I was through in Edinburgh last night for this great gig.Sadly, due to the need to be back in Glasgow before midnight, I couldn't stay to watch the headlining act. But I can report that The Pictish Trail and Rozi Plain were hauntingly wonderful....and after many months of inactivity, Malcolm Middleton has returned.
I'm sure Malcolm will think in many ways this was a far from assured solo performance from the great man. He was quite clearly nervous, and he wasn't helped by a largely indifferent audience who were here for the main act, and his efforts to talk to them between songs in a very intimate venue where the nearest punters were at eye level less than 6 feet away were met with silence. Which only made Malcolm, never the most confident with his stage persona, even more nervous.
But when he let the songs speak for themselves, he had the audience eating out of his hand. Yes, he did forget one or two lines, and yes, he did stop at least one song and start again as he had made a mess of it. This particular fan couldnt care less - it was just such a great feeling to see him back on stage with his trusty acoustic guitar giving us lots of old favourites and one new song in a 40-minute set that just flew in:-
Setlist ( I might have the order slightly wrong....its all from memory):-
A Brighter Beat
Up Late At Night Again
Blue Bags
Fuck It I Love You
Autumn
Total Belief
Devastation
Travelling Red Socks
Somebody Loves You
And from a couple of CDs I've never posted anything from before:-
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - Devastation (live)
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - Blue Plastic Bags
The former is taken from a superb love solo appearance back in 2005 at the Bush Hall in London. The latter from the mini-LP Sleight of Heart that was released earlier this year.
Both can.....no let me rephrase that.....both should be bought from this site where you'll get all sorts of info on the great man.
Actually, I was wrong about Sleight of Heart....its not available on the official site. Try here.
Happy Listening.
2 comments:
It was a smashing gig. Definately going to buy some of Malcolm's CDs.
I loved the song about "Red Travelling Socks" but it seems that it's not released yet.
Hi JC old man, glad you liked it and sorry for being such a muppet about the times as well. Have you got the Pictish album? I have to say I'm slightly surprised you enjoyed their set so much. Pleased, but surprised.
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