It’s a rarity for me to be going to a gig on a Sunday night, and much like buses – my Sunday night gigs have arrived in twos. Last night it was the much-anticipated Field Music at Oran Mor. I decided to head to the city to ride the subway in time before the last trains ran. The subway stops earlier on a Sunday evening – as nothing happens in Glasgow on a Sunday night. Likewise for the train service on the Anniesland line. Our local service via Maryhill has the last train leaving Queen Street at 6.30pm so I wasn’t going to be taking the trains home. More on that later.
For a Sunday evening, Byres Road was as busy as usual. I made it to Hillhead at around 5.40pm. This gave me time to pop into Pasteis Lisboa and get myself a plum and cardamom flavoured pastel de nata. I sat for a few minutes on one of the stone seats on Vinicombe Street and devoured the thing in three bites. Delicious! I had thought about perusing the Waitrose as it was open until 8pm, but I changed my mind as nature was calling and I was praying that I would be able to go into the bar at Oran Mor and use the ladies loos before queuing for the gig. Last time I was attending a gig at Oran Mor, the bar had security guards at the doors and there was no entry unless you had pre-booked (or perhaps it was a private function or something? Either way) – so I had to queue whilst nature kept calling. Thankfully no such thing happened last night and I was able to go to the bar, head to the loos and then start queuing.
I had asked a member of the bar staff if they knew where I should queue outside for the gig. Was the gig going to be downstairs in “The Venue?” She said that the show was going to be in the auditorium and I should queue by the wooden doors on Great Western Road. I did think that was a bit strange but got mildly excited at the thought of being in that part of Oran Mor, where the beautiful Alasdair Gray artwork is. Around 20 minutes later, some bar staff came from downstairs from The Venue up to street level and created a small barrier and so I walked over to them to ask if the gig was happening down there – not convinced by what the female bartender had told me. They said, yes, the gig was happening downstairs.
After a few minutes, two men joined me in the “queue” (I had been the only Billy Nomates queuing up til this point, hence the commas) and they had said that TWO gigs were happening – that someone else was performing in the auditorium, hence the confusion I’d had and the information I’d been given by the bartender. It continued to lead to confusion for all the patrons arriving as no one had any idea where they should be going and which queue to join. Both were suddenly growing as the time ticked over towards 7pm.
I was hoping for a barrier to be in place by the stage. Something to prop myself up against – but there wasn’t one. I wasn’t sure how I was going to stay comfortably on my feet for the duration of the gig. I initially stood by one of the pillars and got chatting to a lady (who was with a friend – but it was just she and me who did most of the chatting) about gigs and venues around Glasgow. It passed the short amount of time away until the show kicked off proper.


The support was from a band called The Golden Dregs – for this set the band were just a duo (they’re usually a six-piece): Ben and his compatriot on keyboards whose name I’m afraid to say now escapes me. I’ve searched and can’t find his name, I’m sorry. Ben has quite a deep voice. Baritone to the point of being closer to bass at times. They performed several songs. All with a dark tone in atmosphere. Strong shades of Nick Cave came through to me. I enjoyed their set. You can find out more about them by checking out their website: thegoldendregs.com
A very quick turn around in preparing the stage and before we knew it, Field Music were on! In watching the set-up taking place right in front of me – I had moved from my pillar prop over near to the left of the stage – and having known that when they played a home gig in Sunderland on Thursday night, David played drums, so that meant that he and Peter would be sharing drumming duties. But that stage is WEE and with five band members on stage, there wasn’t much room for manoeuvre. Therefore I had assumed that Peter would be staying at the drum kit – but no! Despite the precariousness of the manoeuvring, he shared duties with David.
It was a fantastic set. The correct balance of new and old – with eight tracks performed from current album Limits of Language and the remainder of the 15-song set being a mix of the VERY OLD, and the not-so-old. The oldest song in the set being ‘A House is Not a Home’ from 2007’s Tones of Town, the most recent being two tracks from 2021’s Flat White Moon – ‘Orion from the Street’ and ‘No Pressure.’




You can always rely on the Brewis brothers for snide jibes and banter between themselves (mostly the former) and the crowd (definitely the latter). They are just so …. their rapport with each other, I just love it. I love the gentle ribbing they do with each other and you can just feel how much they love performing – even if sometimes David’s nerves and self-doubt seem to get the better of him – not in his playing. Never in his playing, although I’m sure he’d tell you otherwise. In fact, he’d probably make a point of it! Lol. But that’s what makes the dynamic between himself and Peter so wonderful. Peter always seems a bit more, “Oh, fuck it. If we fuck up, we fuck up. It’ll be fine. No one cares.” Whereas David – he worries and frets. I love watching them perform and interact and I love seeing the moments when David just allows himself the time to just enjoy the moment.
One of the songs they performed from Limits of Language is called ‘Curfew on the Square’ – it’s about the closing down of Marks and Spencer in Sunderland town centre and the ensuing mock riot that takes place. The locals were up-in-arms on local social media – so Peter brought these things to life with a full-on riot taking place in Sunderland town centre. He had also rushed out a re-written verse to localise it for Glasgow and it featured Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop – it was fab and the crowd loved it. He crumpled up with sheet of paper the lyrics were scrawled on and threw it out into the crowd. I called out, saying “those lyrics will be worth their weight in gold now.” David retorted – “but paper is thin, so that’s not much.” Lol



After the fantastic set I queued for the merch stall. I wanted to do something that would surprise someone and so when it was my turn to be served, and as David was serving me and sorting out a request that I had made, I said to him “I feel like you can never truly relax when you’re up there.” He replied by saying something akin to – if he didn’t feel that kind of pressure, it wouldn’t be right. I said that was a fair enough point but that I get worried it means he can’t really savour the moment. He assured me that he did, that he felt good up there and he enjoyed the show. I said “I’m glad to hear that because you were absolutely amazing!”
A final trip back over to the stage to complete the request by having Peter ‘Do Me a Favour.’ As I said my final goodbye I said “I wish I could see more of your shows this tour.” Peter’s reply? “You probably saw the best one anyway.” That’s the Brewis brothers in a nutshell! Self-deprecating, down-to-earth and just really lovely men. Nothing false, no facades. Salt-of-the-earth Mackems. I love ‘em!
And so, my little task that I had set myself had only been possible because the Other Half had found out that I could actually get a bus home after the show. I know!! A bus running so late on a Sunday night? I didn’t even think they did! It was news to me. I had to wait around for a bit. Due to the timings of the show – and even with the wait at the merch stall, the request being dealt with, a final loo trip, I was out on Byres Road by 10.15pm – I had a 30-minute wait for the bus. The night was dry and it wasn’t bitingly cold so I didn’t mind the wait. My legs did! There is no seating at the bus stop outside the Waitrose – but there is at the stop on the other side of the road. I didn’t want to chance moving over to that one to take a seat. I was also worried that once I sat I wouldn’t get up again so easily. I occupied my time and it passed relatively quickly. And despite having to wait around for a bus, I still got home long before midnight, which is heavenly.
Next up for me is Hamish Hawk on Sunday in Aberdeen.
