I don’t even know where to start with this one, I honestly don’t. It might be a little short and sweet because otherwise I’ll be typing out a 3,000 word post if I try and put it all in! So much happened last night. All the periphery stuff pre and post gig.
Let’s just make a quick list of things and I might elaborate on certain aspects further after the actual review of the gig.
Pre-gig:
Meeting up with Ronnie McGhie and his wife, Mary, and having a good old chinwag and blether with them.
Seeing Joe (Donnelly) briefly and me doing the very British thing of complaining about the weather. Lol. (It had been mostly dry during the day, until about 20 minutes before we were due to catch the train into Queen Street. It didn’t quit until we made our way back to the CCA having spent a bit of time in the Mitchell Library.)
Saying hi to George and Maria Porter in the queue waiting to go into the auditorium.
Once seated next to Ronnie and Mary, continuing on with the blether.
Spotting Billy Sloan arriving then skulking off into the dressing room.
Spotting Paul Buchanan sitting by himself a few rows in front of us.
Watching Billy come back out into the auditorium and take a seat next to Paul.
Trying to get Michelle’s attention as she entered the auditorium by waving – failing to do so and then having to call out to her. (Red face!)
Seeing the G Man arrive with his fam and waving a hello.
On to the main event. Leading up to it, I decided not to take a listen to the album. It had been available to listen to on streaming services (I hadn’t had the chance to pre-order and will be investing in a physical copy of the album next week) since the clock ticked to midnight on Thursday morning. I wanted my first listen to be a live experience. The only song I’d had exposure to prior to the gig was the lead single Up On Satellites. All the rest would be a completely virgin experience.
Around 5 minutes before the start, Jinky took a keek from around the entrance leading to the dressing room. He didn’t go unnoticed and received a small bubble of cheer. Shortly after, the lights went down and a hush swept through the crowd. You could hear a pin drop. The anticipation was palpable. Then as Joe and guitarist Josh Fraser arrived on stage the applause grew. Finally, Jinky arrived to a swell of applause, whoops and cheers.
The show started with the album opener and lead single, Up On Satellites. From there, the album continued to be performed in tracklist order. All of it performed in exemplary fashion. I have to say that JJ Gilmour (aka Jinky) has one of the most exceptional voices I have ever heard. His tone and sustain is faultless. I’ll be cliched and say that he could sing the phonebook and I’d be happy. Joe’s style of bass playing underpins and compliments Jinky’s voice magnificently. Josh Fraser’s guitar was also note perfect.
There isn’t a weak track in the eight that appear on the album. Given that last night was my first exposure to seven of the eight tracks, for me, the standouts were Wake Up, Kiss Of Life, Gonna Take A Miracle, and the title track, Home – but I loved the whole gig and will enjoy listening to the whole album. At a length of 40 minutes with 8 tracks, it’s all lean meat, no gristle or fat to trim off at all. Perfect to listen to complete.
Of course, with the album being 40 minutes long that meant the main set of the show was over within 45 minutes. The guys left the stage to a fantastic rapture from the crowd and returned a couple of minutes later for an encore which saw them perform the leading singles from their previous debut album, Time: The Prayer and Love Is A Reason.
Post-gig:
I had a chat with Billy Sloan. Asking him how much he enjoyed his trip to my homeland. He said he loved it but was struggling with the jetlag. He said he loved Sydney. I said that I do too, but I’m biased. He remarked on how clean and devoid of litter the streets were, unlike Glasgow. A fair point. And there I found myself as an ex-Sydneysider, defending Glasgow to a Glaswegian born and bred, hailing from just up the road in Springburn. Rather surreal moment number one! I said to him “Glasgow’s beautiful too.” “Yeah, but I wished people took more pride in it and would keep it looking clean,” came his reply.
Then a brief chinwag with G Man. We didn’t get the chance to talk much at all at Derek’s book signing, so last night there was a bit more time for a wee blether. He is looking very well. Long may rude health be with him.
Then….possibly the most surreal moment in my life – definitely the most surreal moment of the evening. As we were leaving, Michelle said to me “I’d have loved to have said hello to Paul Buchanan but I’m much too nervous.” I gestured a ‘come with me’ and said “come on” and wanted her to follow me back into the auditorium. She wouldn’t come with me, so I went back in anyway and approached Paul. When I approached him I said “Paul, my friend would love to meet you and say hi, but she’s too nervous.” “Where is she? I’ll come say hello.” He followed me out of the auditorium but when I get back to where I had left her, she was gone. I said to my partner, Em, “Where is she?” “She just ran off,” she said. So, I say to Paul “She’s disappeared, oh no!” He says to me “Let’s see if we can find her.” Bless him! She wasn’t amongst the crowd of people that had gathered by the merch stall. I thought that maybe she had retreated to the loo. This is where it got super surreal! I turn to Paul and say “I’ll check the loos.” He said “Okay, I’ll wait here.”
In my head I replay this over and over. I can’t believe it – that I have Paul Buchanan waiting outside the loos of the CCA while I go in to see if I can find Michelle who’s done a runner because she’s too shy and nervous to meet him. I go in. There are only two cubicles out of the five that are occupied. I didn’t want to do it but I called out “Michelle, are you in here?” No response. I bump into Angelique and Maria on the way out and have the briefest of chats before I need to excuse myself, painfully conscious that I have Paul Buchanan outside waiting for me to reappear with Michelle. When I get back to him I tell him that I couldn’t find her in there. He was so incredible – kind and patient. As he was saying to me “Well, when you find her, come back and get me.” Then I saw Em point downstairs. I say to Paul, “Oh, she’s downstairs.” “Okay, then let’s go,” he says to me. As I am walking down the stairs with him I am saying “Thank you so, so much for doing this.”
The rest of it from that point is a bit of a blur. I was just so happy to have found Michelle and that this time she didn’t run and she got to meet him and chat and do the wonderful fan thing we do when we meet people that have made our lives all the better by being creative geniuses and talents par excellence. Paul and I had a hug and I couldn’t have thanked him more. I had to get a snap of him and Michelle together. He was just the most gracious, most wonderful man. And I was this gallus idiot!
After that there was a chinwag with Jinky. He’s a lovely man and all. Can talk the leg off a donkey but just such wonderful banter with it. So warm and funny. Hearing his tales of songwriting and malaprops was wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us Jinky.
I then had more conversation with Ronnie, Mary and met James who regularly reads my blog – so if you’re reading this, James…it was lovely to meet you and see you at Easter!
One final wee chinwag with Joe before we left for the night. I won’t repeat all that was said but I loved your gallus, Joe – and I reckon you’re right. Hope to see you out on the road again real soon.
In all, a fantastic showcase to a stellar album. There is no sign of the ‘difficult second album’ befalling Caezar. It’s a fabulous album and I recommend you get your hot hands on it. You won’t regret it! That applies to seeing them live as well.
In my conversations with both Joe and Jinky I asked about future shows and both of them confirmed there will be other shows being announced. I look forward to getting to some of those dates.
Next up is the mighty Simple Minds – and the stakes are high! Bring your A Game, guys!