Rain, unsuccessfully, tries to wash the sin off the streets of Coatbridge and surely no man, unless afflicted by moral turpitude, would venture out on such a Sunday night yet, with the temptation of Kevin Armstrong playing at the Georgian Hotel, one man did.
Fortunately, the power of prayer had enabled many to congregate in the bijou surroundings of the Georgian Hotel to hear the reflections of a side man whose career had spanned the some of the most creative years in the history of music. Kevin Armstrong, for it is he, starts off well and gets the name dropping out of the way before taking us in a two hour walkthrough of his achievements. The list of names he reels off is impressively extensive for he has done the guitar thing for mighty and the meek of the rock world and he duly has much to reflect upon. Despite having spent so long in the shadow of the brightest of stars, he recounts his life in the studio and on the road – also captured in his book “Absolute Beginners – in an unassuming manner allowing the mirror to show, briefly, his own personal history as the anchor that holds him to the ground.
However, the people have come to hear the songs and stories of a time when music mattered and they got what they wanted. Bowie, Iggy Pop and even Morrissey echoed around the room with the audience even joining in on a rendition of “Life On Mars” to end this show. Happy people like a singalong.
To end on a serious note, this was a well attended performance that took place on a wet Sunday night in a hotel up a side street in a town where the ghosts of long departed industries walk the streets. Perhaps those long established big city venues could learn something from this?