Well, here’s my little review of last night’s Glasgow gig.

Arrived about 8pm, and was in two minds whether to stay a respectable distance back and take it all in, or go for it upfront. I did the former for the Roundhouse and Trafalgar Sq, so (despite reservations about getting on in years!), I went for the latter. And was I stunned – I managed to get right on the barrier, about 10 ft left of centre, right in front of Ed. Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! I took plenty pics, and will upload those at some point over the next few days. A few clips as well, but being so close to a speaker (literally 4 feet) means the sound’s screwed.

What I saw of Slam was pretty good, and there was a half hour of tunes between them and the Brothers. Then it started. Lights down, blue lighting, and the familiar drone of No Path To Follow. So, here’s hoping I can remember them all…

Galvanise – I did previously think it was a bit weak as a started, but this was better than previous – the Don’t Hold Back samples make a big difference. Like a lot of the set, they seem to be playing around with a lot of the tracks. Anyway, a big start, it got the place going and bouncing around.

Burst Generator – they can do no wrong with this in my book!

Do It Again – the crowd loved this one – the red and blue dancing men giving it their all. This seemed to be a lot longer than the first part of the tour, and with a minute or so of the Big Jump included adds to it.

Get Yourself High into Hey Boy Hey Girl – the clown still seems to freak people out, but when the initial notes of HBHG come in, it’s welcomed with a roar. And more so when it kicks in.

All Rights Reversed – not sure why, and not meant as a criticism, but this is my least favourite track of the set. Starts with a couple of minutes ala the remix they played on Colin Murray’s show a few months ago – but they did seem to mess about with it, which added to it, towards the end.

Out of Control – the keystone cops appear… still amazing. Might be me, but this seemed to be longer than previous – just great. Then going into…

It Doesn’t Matter/Don’t Fight Control – this seems to get better every time you hear it. And back to…

Out of Control

Star Guitar – with the Temptation intro, this is another that just keeps it up there. And so endeth the first part of the set. The roars at the end of it brought big smiles to Tom and Ed, so a good night being had by all.

Surface to Air starts the second half of the main set, and still a beautiful track live

Under The Influence – sounds amazing, the robots still giving it some

Saturate – another standout - the visuals are so simple, but the explosions just make it.

Believe – the best part of the night. The 2 minute break and build up in the middle is just immense. Blows me away every time. Started to lose it a bit at the end of it from going at it too hard, but the security at the front were always there with the water – fair play to ye!

We Are The Night – this is beautiful live – far better than I remember it at the Roundhouse. After the mentalness of Believe, it builds slowly and patiently, but when it’s at its peak, what a sound. It seemed to be a longer version as well.

Nude Night – yep, we got Nude Night as well. What can I say? This is simply amazing live. A good 5 minutes or so, what a tune. Hopefully a few boots will be doing the rounds soon. This might be too much of a trainspotter moment, but the visuals being used looked like those on the Brixton intro in 2005 (going by Sneakerbeaters video) – for those seeing them in the next week, see what you think. I should have a good photo that I’ll upload. And then the familiar vocals of Wayne Coyne heralded…

The Golden Path – wow. Really, wow. This seemed to be a far funkier and beefed up version from the earlier shows. Really, really amazing.

Chemical Beats – prefaced by the clown and You Are All My Children Now, and it’s the massive closer. Another one there’s nothing I can add. You all know what it’s like. Never dates, just sounds superb. Again, big roars at the end, and we have the brief respite with the massive eye (another image which freaks people out for some reason) before Tom and Ed come back with…

Leave Home – ah, a tear in the eye. The first Chems track I heard which got me started on all this all those years ago.

Block Rockin’ Beats – back with another one of those… the crowd know what they like, and this is it. A lot of tweaking at the end, and bring it to an end. After a few seconds break, the big finish

Sunshine Underground – this started with a beautiful few minutes of gentle, for the want of a better word, twinkling – the piece of music that had been at the end of Das Spiegel at the earlier shows, but on its own and stretched out for a good 3 minutes or so – the perfect intro this. Then the familiar five notes, and the long build up. Again, they seemed to mess about with it towards the end, but it made it even more powerful.

And then Tom knocking hell out of the kitten at the end, and the Love is All moment, and once more it’s all over. The guys looked as if they enjoyed it, and got a great reception from the crowd.

