It’s a Saturday night at one of the most talked about venues in the UK and also a homecoming show for one of Glasgow’s finest bands Glasvegas … what more could we ask for? Well, other than not being soaked to the bone by the time we arrived at the venue nothing really. We had to check back to find out the last time we saw Glasvegas live and the answer to that question was at the YNot? Festival in Derbyshire in August 2024 where they played an outstanding hour-long set.
Fellow Glaswegian duo Man of Moon had just taken to the stage when we arrived and the first thing we noticed was how loud they were. The duo of Chris Bainbridge (vocals & guitar) and Iain Stewart (drums) produce music that has elements of krautrock, electronic and psychedelia, it worked really well with this crowd. Man of Moon released second album MACHINES in 2024 and we would get a few from that release, a very enjoyable half hour set us up nicely for Glasvegas. 7/10
By the time Glasvegas took to the stage just after 9pm the Barrowland floor was packed out with everyone vying for a space with a decent view. James Allan (vocals & guitar), Rab Allan (guitar), Paul Donoghue (bass) and touring member Chris Dickie on drums wasted no time and would soon have the crowd screaming back the lyrics to the stage, the question on everyone’s lips was what song they would open with? We were delighted to hear the opening notes of Euphoria, Take My Hand, we couldn’t have asked for a better opener, the room is electrified already and it stays that way for the full set. The 2008 debut album Glasvegas is the main focus of the set tonight from which we get eight tracks, the first one is Fuck You, It’s Over before heading to the Godspeed album with Keep Me A Space. A huge roar goes up when James Allan announces that the band have now finished the new album and proceeds to give us a taster of a brand new song, Deguello being the first of two new ones tonight, the crowd stand silently taking in every word that James is singing with quite a few phones in the air too capturing the moment for posterity.
Rab Allan on guitar is entertaining the crowd with his left handed freestyle, it is self-expression at its finest and a joy to watch while the set continues with The World Is Yours and Polmont On My Mind and Whatever Hurts You Through The Night from the EUPHORIC, HEARTBREAK album. The next track is Flowers & Football Tops, a song from the debut album that has always given the band so much love. The lyrics are heartbreaking as the crowd fall silent for this one connecting to every word that James is singing, it is always a surreal moment when they play this one live. The mood soon changes for the second new song of the night Null, we can’t wait for the album release now! Three songs from the Glasvegas album end the main set – It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry, Geraldine and Go Square Go are the three – and all get a great crowd response too.
A quick word about merchandise, hats off to Glasvegas for keeping the t-shirts at the reasonable price of twenty quid, a price that was convincing enough for us to purchase one. A cover of the Sam Cooke song A Change Is Gonna Come is appreciated all round whilst the explosive Lots Sometimes is a great moment from the night. There is only one song that can end a Glasvegas set and that is the tear jerker that is Daddy’s Gone, the crowd connects so much to this song with the depth of feeling that resonates with everyone being a special moment.
Glasvegas had a nice touch by leaving posters around the venue with a QR code that fans could scan to grab a presale ticket for the upcoming show at the O2 Academy in November, that’s one not to be missed especially with the new album on the horizon. Could it possibly be an album release show? Now, that would be special. 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
