For the second night in a row I’m covering a review for a colleague who is a) far more knowledgeable regarding the bands playing and b) sick so can’t get to the gig. Before I start with the bit about the music and stuff, can I please send out a “thanks” to Marriott’s PR and tour manager who both went the extra mile to help accommodate our poorly reviewer, but at the end of the day they were simply too ill to make it.
So this review is very much going to be “first impression”, but this isn’t a bad thing. The number of live shows I’ve been to, this year especially, when I’ve never heard of the bands playing surprises even me. I’ve had a great time at pretty much all of them and found some new favourites along the way. Tonight was going to add to that list.
Watching the sell-out audience filter into the venue got the evening off to a good start. Everyone was obviously buoyant and there were huge numbers of pride flags which were later to be seen waving in unison during a couple of songs. After checking with our planned reviewer it seems that Marriott is a vocal ally, so I like him more already. The door staff were checking for the usual. “Bottles? Cans? No? But I’ll have to confiscate that balloon, sorry!” Yes, that happened!
By the time I got upstairs, the main dancefloor was maybe half full, with the people there pushed quite close to the front and a forest of phones were in the air with their torches on. The current song was being sung along to so loudly that it drowned out poor Calum Bowie, the opening act. Google time… it turns out he’s Scottish (Aberdeen-born, now resident over Edinburgh way) and very, very popular. On the strength of his short set, or what I saw of it, I get why.
If Scotland produced their own Noah Kahan (for want of a better comparison) then Bowie is it, and indeed he segued in to “Stick Season” briefly during one of his own songs. Certainly a staggering number of people were there to see him as well as the other acts and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a better-received opener at a gig. Bleed From Within at the Hydro before Slipknot is about as close as it gets.
Unusually, this opening act will be back in the same venue in a month’s time (December 5th) with a full band, playing a headline set and it’s almost sold out. I’m almost tempted though it’s the night before Sabaton in Nottingham…
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After a short break Esme Emerson and drummer Seb arrived on stage to a very warm welcome. The titular pair are siblings and their music is a little more airy than Bowie’s. Esme’s voice is lovely, but the songs weren’t quite hitting with me, though once she put her guitar down and we had only Emerson’s playing alongside the drums, the songs changed and I found that I was getting into them a little more. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the more stripped back songs were more to my taste.
While I appreciated the performance, and the last song (sorry, I didn’t catch the name) was a bit more of a belter, they’re not a band I think are for me. If you like them, however, a reminder that they’ll be headlining King Tut’s in May next year. Oh, and I have to say that having merch made by your mum (crochet!) is a wonderful marketing ploy!
At 9pm the lights suddenly went down and I was deafened. Not the music, but the screams of the audience. I honestly do not think I’ve ever heard such a noise from a crowd of this size before (or some bigger ones), though it could be that there were more screams than roars due to the approximately 80% female population. Regardless it was incredible. I don’t think anyone coming on stage could ask for a better welcome.
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James Marriott walked on amongst clouds of stage smoke and kicked into “Ventriloquist” as the audience went wild. By the end of the second song he’d been regaled with the traditional “Here we fucking go” chant and the longest round of “No Scotland, no party” I’ve ever heard at a gig – something he not only revelled in but actively encouraged. This is a man who knows his audience, and he comes off as incredibly genuine as he talks to them.
Before “Car Lights” he harked back to his first Glasgow show, at King Tuts, where he says he was wiping tears from his eyes by the end. Maybe it was the bigger setting, and the significantly larger number of people singing his lyrics back at him, but Marriott did indeed get emotional again. So that’s two shows I’ve been to at Barrowlands in a month where the lead singer has struggled to keep it together, for the best of reasons! Unfortunately, as with the Bleed from Within show I attended, there was a stoppage (two in fact) while people in the crowd were attended to. I think this time they were both heat-related and play continued quite rapidly once security managed to get to the affected individuals and help them out.
The set was varied and Marriott said they’d gone for a heavier selection of numbers due to the Glasgow audience, including the song “The Other Side”. This didn’t seem to be hyperbole as I checked on setlist.fm and there was a different show tonight than previously on the tour. One thing that definitely won’t happen on another date was Marriott being presented with Rock Sound’s “Breakthrough Artists 2025” award live on stage! Cue more emotion from the singer.
Towards the end of “Limbs”, which was performed acoustically, I swear I could hear someone not to far away sobbing really loudly. This was definitely an emotional night, though those emotions were all positive. The crowd bouncing and making that famous Barrowlands floor flex like a trampoline, the screams, the chants, the arm waving, the smiles, the gifts thrown at the stage, the girl in front of me framing her little cuddly toy into a photo with Marriott in the distance… The whole night made me smile.
Having come home and listened to some of the studio versions, I’m surprised by what I heard at the show. The recorded versions are definitely a lot lighter and more poppy, whereas the performance I watched was very much a rock show. I’d also like to point out the musicianship and, indeed, the composition of some of the songs. With a couple of the 6-piece band being multi-instrumental, at one point I saw four guitars (plus a bass) being played at the same time. Credit to the band themselves, and to the sound techs because it all sounded really good.
Every time someone plays here they say that Glasgow is the best city to play. Tonight, largely because of the audience I was a part of, I actually think James Marriott was telling the truth. He’s welcome back again any time he likes to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. I’ll be there with bells on (and my rainbow hair ties in my beard).
