ELBOW // THE SSE HYDRO, GLASGOW
INDIE ROCKERS ELBOW DEFY WEATHER TO PLAY HEADLINE SHOW AT THE SSE HYDRO
ELBOW PERFORMING AT SSE HYDRO, GLASGOW - 5.3.18
PICTURE: STEPHEN WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★☆
‘Sorry we're late’ says Elbow’s lead vocalist Guy Garvey: ‘But how lucky are we the venue is free tho?', referring to the original date being postponed from the previous Friday due to ‘The Beast from the East’. Around 7000 fans made the trip through to the Hydro in all sorts of weather conditions to see the hastily rearranged gig by Manchester’s Indie rockers Elbow, and the band did their utmost to put the elements to the back of the crowd’s minds.
Opening with 'Starlings' and 'The Bones Of You' from 2008’s Mercury Music Prize winning album The Seldom Seen Kid, the band continued to dip into their extensive back catalogue in a set peppered with classic singles and album tracks. The venue may have been 3 quarters full - to quote Garvey - but those who made the effort and beat the conditions, from Dumbarton to Dalkeith and Dingwall to Dumfries, lapped up every second of the band's performance with Garvey leading the throng in a mass sway of arms and singalong.
Support act John Grant was welcomed back to the stage after the break for the first song of the encore - 'Kindling (Fickle Flame)' from the 2017 release Little Fictions - which was reworked as a duet between the bearded front men.
Last song of the two hour show was the 2008 singalong and wavealong classic 'One Day Like This'. Garvey gave the song his everything, and every one of the crowd reciprocated, word, note and hum perfect. Garvey led the Glasgow choir in the extended chorus at the end, guys first, ladies next, a quiet chorus then a hummed attempt before a rousing finale accompanying the band one more time.
This was a fabulous evening’s entertainment: a blend of indie, prog and alternative rock music, guitars, keyboards, brass and orchestra, cleverly combined with the husky, almost Peter Gabriel-esque vocals of Guy Garvey, and a light and video show on the backdrop which made full use of the stage and screen setup. The diehard fans left the arena, joined in a mass rendition of 'Flower Of Scotland', started by a chuckling Garvey as he left the stage. When will we see their likes again? Not too long, on this performance we hope.
ELBOW SETLIST: THE SSE HYDRO, GLASGOW - 5th March 2018
Starlings
The Bones of You
Leaders of the Free World
Fugitive Motel
Fly Boy Blue/Lunette
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Any Day Now
Puncture Repair
New York Morning
Mirrorball
The Birds
Little Fictions
Lippy Kids
Magnificent (She Says)
Grounds for Divorce
ENCORE:
Kindling (Fickle Flame)
One Day Like This