Well, as that Nancy Sinatra girl once said - these boots are made for walking. It is Saturday night after all so this Bluesbunny Girl put on her best boots and set off into Glasgow as my dear friends the Scuffers are launching their first CD "TheLife I've Had" at Fury Murrys. I certainly would not want to miss that!
There are quite a lot of people here tonight and I recognise such luminaries as that Al Wright from SchemeRecords, that lovely boy Crawford Smith, Pat Monaghan and also many nice people that I used to work with. I was quite pleased that I had trained my escort for the night to fetch the drinks but he returned confused and perturbed as there was no Guinness and had to resort to what he refers to as "that woman's drink", lager. Real men drink Guinness as I know only too well. My drink safely in hand, I turn my attention to the Scuffer's support band Dropkick who are now on stage. I always feel that they sound really young and sweet and tonight does not change my opinion. However, they appear to have made an effort to look rough, tough and rock 'n' roll tonight. Roy Taylor looks like a bit of a wild man and leads the band through a few songs. The rest of the band look like they would be more at home in a nice white shirt and a 100% wool blazer. My escort thinks they sound like a cross between the Beach Boys and the Beautiful South. Being from Edinburgh, perhaps they could become the Beautiful East.
Now the moment that I have been waiting for as the Scuffers take the stage. I notice that they have drafted in Alastair Taylor from Dropkick in to play that pedal steel thing so they must mean business. By the by, but has anyone else noticed that the Scuffers' lead singer Gavin Wallace gets taller and more handsome when he goes on stage. How does he do that? Dochan MacMillan looks - for once - very presentable and has had his hair cut too. John Murphy looks like, well, a drummer but a clean one. Bass player Ian Fraser looks very smart (as always!) and newcomer and fiddle player Sara Cull has come dressed for the party.
Darlings, the Scuffers are on form tonight. Starting with a leisurely "The Life I've Had" (the title track from their new album), they get a warm welcome from the crowd. There is something warm and comforting about the Scuffers' music that attracts a wide audience - I think they call it a demographic in marketing terms - and I notice a large number of striped shirts and duffel coats dancing away. Now, there were without doubt people inside such apparel but I am sure that they would not like to be identified. "Trouble on Your Mind" gets a noisy reception and you have to admire that Gavin Wallace. He makes me (and everyone else) feel welcome just like you were in his house. Oh, did I mention that he is so handsome! Even better, he does a solo number of a song not on the album called "Here's to the Days" and dedicates it especially to me. If I wasn't spoken for then I think that I would surely have fallen in love with him at that point. My favourite song is "Those Lovesick Blues" and we get treated to an adorable version tonight. I feel so close to the Scuffers tonight that I could just run up and give them all a cuddle. A big part of the Scuffers' appeal is that they are rather down to earth. They play songs that anyone and everyone can relate to and are not afraid of getting sentimental. I felt a tear well up in my beautiful blue eyes (everybody tells me that they are beautiful!) when Gavin croons through "The Last Dance" before showing some of that black humour that I love so much by ending on what he refers to as "… a song about shagging" called "Holler". I am so pleased to have been here tonight and I hope that they sell loads of their new album. To end this review, I will only add a common - in more ways than one - phrase that I heard from the audience. "C'moan the Scuffers!".