As the lights dim, leaving only one single white light reaching out to the audience, surrounded by smoke, the silhouettes of frontman James Allan, Swedish drummer Jonna Lofgren, guitarist Rab Allan and bassist Paul Donoghue emerge from backstage to the sound of "Pain Pain Never Again", played over the PA. The expected screams and beer throwing are present as Lofgren whacks her sticks and they fire into their opening song "The World Is Yours".
Tonight, James is wearing his now infamous white number and sunglasses and dominates the stage as the whole band is back-lit. The new song pounds out with a magnificent chorus, "If I'm your world, then the world is yours", and the sound of a hearty, blood-pumping thunder that defines the recently changed Glasvegas.
Being a fairly new tune, the reception from the crowd is a mixed bag. I get the impression that the audience (which suprisingly is made up of mostly middle-aged men) don't know whether to jump up and down like a pogo or just stand and appreciate the enormous sound the four Glaswegians are making as the song crescendoes into a glorious climax of glass-shattering noise. It is followed by another new tune, "You", which receives very much the same reaction. Heads bobbing, some movement in the front row, and a big noise that is well received from the generally well-seasoned music fan crowd.
I am here with my dad and his mate so I wasn't expecting to be enlightened by the night's happenings. However, my attitude quickly changed after the fourth song, the first from their debut album, "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry". Had it not been for a pint of beer in my hand, I would've easily deserted my old man and joined the front row. This feeling grows throughout the gig as James strolls around the stage, pummelling his microphone. However, I can't help feeling that this gig is missing something. A younger crowd. I'm looking around, and I can't see anyone that is remotely near to me in terms of age and a great sense of disappointment descends on me as Glasvegas break into "Palmont On My Mind". Not because I am disappointed with the gig, or the new material. Quite the opposite. I'm disappointed because this atmosphere, this night, this setlist, this band, deserve a much younger, more energetic crowd (one which has been present at previous gigs and a constant element in concerts of "White Lies", a band to which Glasvegas are very similar).
It takes the Scottish band about half way through their setlist until we hear some of the crowd-pleasing tunes. New tune "Euphoria" is aired and treated as an old favourite by the fans as we see more beer throwing. The place goes wild when the contagious riff is driven home by Rab Allan and his spiralling guitar. "Geraldine" peeks through after five songs from their new album, which were generally well received. But none had the power and presence of "Geraldine" as it induces a word-perfect crowd singalong, with the line "My name is Geraldine and I'm your social worker" being broadcast so loud it could probably have been heard on the 42 Didsbury bus.
After about an hour, we come to "Go Square Go" and the end of Glasvegas' set. The song is reminiscent of a football chant heard on the terraces of a lower league football team, with the repeated line "Here we, here we, here we fucking go". Somehow, the crowd's voice becomes stronger and louder than James Allan's Scottish vocal power and the line everyone knows the words to is repeated consistently until the band reappear after literally ten seconds off stage. The first song of their encore is "Flowers and Football Tops", stripped down to it's bare bones as we are treated to a much darker and more haunting version of the song with James' vocals only being backed by Rab on an organ. Can Glasvegas still pull off tender heartbreaking melodies in the middle of thrilling, epic pop-rock and make a sound that is immense? Of course they can. They pulled it off with ease.
This is shown in the final song. The most anticipated five minutes of the night arrives with a mix of joy and heartbreak. As James approaches the microphone and calls out the first verse of "Daddy's Gone", more beer is thrown and the crowd find their voices once again. The chorus of "Forget your Da he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone" rings out, which Glasvegas fail to milk. Think they missed a trick there.
Overall, Glasvegas were far better than I had ever anticipated. Forget the backlighting, the smoke machine, the strobe machine, the fact remains that the Scots can still make a massive noise that appeals to a much wider audience than I first thought. The gig was fairly mellow in terms of crowd action but this is almost bypassed as you accept that yes, Glasvegas deserved a much more energetic crowd than tonight's, but their music was recreated almost perfectly live.
A top night. A top, top band.
SETLIST
1. Pain Pain, Never Again (Recorded track, played over PA)
2. The World Is Yours
3. You
4. It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
5. Shine Like Stars
6. Dream Dream Dreaming
7. Whatever Hurts You Through the Night
8. Polmont on My Mind
9.Euphoria, Take My Hand
10. Geraldine
11. Ice Cream Van (with snippet of Inspiral Carpets)
12. Go Square Go
Encore:
13. Flowers and Football Tops (stripped-down)
14. S.A.D. Light
15. Lots Sometimes
16. Daddy's Gone
