From: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org (oppositeview-digest) To: oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Subject: oppositeview-digest V6 #53 Reply-To: oppositeview@smoe.org Sender: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk oppositeview-digest Tuesday, April 13 2004 Volume 06 : Number 053 Today's Subjects: ----------------- OV: UDS in Glasgow ["Jane Armstrong" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 12:09:00 +0100 From: "Jane Armstrong" Subject: OV: UDS in Glasgow Just returned home after a few days visiting relatives in Scotland where I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Riverside Club in Glasgow to see the Uncle Devil Show! Annemarie had sent me a text to say the gig was starting late because of an important Celtic football match..... But we still decided to go in a bit early and arrived at the venue at 8.40 - doors opened at 9. I was looking for a smart well signed place, when in fact the front door was down an dark alley way reminiscent of the back stage doors of some of the seedier London clubs. They only way I knew I was in the right place was because there were about a dozen posters stuck up with Blu-Tac around the door. Being a model citizen I had to clear up a couple - we can't have fly-posting now can we! A lovely young man called Scott turned up at around the same time as Eddie and I and as he was on his own we hung around together for the gig. He'd only seen about it the other day when it was mentioned in an article the free newspaper Glasgow Metro - and I suspect a lot of people had come due to the same publication. At 9 pm we went in and were confronted half way up the stairs by a huge fake fur wall hanging.... We entered the actual club to find the whole stage decked out in fake fur - the monitors were draped with the stuff, Terrance's drums were covered in it, as were the tom toms which decorated the stage. Even T-Rex the amazing stuffed dog was there sporting a fake fur eyepatch. The venue was pretty small - I would say around 200 people - with a bar down one end (the dressing room appears to have been behind the bar) and a six-inch high stage - so you were almost eye to eye with the band. By the time the band started the venue was packed - I think some people were worried they weren't going to sell many tickets - but that wasn't the case at Glasgow. And most of them were familiar with the songs too - there was a lot of singing along. The audience were also very good natured and quite a few were sporting zebra skin accessories. Whilst we were waiting for UDS to come on we spotted a few familiar faces and were also able to put faces to names as we met various people from the .co.uk forum. We also spotted a certain grey haired keyboard player in the audience chatting away to his mates. Then some time after 10 pm, Bryan, Iain's roadie, came on and tuned up the guitars so we knew they were about to come on. Shortly after 10.30 the lights dimmed and they strolled onto the stage, dressed in black leather trousers, black tops (Jason was wearing a thick polo-necked jumper - he must have been baking!) and zebra striped waistcoats (that's vests to you lot over the pond). They'd all had their hair feather cut - Jason almost had a mullet and was sporting a little goatee beard and no tash. The trio was joined by Stereo Tony - who had a droopy 70's moustache like the 118 guys (http://www.sillyjokes.co.uk/dress-up/acc/beards/118.html) The latter was a great addition - as he played all the guitar solos, sang many of the harmonies and played the keyboards. I managed to pinch Jason's set-list at the end so the running order was as follows: 1. Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker 2. Gilbert O'Sullivan 3. Strange Umbrella 4. Plus Ca Change 5. She Cuts Her Own Fringe 6. When Raymond Comes Around 7. Leonardo's Bicycle (J managed to hold the high note for simply ages - - in fact he managed to hit all the falsetto parts beautifully - he must really have been looking after his voice!) 8. Dandelion 9. Bimbo In A Limo (brilliant!! - it really rocked) 10. Angie Baby - with Terrence on lead vocals - he's got a great voice and got the longest cheers and applause of the night 11. Teacher's Pet - a new song - allegedly true - all about Jason's experiences at 12 years old with a teacher who was into S&M. 12. I Had A Drink About You Last Night - Langton's vocals shown off a treat on this one And then the encore: 1 Tambourine 2 Living Thing (Yes, the ELO song!! And what a great way to end the gig. They gave a superb performance of it and left everyone with big grins on their faces.). I have to say I was really impressed with the whole gig. They were extremely professional. The Band kept in character throughout and looked good too. The vocal harmonies were superb as all four were excellent singers. Justin's voice is sounding particularly good at the moment. The songs all translated really well to live performance. The playing was very tight and Stereo Tony made the gig with his guitar and keyboard work. Don't know who he is or who he's played with before. but he's a great all-rounder. After the gig, all the band members came out and chatted to the audience, signed CD's, posed for photos etc. There were a couple of girls there from Spain and they said it was well worth coming over for. We left the gig wishing it were longer and that they did indeed "play all night" as they promised in the forums. And I spent most of the next day thinking how I could get out of visiting the in-laws (who we've only ever met once - 5 years ago) without causing offence and drive on up to Aberdeen...... I didn't manage it but I'm sure those who were there had a jolly nice time. I've got a few photos, and as soon as I've put them on my website I'll let you know. Cheers Jane ------------------------------ End of oppositeview-digest V6 #53 *********************************