ALTERED IMAGES PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S SAINT LUKE’S

★★★★★ (5/5)

ALTERED IMAGES PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S SAINT LUKE’S
PHOTOCREDIT: FRANK MURPHY

First things first, St Lukes is rapidly becoming one of my favourite Glasow venues. It’s just around the corner from the Barrowlands, the pub and music venue had a real buzz about it for this gig. That buzz didn’t just come from the anticipation in the air from fans waiting for local girl, Clare Grogan and her band to come on but also from the pub which was busy in it’s own right. The staff are friendly, they have banter with the people arriving for the gig including pretending to me my name wasn’t down to get in, the atmosphere is good and the venue, an old, converted church, has a real vibe to it and great acoustics as you would expect. I am going to make a point of keeping an eye out for future gigs there as it’s a really enjoyable experience.

Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see the support act so don’t feel comfortable giving a view on how the whole set or properly reviewing them but, from what I saw, a great vocalist who got a fantastic reception from the crowd, the couple of songs I heard were good, the playing excellent and the applause from the crowd when they had finished suggested that they could go somewhere. The cover of Bonnie Rait was excellent!

I was focussed on the main event; these days Altered Images are effectively Clare Grogan, but she was always the face and the voice of the band. Confession time here, between the band, Gregory’s Girl and Red Dwarf I have harboured a crush on Clare for a number of years and while I’ve seen them play before seeing them at such an intimate venue was too good an opportunity to miss.

Altered Images were an integral part of the early 80’s Glasgow, New Wave, Post Punk scene, producing three albums which got them noticed and achieved quite a bit of chart success to the point where, for the third of those albums, Bite, the band relocated to LA and worked with some tremendous producers who helped them craft what some people at the time referred to as their disco album, a total misnomer. It is an album influenced by the likes of Blondie but as Blondies producer produced half of the album that’s no surprise!

The gig itself was advertised as two sets, the first playing Bite in its entirety from beginning to end, the second playing all the other hits, some songs from their recent new album, Mascara Streakz, and some other much loved songs.

The band sauntered on to stage first, then Clare made her entrance, looking incredibly glamorous in a full length dress and shades (which did mean she initially needed some help seeing her way onto the stage). She looked amazing, she was clearly very emotional at playing her hometown after all of these years and she did struggle initially to contain those emotions but the sheer joy and exuberance she brought to the stage was infectious and a wave of affection from the crowd carried her through. The crowd itself contained many people who, like me, had loved the band from the start and a number of them sang along note perfectly with every song.

Clare’s stage presence was excellent, she isn’t perfectly polished but that added to her charm. She came in at the wrong bit on one song (which she grudgingly apologised to the band for), and she sent nearly as much time talking as she did singing.

The stories of the bands time in LA, their determination to tell the big time producers they were working with how it should be done, the fact they were all under 21 and had to talk people into buying them drink, all helped us understand what that time must have been like for them.

What did impress me though is how good her voice still sounds, given she told us she had a chest infection and was struggling you would never have known it. With only the occasional issue she gave an almost prefect rendition of Bite from beginning to end. I’ve always loved Don’t talk to me about love and to see Clare sing it out in such a perfect venue was fantastic. Bite itself only lasts 37 minutes, as Clare acknowledged the arrogance of youth.

That 37 minutes flew past in a mix of singing, dancing, and just sheer joy. All of a sudden it was at an end; Clare announced the band were going off to do some tequila shots and would be back shortly.

The audience were buzzing by now and well up for the second set. One quick outfit change later and equally glamorous Clare came back out as set the second half of with a bang, opening with I Could Be Happy, an absolute belter of an eighties pop song, the band then proceeded to mix songs off the new album which were will received and sounded great, with songs off the first three albums, There were spontaneous outbreaks of dancing, lots of singalongs and so much happiness in the venue it was a pleasure to be there. What else could they finish on but Happy Birthday. Pure pop perfection!

Throughout Clare kept talking to the crowd, I won’t tell you all of the stories she told us but her pleasure at being back on stage was self-evident She told us she was first approached to go back out with Altered Images 20 years ago and said to the promoter that no-one would want to see Clare Grogan in her 40’s singing songs she wrote in here teens and early 20’s. As she then pointed out here, she was, in her early 60’s, giving it her all.

She was very clear she has no intention of going quietly into the night. I for one can’t wait to see them again, this was a great gig in a great venue. Clare looked, and sounded, great throughout, the epitome of cool at times, at others a girl from Glasgow who couldn’t quite believe her luck.

Oh, and she casually dropped a story about writing a song with her next door neighbour, Bernand Butler, while his dog helped out. A song she played which sounded great. All I can say is more of this please and I could be happy!