thu 28/03/2024

Glasgow

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow review - pop songstress partying like it's 2020

There are few people, especially musicians, who would wish to revisit the spring and summer of 2020 with any fondness, but Sophie Ellis-Bextor might be an exception. Her kitchen discos, in which she and her husband Richard Jones, aided by their...

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Dream Wife, St Lukes and the Winged Ox, Glasgow review - an exhilarating reminder of live music's power

Rakel Mjöll has a nice line in understatement. “We released this album in July 2020”, she said at one point, referring to her band’s sophomore record “So When You Gonna...” before adding, dryly, “which wasn’t the best time”. Finally, nearly two...

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White Lies, SWG3, Glasgow review - indie veterans get their groove on

White Lies began their set as many bands would end it, with a familiar hit ringing out and an explosion of confetti over the crowd. Such a tactic made you wonder if the three-piece would peak too soon here, mirroring the band’s commercial fortunes...

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Starsailor, SWG3, Glasgow review - nostalgic comfort to satisfy the faithful

When Starsailor arrived onstage, they did so to the somewhat odd walk-on music of one of their biggest hits, with a remix of “Good Souls” blaring out and an early sing-a-long underway as a result. Perhaps that was appropriate, as this evening was...

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Paul Weller, Barrowland, Glasgow review - Modfather holding back father time with old and new tricks

There was a brief lapse in this lengthy set when Paul Weller stood up from the piano, walked towards centre stage and then pivoted back the way he came, having realised he was moving a song too early. “That’s the trouble with getting old, you forget...

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The Jesus and Mary Chain, Barrowland, Glasgow review - Scottish siblings still the loudest gang in town

There is unquestionably a more mellow side to the Jesus and Mary Chain these days, even when reviving their most ferocious glories from the past. Prior to launching this two-halved set, comprising their 1987 classic Darklands to begin with and a...

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Sports Team, SWG3, Glasgow review - entertaining, but not always original

It may go against rock n’ roll cliché, but occasionally there is merit to good time keeping for a band. Lucia and the Best Boys saw their support slot in their home town of Glasgow reach an ignominious ending when they were cut off a song early,...

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Maximo Park, Saint Luke's and the Winged Ox, Glasgow - indie veterans still have fire in their bellies

Time waits for no band, as Maximo Park’s lively singer Paul Smith opined early into his band’s set. “I am young and I am lost” he declared during "The Coast Is Always Changing"’s jangly guitar-pop, before drily admitting afterwards that he might...

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Album: Dot Allison - Heart-Shaped Scars

Scottish singer-songwriter Dorothy Allison pretty much defines cool. Her band One Dove was the first to snare Andrew Weatherall as producer after his success with Screamadelica, and together they created Morning Dove White: an extraordinary album...

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Album: Mogwai - As the Love Continues

It’s odd to hear a band benefit from becoming more conventional. But where Glasgow’s Mogwai used to fiercely stake out a very distinctive musical space of their own, here they’re letting their influences flood into their songs – and note the word “...

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Hansel and Gretel, Scottish Opera online - bewitching feast for ears but not eyes

Christmas isn’t just for Christmas, Daisy Evans’s bargain-basement fir-trees-and-tinsel production of Humperdinck’s evergreen masterpiece seems to be telling us. Filmed in Glasgow’s Theatre Royal last December, the February online premiere doesn’t...

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Così fan tutte, Scottish Opera online review - wit and deception in an empty theatre

For its latest production, unveiled on Sunday evening but recorded in November, Scottish Opera toys playfully with the absurdities of Covid-compliant performance practice. But maybe sensing our weariness with the whole business, it is not overdone....

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