Libertines - Glasgow - SSE Hydro - 22 January 2016
Arguably the come-back Kings of 2015, The Libertines kicked-off their UK arena tour with a rousing performance at Glasgow’s Hydro. A tasty support bill included Reverend And The Makers and Scotland’s own favourite sons The View. Throw in a boisterous crowd, many of whom have already written-off the next day, and the ingredients are all there to make it an epic night to remember.
Reverend And The Makers (or The Rev as he is known to his fans) opened the stage and entertained the early arrivals with tracks from their latest album Mirrors as well as songs from their back-catalogue. Some songs appeared lost on the youthful crowd while the unstoppable ‘Heavyweight Champion Of The World’ ensured the Rev got the bouncing crowd he commanded.
With the crowd numbers swelling, and chants of the “The View, The View, The View are on fire” echoing from the floor, the band entered to a hero-esq reception. ‘Wasted Little DJ’, followed by ‘Grace’ fuelled the fire as the band tore through their blistering eight song set feeding from the energy of the crowd. ‘Same Jeans’ and ‘Sunday’ closed the set out as fans questioned how long it would be until the explosive act headline the own date at the Hydro.
‘Dolphin’ gets the crowd dancing, 90s style, while Rick addresses a 14 year old fan at the front called Jamie and tells him “when you go back to school…spread the word”. ‘High Hopes’ prompts another sing-along as the hit-filled set-list continues to delight. ‘On Standby’ is another highpoint while ‘Disco Down’ with the band accompanied by a brass section, whips the crowd into near frenzy and is one of the nights most celebrated tracks.
The three track encore kicks off with ‘Missing You’ from 1994’s debut album Change Giver before Rick announces the band will perform a cover song. Surprisingly the cover in question is a fantastic version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’. Most fans (perhaps fuelled by beer and the like) embrace the moment and sing along “cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run” and the song creates a visible feeling of triumph among many of the 2500 in attendance. The night is then brought to a poignant finale with arguably Sheds finest track; ‘Chasing Rainbows’. No need to wait another two years, make this an annual event!
Words: Bazza Mills
Twitter: @bazzamills
The three track encore kicks off with ‘Missing You’ from 1994’s debut album Change Giver before Rick announces the band will perform a cover song. Surprisingly the cover in question is a fantastic version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’. Most fans (perhaps fuelled by beer and the like) embrace the moment and sing along “cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run” and the song creates a visible feeling of triumph among many of the 2500 in attendance. The night is then brought to a poignant finale with arguably Sheds finest track; ‘Chasing Rainbows’. No need to wait another two years, make this an annual event!
Words: Bazza Mills
Twitter: @bazzamills