What's on the schedule for tonight? A trip to King Tuts, it would appear. Providing the entertainment would be Amy LaVere, Colin Train and Pearl and the Puppets.
Colin Train was on first. Although I personally find his songs irritating, you have to admire his stagecraft. He comes across as a genuine and affable person and, unlike so many others in Glasgow, he makes a sterling effort to interact with his audience. To clarify the irritating comment, he has a song called "Me and All My Pals" that sounds like a song by those snivelling shandy drinkers Deacon Blue and it just makes me want to hit him. To his credit, he plays a wicked accordion and the audience appeared more than happy with his performance.
Remember an instant pudding called Angel Delight? They probably still make it for all I know. When I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of it and my favourite flavour was Butterscotch. There were other flavours, of course, but Butterscotch was the best. Pearl (for she's the singer!) and the (largely superfluous) Puppets were like banana Angel Delight - nice enough but not what you really wanted.
Now to the main event. The thing that I notice most about American acts is how much better they are as musicians than the local talent. Maybe they just play live more often but you can't help but be impressed by the relaxed excellence of their performance. Aided by drummer Paul Taylor and guitarist Steve Selvidge, Amy LaVere delivered a charming and musically satisfying performance. Even better, she passed a bottle of Jack Daniels round the members of the band between songs thus showing the kind of decadent character so sadly lacking in musicians these days. Songs like "Killing Him" and "Pointless Drinking" transported the audience from freezing Glasgow to balmier surroundings of her native Nashville and that is actually an important point. All real entertainers can capture and hold your attention. That's what makes them stand out from the crowd. It wasn't just me either as the audience were also captivated and dragged her back for a well deserved encore.
As icing on the cake, the sound was very good tonight as well (a bit unusual for King Tuts, hence the need to comment). As I left the venue a happy man, I gave serious consideration to falling in love with Amy LaVere but it was too cold. That's not a very good reason, is it?