Deacon Blue finally made it back to the OVO Hydro on Saturday night after a three and a half year absence. If you want to look for the culprits responsible for the wait, you can lay the blame squarely on Covid-19 and Omnicron.
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. December 2018 was the last time that Ricky Ross, Lorraine MacIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond stepped onto this familiar stage with Gregor Philp and Lewis Gordon.
This crowd was more than ready to see Deacon Blue live. They served up a comprehensive menu of hits. There was appetisers and sides from albums such as The Hipsters (2012), Believers (2016) and their latest album City of Love (2020).
The main course delved into the band’s back catalogue of anthems, with a dynamic set built around songs from Raintown(1987), When the World Knows Your Name (1989) Fellow Hoodlums (1991) and Whatever You Say, Say Nothing (1993).
After a hectic three song intro, Ricky Ross took a break in the proceedings to explain how the band felt about the evening. They had come home. The place where the band’s heart was.
The evening felt more like a gathering of family than a gig in front of 13,000 fans. It was all remarkably intimate and close, with a connection that spanned the arena.
It was as if the band were in your living room having just popped in to play a few songs. I have been at many a gig in the last few decades covering several musical genres, but this was so effortless and genuine that you really felt part of the experience. My son, who I took along for his first Deacon Blue gig, loved how the interaction of Ricky Ross and the audience added to the atmosphere. Ricky is a raconteur of the highest order, and he was among friend.
Whilst songs played on the night such as Dignity, Raintown, Chocolate Girl, Loaded, Wages Day, Real Gone Kid, Fergus Sings the Blues were most pleasing to the crowd, for me the highlight of the night was when the song ‘When Will You (Make my telephone ring)’ which segued into The Chi-Lites Have You Seen Her?’ A touch of class. The band and the audience were one united choir.
Footnote: I am 64 and an ex English teacher. Ricky Ross is 64 and an ex English teacher. I wrote a few songs for a school pantomime. He wrote songs that took his albums into the top 10 of the UK music charts. There the comparison ends.
Their next gig in Scotland is in July at Edinburgh Castle on July 9th.
