God loves the reviewer. Why else would He stop the perpetual rain just so I could get to a gig? He knows everything after all. Had He not stopped the rain then I would surely have taken refuge in the nearest hostelry. But no, there was work to be done. Onwards to Cosmopol…
Susanna Macdonald was having technical difficulties with one of those infernal laptop things named after a fruit. Now, this is the west of Scotland and we don't do fruit so it was probably scared. So she shifted to the simplicity of the guitar and the keyboard. Displaying her customary intensity enhanced - to the point of being surreal - by the strong back lighting on stage, her songs reached out from the shadows and dragged the unsuspecting listener into an emotional danse macabre.
Rather more typical of a Glasgow Friday night were The Other Side. They turned out to be an honest rock band. In fact, they were the kind of honest rock band that is the perfect accompaniment to Friday night beer drinking. Power chords were blasted out at every opportunity making them hard to ignore and Alan Boyle sang like a man who knew his purpose in life.
I doubt you'll meet a more generous performer than Scott Nicol. He took the time to name check and thank not only everyone in his own band but also all the other performers. Musically, he ran right down the middle of the road which is no bad thing when you are entertaining the masses but, having said that, I got the feeling that he was restraining himself. I reckon that if he let go he would bear comparison with the legendary - even if you've never heard of him so you'll have to trust me on this one - Kevin Kelly.
There was no sign of restraint from The Bordello Dogs. Loud and raucous, they got me to thinking that they had hidden a small nuclear reactor somewhere on stage to provide the necessary power. A rock solid performance was delivered and it has been some time since I saw two guitarists play off each other as well as I did tonight. Loud and proud, that's what they were. They came down from Perth to play here tonight and I think we should all be very glad that they did (and I hope that they come back soon).