Review & Photography by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
Luke Morley rolls into town to promote his solo album Songs From the Blue Room and the Glasgow crowd welcomed him back with open arms and in delight to see him and Chris Childs on the same stage again.
Support tonight was from Hillbilly Vegas and the band from Oklahoma may have found it very cold here in Scotland but we thank them for warming us up inside and out. They were a breath of fresh air and as they opened with “Mason Jars & Moonlight” I instantly saw comparisons with one of my favourite good time bands in The Outlaw Orchestra.
Next up was a Shooter Jennings cover in “Steady at the Wheel” and this was where you realised these guys were no joke. The musicianship was top class and Steve Harris’s vocals are spot on for this southern drawled track.
The Southern music scene has been on fire recently with bands like Blackberry Smoke, Whiskey Meyers and The Cadillac Three being the youngsters dragging the genre back into fashion and these boys deserve their place alongside those names and with tracks like the next up “High Time for a Good Time”. Feel good music with a moonshine induced swagger.
The boys got a real Glasgow welcome as Harris spoke of the infamous Frankie Miller and as this man is godlike in Scotland the bands cover of “Down the Honkey Tonk” was welcomed with gusto and they done an excellent job.
There is however a couple of bones to pick with the band. Firstly, the photographers and reviewers do not disappear after the first song as stated so we were here for the new song and we can( and will) comment and after telling us what we do we should slate the track…but I cannot as it was ace. Second point, you are in Scotland and you never, ever leave a pint behind.
Joking aside I got a chance to speak to the guys after the show and they were a great bunch of blokes and I hope they manage to get back to these shores for a headline tour. We need to shake it like a Hillbilly again and soon.
There is no doubt that the Luke Morley album is a million miles away from Thunder and The Union. I have struggled to fully immerse myself in the songs but I was happy to be proved wrong in the live arena as Luke is an incredible guitarist and a credible singer so I was all for what was to come.
The band opened with “I Wanna See the Light”, although if you got a look at the set list it was titled I wanna see the set list. A very solid opening. Luke’s voice carried well in the smaller hall and managed to make it out through the overactive smoke machine.
Next up was the strange number that is “Damage”. The keyboard driven ditty had the fans getting jiggy with the Mr Soft beat.
I should absolutely love “Killed by Cobain” as unlike Luke I still hold a grudge for what Grunge did to a lot of my beloved bands but this just skates a bit too close to Traveling Willburies for me.
I must say I was in a minority tonight, the fans loved the songs, the band and the whole live experiences. Songs like “This World” and “Errol Flynn” definitely have merit and fit well within the set and you cannot take away from the songwriting skills of the man, his record speaks for itself.
The highlight for me and I suspect everybody on the whole tour would be the rendition of Thunder’s “Better Man”, especially with the emotionally charged comments around Danny Bowes and Ben Matthews.
Final song and cover “Lola” summed up the show for me. Something just didn’t fit. Am I too big a Thunder fan? Am I too small minded to accept something different? Am I just completely mental? I will let you all decide.
