Tindersticks

Live gig review of the band who were promoting their latest album Soft Tissue.

Tindersticks has been around for over 30 years, releasing a number of studio albums, the latest of which, Soft Tissue, was released in 2024. They have also been involved in a number of soundtracks for cinema audiences.

The venue selected for their visit to Glasgow, The Pavilion, is steeped in musical and comedy history.

There may not have been many laughs on show during the evening, however musically, with a string and brass section as accompaniment, their brand of soulful lounge music was in keeping with both the setting and audience profile.

The whole evening could probably be summed up with the words ‘simplistic brilliance’.

The stage set is non-existent, save for a black curtain that appears to accentuate the darkness that the non-playing musicians for each particular song are hidden behind.

The lighting is sparse too. Not so much a light show, with only spotlights shining on one or more members of the band as they play their parts.

The central players, Earl Harvin on drums and percussion, Neil Fraser on, predominantly, electric guitar and both David Boulter and Dan McKinna alternating between keys and bass fade in and out of the performance with the spotlights highlighting their own parts being played.

With a 3-piece suit on, it’s not difficult to imagine that the Earl Harvin’s drumming was discrete, very much in the jazz tradition, keeping time to the music while not being an overbearing presence at any point.

Neil Fraser’s guitar delivery was equally simple, a strum here, a finger pick there. Only on occasion would you say there were power chords at play.

Similarly, the keyboard and bass playing were in tune with the evening’s whole performance. The keyboard often led the melody, the bass acted in tandem with the drumming. Nothing was hurried. Everything in its place.

The audience listened in almost silence throughout each song, giving generous applause as the lights faded at the end of each.

However, the spotlight, almost invariably shone on singer, key songwriter and front man, Stuart Staples. It would, hopefully, be fair to say that Stuart has a distinctive vocal range with many of the lyrics virtually spoken through his microphone.

It is in a style reminiscent of modern-day crooners like Nick Cave, Richard Hawley and Leonard Cohen. Each word is tenderly delivered, each sway of his body in tandem with the band behind him. You get the feeling that he believes deeply in the music that is being presented to the audience.

He was so engrossed in the performance that it was well into the second hour of the set before he even acknowledged where he was and who he was performing to. Do we expect too much of the artists we go to see? it is after all their show.

It isn’t an inexpensive night though for many and, along with the No Photography policy, how long will the memories linger in those who attended with nothing to show for it. Maybe bands could add a photographer to the crew and upload professional photos of the gig for the audience to share. Now that would be novel.

Musically, it was a triumph, and the addition of strings and brass certainly added to the occasion and brought each song to life. The latest album is as good as anything they have previously recorded and I look forward to the next gig whenever that may be.

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Support act Oisin Leech

With the help of Graham Heaney on double bass, Oisin Leech, travelled through songs that depicted his time in the northwestern tip of Northern Ireland. With a new solo album to promote, the songs were clear, and like the headliners, simply played managing to garner the applause of the audience that hadn’t been tempted to remain in the bar areas.