REVEREND & THE MAKERS // SAINT LUKE'S, GLASGOW
THE REVEREND STOPS OFF IN GLASGOW FOR A BOUNCE AND TO PROMOTE THE BAND’S ‘BEST OF’ COMPILATION ALBUM
REVEREND & THE MAKERS PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S SAINT LUKES - 17.10.2019
PICTURE BY: STEPHEN WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★☆ (4/5)
Sheffield Indie rockers bring their ‘Best Of’ hits tour to Glasgow’s intimate St Lukes, fast becomming a favourite venue of bands when The Barrowlands or Hydro is just out of reach, mainly due to the unfortunate demise of The ABC, and wowed the near capacity crowd with their brand of electronic, indie dance music. The atmosphere in the restored church is electric, and the anticipation on the faces of the fans is visible for all to see, even in the dark and dingy lit arena, as the congregation await their favourites taking to the pulpit.
The band were due on stage around 9pm, and near enough bang on cue, the lights went out and the intro music was belting out from the PA system. A great choice of music, be it to test the PA or the crowds voices who knows, but everyone joined in with the mass karaoke just to make sure! The Human League’s 1981 Christmas number one ‘Dont You Want Me’ finds everyone to be in fine voice and the band can take to the stage. Opening with ‘The State Of Things’, ‘What The Milkman Saw’, and ‘Armchair Detective’, these tracks, from the 2007 debut album, had the crowd on and off their feet, with lead vocalist Jon McClure demanding they dont stop bouncing! An impossibility with this music! Joining McClure on stage were Ed Cosens, Laura McClure, Joe Carnall and Ryan Jenkinson.
A couple of older singles came next on the set, ‘No Soap In A Dirty War’, and ‘Out Of the Shadows’ before McClure showed his prowess as a poet, narrating a poem he wrote in collaboration with Dr John Cooper Clarke, who he sites as a major influence on his work. ‘Hard Times For Dreamers’ and ‘Auld Reekie Blues’, the music kept coming and the crowd were loving it. Biggest cheer of the night tho came for the bands first venture into the uk pop charts with the 2007 top ten hit ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’, a fantastic tune that had everyone on their toes and certainly rocked the old joint. An acoustic version of ‘Sex With The Ex’, ‘MDMAzing’, ‘He Said He Loved Me’ and closing the set with ‘Silence Is Talking’, the band could do no more and left the stage for a more than well deserved break, before playing out the building with a cover of the old Specials classic, Dandy Livingstone’s A Message To You Rudi. It may well have been cold and damp in the East end of the city, but the crowd left St Lukes hot and sweaty!
This was a great night, seeing a great live band, full of great, catchy tunes and bags of energy, I defy anyone to go and see them live and not leave with a smile on their face. They are one of those bands who nearly but didnt quite make it to the top, but did enough to build a following to keep the bands fire burning. Selected as warm up acts over the years for the likes of Oasis, Noel Gallgher, Ian Brown, The Verve and Kasabian, they have enough tunes in the locker now for a Greatest Hits album, and this tour promotes the album exceptionally well. A live act well worth seeing, Reverend And The Makers are great. Amen.