LIVE REVIEW: Andrew Cushin, The Rolling People, PG Ciarletta, Oran Mor, Glasgow, 25/05/2025
Up-and-coming indie rocker Andrew Cushin has been selling out shows around the UK during this current tour promoting his latest album offering Love Is For Everyone (L.I.F.E.) and now it is the turn of Glasgow to bring the energy to the west end of the city on this Sunday night. The talented Newcastle singer/songwriter has worked so hard to get to where he is now and we are hoping the crowd are up for this one.
It’s an early start at 7pm tonight and first up is PG Ciarletta, the Glasgow-based songwriter plays a half-hour acoustic set to liven the crowd up for what’s ahead, there are maybe only one hundred in the Oran Mor but Ciarletta’s music is appreciated all round, we have saw Phil perform a few times live with the last being at the Y Not? Festival last year. You always know what you’re going to get with this chap: an acoustic based performance with singalong vibes to every song he plays and tonight is no different as he runs through a set filled with tracks old and new. Kicking the set off with When You Get Home and a new one titled The Streets that sounded great live, during Now That You’re here ‘PG’ realises that his drum pedal isn’t functioning so it is a purely acoustic set now. Latest release When We Were Young is played perfectly, another one that takes you back while The Sesh is the best of the set for us with some great lyrics reminding us of something we all did back in the day: a sesh in Scotland means an all weekend drinking session, ah those were the days! 7/10
Stockport indie rockers The Rolling People put on an entrancing set as the crowd swells quickly for a band that are potentially destined for big things, they are all still in their teens so have plenty of time to break through. The eight-track set was thoroughly enjoyable with more than a few fans singing back the lyrics, The State Of Things and I’ll Be There are standouts with the latter seeing some memorable guitar work. New track Edge Of The Knife draws the crowd in quickly stopping any conversations in their tracks, the set featured four new songs alongside the better known ones such as Before It’s Gone and Reign. The crowd response to a band named after The Verve song from all those years ago was decent and sets us up nicely for the main act Andrew Cushin. 8/10
Looking around the Oran Mor we are delighted to see so many Newcastle United FC shirts and every one of them are delighted to be here especially after the good news earlier that Newcastle had qualified for next season’s Champions League! It really is a party atmosphere now as we await Andrew Cushin, we have been looking forward to hearing the new songs from the L.I.F.E. album as well as a few from debut album Waiting For The Rain. We have been following Andrew’s career for three years or so since coming across him supporting The Sherlocks at Saint Luke’s. Cushin appears on stage with the L.I.F.E. album represented immediately with title track Love Is For Everyone, Alright!, Catch The Sun and latest single New World Blazing, ok a few of the older tracks such as 4.5% have to give way to the new tunes but there are still a few dotted among the set.
The latest LP broke into the Official top 40 and that is maybe why he made the decision to play all twelve tracks tonight, Cushin is also joined on guitar by the very experienced figure of Johnny Bond, ex Catfish & The Bottlemen guitarist, it really is hard to keep our eyes off his talents on the strings. Shouts of “Eddie Howe’s black & white army” are continuously heard around the room, the Geordies are just as passionate as the Glaswegians when it comes to football and music, there must be at least one hundred of them within the crowd adding to an already special atmosphere. The new songs continue to flow with Kiss The Sky and Something Ain’t Quite Right, around the middle of the set we get to hear what are for us Andrew’s two best songs – It’s Coming Round Again and Where’s My Family Gone – the first one has the crowd screaming back the lyrics to the stage while the latter is an unusual quiet moment from the night as everyone is listening to the heartfelt lyrics from a track that was produced by the one and only Noel Gallagher, this one will be stored in the memory bank for some time.
No More Shadows is one of the best on the L.I.F.E. album but it’s Wor Flags that gets the crowd energy flowing again as a Newcastle United flag appears, this track is a staple for an Andrew Cushin gig and we are glad that he has left it in the set, for a Sunday night the atmosphere is electric. With no barrier down the front a young enthusiastic female fan decides to untie the vocalists shoelace much to the amusement of the crowd and Cushin responds jokingly “that’s why there should be a fucking barrier”. After another new one Hollywood the band leave the stage for a couple of minutes before returning to play two singalong numbers to end a fantastic night of music, starting with You Don’t Belong and ending with I’m Coming Home from the latest release, the crowd are spitting out every last ounce of energy in their bodies to these two songs thus ending a memorable night that we are so glad we were able to attend. Playing the album in complete was a bold move but it worked out perfectly, we will watch with interest what happens next with Andrew Cushin, he has already supported the likes of Noel Gallagher and Louis Tomlinson among others so it’s onwards and upwards. 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
