Three more gigs last week. I’m going to do my best to heap praise on each of them in approximately 120 words.
(1) HiFi Sean/David McAlmont : St Luke’s Glasgow, Thursday 8 February
A full year after the release of the album Happy Ending, the duo finally perform live in Glasgow to a packed audience that had very few people under the age of 40 in attendance. It made for a different sort of dynamic than usual, with appreciation rather than mania being the reaction to the show, which itself consisted half of songs from the album and half that have yet to be released.
Over now to our guest reviewer, Basil Pieroni of Butcher Boy:-
“McAlmont’s singing seemed effortless, which considering his range and soulfulness was incredible. And Sean Dickson is clearly a magician!”
My regular sidekick, Aldo, simply said:-
‘David McAlmost must be the best singer we’ve ever heard’
And he’s right.
mp3: HiFi Sean and David McAlmont – The Skin I’m In
(2) Adam Stafford : Tolbooth Cafe, Stirling, Saturday 10 February
Adam Stafford, like many other musicians and performers, found it a real struggle having to remain so quiet and unable to perform during the lockdown periods of recent years. His last album in 2021 was fully instrumental, but he’s again found his voice and a new album is in the pipeline with the hope of a release later this year.
This free early afternoon gig, held in the café area of a popular performance space in Stirling, enabled some of the new tunes to be aired, along with some songs that he hasn’t performed live in the best part of a decade. As a long-time fan, it was a privilege to be there. I’m as excited as ever by what lies in store.
mp3: Adam Stafford – Vanishing Tanks
(3) Hamish Hawk – Glasgow Barrowlands, Saturday 10 February
‘Where’s my big like?’ is the opening line of Hamish Hawk‘s song, Think Of Us Kissing.
A sold-out 2,000 strong audience provided him with the answer as we (and that includes myself and Mrs JC) cheered him and his talented band from the second they took to the stage all the way through to the final note of what was a jaw-dropping encore. This was easily the biggest headlining show of his/their career to date, and just like Hinds some seven days earlier, it was a gig in which those on stage and those who are there to watch seemed to become a single entity. Beaming smiles all round from start to end….and I’m still in disbelief at hearing how things were rounded off with a blistering cover of Debaser.
mp3: Hamish Hawk – Think Of Us Kissing
It really has been an astonishing start to 2024 on the live front. Lack of time and energy prevented me getting along to catch Sea Power in Glasgow last night, and I’m kicking myself that I’ll have missed out, given that Adam was raving about their show in Manchester a few nights earlier.
Apologies for the less than perfect photos….I don’t have anything like a top of the range phone when it comes to a camera. My device is really all about calls/texts/messages and having enough capacity to store almost 50,000 mp3s.
Oh, and this set of short reviews are a bonus to what was intended on the blog today. Come back at 12noon (UK time) for what was originally scheduled for 5am.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Sounds like a great few days JC. Disappointed to have missed HiFi Sean and David McAlmont here in Mcr. Will write up a full review of Seapower soonish.
Absolutely gutted that I couldn’t make it to London to see Hifi Sean & David McAlmont at the weekend. Thankfully, my friend Stuart was able to use the tickets and like you and Aldo, had an incredible night.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for further live dates in the UK…
I was also at HiFi Sean and David McAlmont’s concert at St Luke’s. They both looked like they were loving it, and sounded absolutely stunning. Lots of wonderful new songs as well, each of them as good as those on ‘Happy Ending’.