GLENN HUGHES
Live @ Academy, Glasgow
12/10/2018
Young blues crossover artist Laurence Jones was on hand to open the show to a packed downstairs at the Glasgow Academy. Of course, the fact that the bars are in the auditorium always helps support acts here but Mr Jones and his band went down well with some tunes from his new “The Truth” album as well as some oldies and a couple of well chosen Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan!) and Creedence Clearwater Revival covers.
But the up for it Friday night crowd were there to see Glenn Hughes on his “Performs Classic Deep Purple” tour and he certainly didn’t disappoint. In 1976, if you’d picked one member of the disbanded Deep Purple to still be at the top of his game 40 years down the line, it certainly wouldn’t have been Mr Hughes. But he has defied the odds and belies his 66 years with his incredible voice still intact and his always underrated bass playing a joy to witness.
It was an amazing opening as the opening double header of ‘Stormbringer’ and ‘Might Just Take Your Life’ brought some of the crowd to tears. In a good way. Then he got to get his funk on with ‘Sail Away’ and the sensational set highlight ‘Gettin’ Tighter’. He’s got a good band together for this tour with Soren Anderson (guitar) ably replicating both Messrs Blackmore and Bolin, which isn’t an easy trick to pull off while Jesper Bo Hansen handles the Jon Lord parts. Drummer Fernando Escobedo has a more straight ahead style than Ian Paice but is suited to a hard driving set.
Naturally, as the seventies were being recreated there were plenty of toilet / bar breaks with bass, keyboards, guitar and drum solo spots but by the time the well oiled Glasgow crowd were taking over ‘Mistreated’ you could forgive just about anything.
Glenn was in full on thankful mode taking plenty of time to thank the crowd and to express his gratitude at being here and after a closing ‘Smoke on the Water’ and an encore of ‘Burn’ and ‘Highway Star’, we were as grateful as he was. Gig of the year by a mile. And if you are foolish enough to be giving this tour a miss, then he’s back in May next year for another eight shows. Be there.
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St Columba’s Hospice Tribute Fund for Linda Hamilton
http://linda.hamilton.muchloved.com/
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The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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