I nearly confused Glasgow's City Halls with the City's Trade Halls. Fortunately, my wife knew where we were going. We pre-booked dinner at Koolba in Candleriggs overlooking the venue. After a delicious (but not cheap) meal, we joined the queue, which, by the time the doors opened, had stretched the length of the road, then around the corner and folded a couple of times inside the nearby open-air car park.
The sound of waves rolling across a sea played in the room as we waited. We had superb seats in the middle of the second row of the stalls. I have to admit I was gutted that cameras were prohibited during the performance, as my view was fantastic. There was one empty seat in front of me on the front row. A woman clutching a grey polythene bag spoke to the gentlemen to its left, then sat down. I overheard her confess to the lady on the right that her actual seat was at the back. Total chancer! I think she really loved Kelly, though, the way she swooned to the music throughout.
Kelly wanted it to be an intimate, relaxed show and for everyone to be present. Joining him on stage were three violinists, one cellist, Richard from Stereophonics on bass, a keyboardist, and a drummer, who also played the slide guitar. To be honest, everyone chipped in depending on what was needed, switching instruments as necessary, with even one of the road crew members playing the organ at one point and another on the tambourine.
Kelly was in a wry mood at the piano as he explained how the album came about. He had been telling bedtime stories to his youngest son, and afterwards, the music came to him. He recorded it quickly to capture its spiritual essence in a studio on an island in Norway, just him, an engineer and music techie. He also explained he'd wandered around our fair city that afternoon. Bought a pair of Doc Martens. Then he quipped, "Probably take them back tomorrow".
The lighting was subtle and subdued during the first section. The crowd remained quiet, respectful and appreciative. However, during the encore, as the lights grew brighter, illuminating the hall, some punters took this as an opportunity to shout out whenever the music quietened. Others fingerwhistled. I strongly suspect alcohol was involved in their enjoyment. Fortunately, none were so close as to upset me.
Kelly performed the second encore on his own, just him and a guitar. Playing a medley of Stereophonics hits, the crowd danced, sang, and took pictures. I snapped a few myself while remaining seated (my back is still not right).
It may only have lasted an hour and twenty minutes, but it was incredible.
Setlist:
Inevitable Incredible
Turn Bad To Good
Time’s Running Away
Echowrecked
Sometimes You Fly Like The Wind
Monsters In The House
May I Come Home From My War
The Beast Will Be What The Beast Will Be
Encore:
Restless Mind (Stereophonics song) (Kelly on harmonica)
Boy on a Bike (Stereophonics song)
Fly Like an Eagle (Stereophonics song)
This Life Ain't Easy (But It's the One That We All Got) (Stereophonics song)
Make Friends With the Morning (Stereophonics song)
Encore 2:
Medley of Stereophonics hits (Kelly solo on electric guitar)
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| Out of shot: Violin stands to the left, drumkit and slide guitar to the right |
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| The lucky lady on the right bagged the stage setlist after the show |
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| The bag they gave us to seal away our phones - unused. |
Inevitable Incredible
Turn Bad To Good
Time’s Running Away
Echowrecked
Sometimes You Fly Like The Wind
Monsters In The House
May I Come Home From My War
The Beast Will Be What The Beast Will Be
Encore:
Restless Mind (Stereophonics song) (Kelly on harmonica)
Boy on a Bike (Stereophonics song)
Fly Like an Eagle (Stereophonics song)
This Life Ain't Easy (But It's the One That We All Got) (Stereophonics song)
Make Friends With the Morning (Stereophonics song)
Encore 2:
Dakota/ (Others)/ Maybe Tomorrow (Stereophonics songs)
Ticket Price: £60.50
Blurb
Kelly Jones (9pm)
Doors: 8.30pm
Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones will perform two, hour-long intimate concerts at City Halls on Tuesday, 7 May 2024.
This page is for the performance at 9pm. Kelly will also perform at 7pm
These stripped-back performances are in support of his new solo album, Inevitable Incredible.
‘Inevitable Incredible’ sees Kelly writing primarily on the piano for the first time between October and December of 2022. After three months of wrestling haunting melodies from his piano and writing emotional, soul searching and always brutally honest lyrics into his notebook, Kelly found himself with an album’s worth of material. Material he never set out to create, but knew he needed to see through to completion, and complete quickly to capture the raw essence of what he’d created. He disembarked to the beautiful, secluded expanses of Ocean Sound studio in Norway, tucked away on a tiny remote island in the North Sea. With just his studio engineer and backline technician with him, the stunning stillness of the surroundings and vast expanses of wilderness, informed a six-day recording session that perfectly captured the emotional depths and soul searching that was born from those late-night piano sessions.
Over its eight songs, ‘Inevitable Incredible’ takes the listener on an engrossing journey that gives an intimate insight into an artist who is not content to rest on his laurels.
Speaking of ‘Inevitable Incredible’ Jones says: ‘The remote surroundings of the island studio allowed the songs to come to life and breathe, no distractions, it was such a new experience. There were no expectations for how the songs should sound. Just let the emotion and vulnerability I put into writing those songs come to life. The weather could change in a minute and there was little to no contact with the outside world. All this influenced how the songs came to be. It was a truly cathartic experience. I feel like I left it all out there on these songs.’
Please note mobile phone use will be restricted in the performance area of the venue.
