankie to do his stuff.

Ticket price: £15.