My Gigs of the Year

This year I managed to attend 15 gigs which is one up from last year.


I have decieded to rank them and to give you my top 5.
Here are the ones that didn't make the final cut although  Bis and Sister John came very close


25/01 - Poetry Club, SWC - Sister John - 8/10
31/01 - Mitchell Theatre -Emily Smith and Jamie McLellan - 6/10
15/02 - Glad Cafe -Bis -  8/10
16/03 - Stereo - LNFG (Annie Both/Cloth/Foundlings/Sister John) - 8/10
29/03 - Blue Arrow - Fenella - 6/10
16/08  -Old Hairdressers - Domiciles/Slime City - 7/10
06/09 - CCA - Broken Chanter - 8/10
12/10 - HMV Argyle St - Sister John 8/10
20/10 - Webster Theatre - Kris Drever 7/10
17/12 - Royal Concert Hall - Phil Cunningham Christmas Show 8/10


So quite a high bar to make the top 5.
Here they are in descending order (although from 5 to 3 were pretty much on a par)




Number 5
05/08   St Lukes - Camera Obscura - 9/10
First time I have seen them and their first concert for a couple of years not that you would have known.Some magnificent musicanship complimented the wonderful voice of Tracyanne Campbell.

Number 4
29/10  St Lukes - Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmore -9/10
I had seen both before  Dave as part of the Blasters and Jimmie Dale  as a Flatlander but never together. A fantastic mix of Blues and Country. Amazing performances on guitar by Dave Alvin and on drums by Linda Pankratz.


Number 3
30/11  Oran Mor - Yola - 9/10
This one was a bit of a punt and completely blew me away .
An amazing personality and a voice that can effortlessly sing  country, blues and soul  and often all within the same song.
If there is any justice in this world she will become a huge star.
Oran Mor is probably my least favourite venues but I'm glad we made the effort.


Number 2
27/01 - Kings Theatre - Karine Polwart and Kris Drever with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra  - 9/10
In any other year this may well have been the winner.
Copied from my mini review from 05/02
Karine and Kris were phenomenal with the orchestra behind them. At first I thought they might be drowned out but thankfully that wasn't the case. Highlights included Suitcase and Cassieopia from Karine's latest album Laws of Motion and Ghosts  and Steel and Stone by Kris.A lovely venue (but very hot) with brilliant acoustics.


Number 1
27/06 St Lukes - Jessie Buckley 10/10
This one took me completely by surprise
We were a bit apprehensive going in thinking that we were potentially in line for karaoke or line-dancing but we couldn't have been more wrong.
Boy can she sing.
Blues , country you name it. A bundle of energy with a terrific personality.
I think that it may have been one of those nights when all the stars aligned. The crowd  and Jessie were totally up for it probably on the back of the film Wild Rose having been set in Glasgow and St Lukes (which is a great venue) was absolutely bouncing.
We watched a video of a daytime performance at a festival in Belfast a couple of days later when both Jessie and the crowd were pretty flat


Six  gigs already lined up for 2020!

Dave Alvin & Jimme Dale Gilmore - Downey to Lubbock

Jessie Buckley - Country Girl