stevenross.co.uk » Live Reviews

Teenage Fanclub – ABC Glasgow 25-11-05

SR — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:03:25 +0000

Enjoyed this gig a whole lot more than the last time I saw them live at the Academy. They gave a flawless run through of a good variety of songs from all eras. A highlight for me was that they finally played Born Under A Good Sign live, and it sounded as great as I’d hoped.

The sound in the venue was excellent and the band (well Norman anyway) seemed to be in good humour and enjoying themselves. Restored my faith after my recent wobble.

It was a busy night at the ABC and we clocked Billy Boyd, Pat Nevin, Duglas Stewart, Pastels Bloke (I think) and Bruce Forsythe. (One of those was a lie).

I enjoyed the gig so much it almost made me forget my horrific commute from Edinburgh which almost resulted in me missing the gig completely. A cancelled train, a wandering replacement bus service, and 2.5 hours spent on the M8 carpark all had me in a terrible mood.

Someone’s posted some really good photos from the gig on flickr – check them out.

And here’s the setlist:

TFC Glasgow ABC 25/11/2005

Hang On
The Cabbage
Feel
Fallen Leaves
Slow Fade
About you
I need Direction
Start Again
Its All In My Mind
Please Stay
Verisimilitude
I Don’t Want Contrrol
Take The Long Way
Mellow Doubt
Only With You
Dont look Back
Your Love Is The Place
Sparkys Dream
The Concept

Aint That Enough
Cant Feel My Soul
Born under A Good Sign
Broken

Everythng Flows

Sons & Daughters – ABC Glasgow 25-11-2005

SR — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:47:20 +0000

Bit of an odd night. For some reason the band didn’t come on until 11.30pm or thereabouts. Obviously by then I’d had a few drinks to pass the time but even that didn’t soften the impact of the appauling sound. Was about to write the gig off after 5 or 6 songs, when suddenly things started to sound amazing. Now either I had got so pissed all my judgement had gone or someone got their arse in gear at the mixing desk. Suffice to say from then on I enjoyed the gig. Here’s some camera phone pics that for once aren’t totally crap.

First time in the new ABC venue. Seemed like a decent place. As far as I knew the gig was supposed to be in the ABC2 but it was such a big hall that I doubt it. The only issue I had with the place was that main bar was a bit of scrum to get served but I guess that’s standard issue for most gig venues.

Ian Brown

SR — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:53:54 +0000

Went to see Ian Brown at the weekend. The less said the better. Gutted.

Elbow – Glasgow Carling Academy 17 November 2005

SR — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 09:31:11 +0000

Fcking extraordinary!

An Evening with Elbow

SR — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:06:12 +0000

Going to see Elbow tonight. I’ve been a big fan for years, yet have surprisingly never managed to see them live. Naturally I’m looking forward to this a lot and it should be a good one.

U2 Hampden Park Glasgow

SR — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 21:44:54 +0000

Well the U2 behemoth rolled into town last night and I was looking forward to seeing a proper mega show. I’m a big concert goer but stay well clear of stadium gigs and last night did nothing to change my opinion.

The biggest problem was the appalling sound. From a good central location on the pitch the sound swirled about aimlessly, vocals were muted and the whole mix lack lustre.

You then couple this with the crap views, herds of neds, drunks and worst of all a complete lack of beer and the band would frankly have to put in a blinding performance to compensate. Well they fell woefully short. Struggling against the terrible sound, the band probably only hit the mark 50% of the time. This was shocking considering the quality of U2’s songs in general and a major disappointment to me.

There was of course some great moments sonically and performance wise (New Years Day, Vertigo and a few more) but not enough to save the day.

I’m never going to a stadium gig again – much much rather spend £10 each on 5 bands!

Support

Didn’t see brmc as the traffic was a total nightmare. Interpol were ok but totally swamped by the whole thing. A few of their songs sounded good but I don’t think the crowd was really into them.

Sons & Daughters QMU Glasgow

SR — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 21:45:29 +0000

Must try harder.

Seen them before and I’ll see them again but last night just wasn’t happening. Poor sound, malfunctioning mandolins (!!) and a lacklustre vocal performance from the bloke singer. Also found the burd singer (should really find out their names I guess) starting to get a bit annoying with her SHOUTING instead of singing.

So by now you’d think I hated the gig – well I didn’t, I just know they can be so much better and I was disapointed. The new songs didn’t really stand up to the quality of the first album but then new songs rarely do in a live atmosphere – they take time to grow and settle in.

Teenage Fanclub – Glasgow Carling Academy

SR — Mon, 30 May 2005 21:34:19 +0000

Good gig overall. Enjoyed the new stuff better live than the blandness of the recorded versions as it was a bit more raw and had a spark of life about it. There is no denying it now though that you’re watching a bunch of middle aged men in jumpers struting their stuff – not very rock ‘n’ roll. Unless of course jumpers are the new rock ‘n’ roll and I’m out of touch once again. So there you have it decent music played by men in jumpers – a concise and cutting review.

Oh and I hate fcking Carling Lager. I wish it was the Staropramen Academy or something.

Teenage Fanclub Gig

SR — Wed, 25 May 2005 21:36:13 +0000

TFC gig tomorrow night which I’m looking forward to – even though the album’s still not doing it for me. Not as bad as I initially thought but its still washing over me. You stick it on and before you realise its over without you even registering it! Maybe I’m just going senile.