There was a bit of uncertainty as to whether this would be a good gig at the soulless hangar that the SECC can be, but for my money, this was one of the best nights I’ve had there. I may have had a different view being right on the front row, but the seats around it may have given it that enclosed feel which added to the atmosphere and made it more of a real venue. There was a lot of crowd noise, and a lot of knackered people on the way out. All in all, a fantastic 1hr 45.

A few other random musings:

- Ed bantering with the crowd, after being bombarded by flying glowsticks the entire night

- Ed coming out front a lot – nice one, sir!

- Tom giving it some a number of times as well, and getting big responses every time

- Never seen Ed use pedal effects before, but maybe I’ve never seen them as I’ve never been so close!

- the sound is incredible – when you have a speaker a few feet from you, you get the Brothers live sound in full effect

- quite a few vocal samples were used throughout – I couldn’t place them, but add to the overall set

- I’ve never worn stilletos (or at least never claiming to!), but surely that can’t be the best footwear at a Chems show???

And to close it off, I’ve been listening to Believe from Koko for the last few weeks. I played it to my kids earlier in the day (all good) and then my parents, who suggested that I should be getting too old for this and should I not be listening to the likes of Elton John and Radio 2… Never! An amazing night again. Right, that’s my lot. Will get the pictures uploaded at some point shortly.

Cheers

Graeme

Nice one - looks like it was The Golden Path and Chemical Beats us peeps in Manchester missed out on due to the technical probs :(.

First time on here but agree with all that Graeme posted in his detailed review.

I had fears that it would be soul-less like 2005 but how wrong I was.

Only negative would be the merchandise stalls as there were only 3 uninspiring t-shirts for sale (none with backprints)

All in all though 10/10. See you soon guys..

Sounds like a great night!

I'm really hoping for an audio recording to surface at some point - want to hear the Do It Again/Big Jump in all its glory.

Graeme, wicked to read! And yeh, i never understand how woman can wear heals to a chems gig. It suprises me everytime!

i wear heels at every chems gig i'm at

:)

Holy shit. NUDE NIGHT?

wow. Their set list has managed to top itself. Um, how?

nice review Graeme ,thanks :)

Anyone have a full set list?

Looks like it was an awesome show! Their set lists keep getting better and better!

Graeme... what a beautiful review!! Thank you for taking the time to post this - such a wonderful read and so fantastic to hear the crowd response put smiles on Tom's and Ed's faces.

Welcome to the forums, BP. :)

Having read all the negative comments about Glasgow SECC as I venue I was more than pleasantly surprised with the great atmosphere at the show last night and the quality of the show as well.Third time to see them this tour and went in with a bit of trepidation that it might be a bit of a let down but no way.Didnt catch the support act as we had seating tickets and spent about half an hour waiting for the opportune time to bunk into the standing section.The security were being very strict on this but we waited til a bit of a surge got going and barely even flashed our tickets at the young girl at the edge of the cordon as we nipped past.Not exactly the Great Train Robbery or The Sting or anything but we were pleased with ourselves non the less!

Anyway we moved our position twice before they came on as firstly a group of young things were getting a bit rowdy and then again when some whipper snapper began blowing his whistle non stop!Rock and roll or what?!

So the Brothers came on and I can only totally agree with the review above.Super set,plenty of fiddling with the tunes to keep them fresh and a hugely enthusiastic and vociferous crowd.Nude Night was fabulous,longer and funkier than clips I've seen previously.Saturate/Believe a stand out as usual,Star Guitar HAS to remain in the set,Surface To Air beautiful as ever.Only down point for me was All Rights Reversed which just doesnt seem to do it for me live.I was a bit alarmed at the amount of glow sticks and other missiles that rained down on Tom and Ed many of them hitting the equiptment and one that hit Ed on the back of the head when he had his back turned.Some one's shoe went up at one stage!Tom took to remonstrating with the crowd soon after.It was strange coz the barrage began from the first song.Maybe missile throwing is a sign of approval in Glasgow coz the crowd loved the gig and voiced their appreciation for the Brothers throughout.ANOTHER great show.

nice reviews thanks!

Right - uploaded as many photos as I can on a free flickr account

http://www.flickr.co...57603421892135/

Lovely photos, thank you so much for these!

And BUFFETT!! So glad you had a great time at the gig! :)

Awesome photos thanks Graeme! 8)

I was at this gig. Best one i've ever been to. The lights were the best I've ever seen and the sound was just amazing. Thanx for such a great evening everyone that was there.

thanks for the reviews guys. Glad you had a fantastic time! :)