The strange on and off again rain did not dampen spirits of the crowd waiting to see Social Distortion and Dave Hause. When the doors opened and most were in Chris Devotion & The Expectations took the stage (and they certainly did that). Opening with "If You Want To Leave," poking a little joke at the fact no one, bar a few of their own fans, knew who they were, the band acknowledged it would take some work. By the third song "I Need Your Touch," it was clear this was a well schooled, tight, energy-driven band. "When The Girl Comes To Town" is a great feel good song with let's go attitude that was well delivered and started to get the crowd going. Throughout the 30-40 minute set you could see the crowd being surprised to see such an accomplished band soaring through their songs. A cover of Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home" fit their set list and was a nice touch as well. The fire these four have is inspiring and captivating. I for one will definitely be seeking out this band's debut album, Amalgamation and Capital. They deserved a better response than what they got but when you're an opening act this can be the hurdle. The band did not seem undeterred or scared of this at all. This four-piece would do well as a support to any rock band.
With such a hard act to follow Dave Hause might have been grinning slightly at the tough task that presented itself to him. Unfazed and not to be out done, he barreled into his songs. Tracks "Jane" and "C'mon Kid" got the audience singing them back as he powered them out. The stripped down approach was not lost. The turning point in the set was when the electric acoustic guitar came out and helped separate his act from what had gone before and about to come. Hause's voice really is such a thing to only be appreciated live and when you hear it you will understand why. They call Philadelphia the City of Brotherly Love, but I hope he can see that his performance turned Glasgow into the city of same, even if it was for only 40 minutes.
When the lights went out, the crowd anticipated the arrival of an eagerly awaited band. Coming out one by one, until last of all waiting in the wings, shadowboxing, Mike Ness, walked out, throwing jabs, left and right punches like an old school boxer. The delighted crowd gave them a warm Scottish welcome, then straight into "I Was Wrong" then my personal favorite "So Far Away." A greatly awaited show had definitely begun. All the songs seemed to sail along swiftly into one another, even when Ness paused between songs to talk. There are few people I will pause to listen to talk, but Mike Ness is one i could listen to for ages.
Onto "Bakersfield" one of the tracks from the new album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. It felt like an old classic ringing out onto a broken city. The band were delivering a set that could well have been a "best of" album. The new songs "Machine Gun Blues" and "Gimme the Sweet Lowdown" were lapped up by the crowd. Then, they eased into "Story Of My Life" and into an encore which included Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Ring Of Fire," both tremendous in sound and delivery.
In all hope, I can't wait for more material once they have toured and had the rest they thoroughly deserve after their 14th gig on this European Tour. Music needs greats like these to inspire those to continue or to start their own bands. If anyone felt that a song was missed or could have been played then I think after such an awesome performance by true great musicians, hopefully there will be a next time (hint hint). In all, an evening that will be remembered for a long time and surely talked about by everyone that was there to those who were not, surely makes a return an even better night, if that is ever possible.
