The Waterboys

With The Deep Blue

Barrowland Ballroom, 14 June

The Waterboys have been in existence, one way or another for over forty years, debuting with their self-titled album in 1983. During that time, they have recorded sixteen studio albums shapeshifting along the way to be a rock band, folk rock, Celtic soul and whatever other styles fitted the musical direction of Mike Scott.

Looking across the sold out Barrowlands, many of the audience were of an age suggesting they had followed the band since their earliest inception. The applause, cheering and sing-along choruses that accompanied songs like Medicine Bow, This Is The Sea, A Girl Called Johnny, the enduring The Whole Of The Moon and Fisherman’s Blues testified to that.

However, this was not a ‘Greatest Hits’ setlist by any stretch of the imagination. Of the back catalogue, This Is The Sea took the silver medal position with five tracks with other albums posting one or maybe two tracks at most.

The bulk of the set, in fact the whole middle section, was taken up by over 10 tracks from the bands most recent album, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper. The album is a homage to the actor, director and photographer. A story that Mike Scott was keen to explore and put together a selection of songs that reflected Hopper’s life.

The eclectic mix of songs on the album benefit from a number of guest appearances, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Fiona Apple included. However, while graphics and videos were added to the stage setting to give further meaning to the songs, the audience momentum that had been evident from the opening bursts of Be My Enemy dissipated with each passing number, the loud cheering replaced by polite applause.

Support act Big Blue adding backing vocals at times with Barny Fetcher providing additional harmonies seemed to break up the flow of the gig. As each song began the surrounding chatter grew to the level it was difficult to hear what Mike Scott was saying while relating more of Hopper’s life story.

The atmosphere and energy returned in an instant on the first few bars of Don’t Bang The Drum and didn’t drop until the end of Fisherman’s Blues and the final hurrah from the band.

Mike Scott and the band have earned the right to play the songs that they want, and it was never branded as a look back on forty years of creative song writing. You do wonder though whether breaking up the new with the old more regularly during the night would have been a more enjoyable experience for all.

Support Act

The Deep Blue

Four young ladies representing Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England were on an obvious high as they took to the stage at The Barrowland Ballroom ahead of The Waterboys.

They have forged a following with the folk music community and you can see why with their close harmonies and confidence, especially in a venue as daunting as The Barrowlands with an audience coming early to see both them and musical dignitaries, The Waterboys. Their harmonies were also put to good use by The Waterboys during their own set and given the folk-rock music that The Waterboys have recorded over the years it would appear to have been a good fit for both parties.