Live Review

The Undertones – King Tut’s, Glasgow

• 1st Apr 2011

An excited crowd packed into King Tut’s last night for the opening night of The Undertones 35th anniversary tour. The first of ten dates was a sell out and there was a feeling of expectation in the air.

Strangely there was no support band, leaving a frustrating hour long wait between the doors opening and the house lights going down. But that only served to build the atmosphere even further.

The band came on stage to a tremendous reception and from the opening chords of Family Entertainment, track one on side one of the debut album from back in 1979, this was a special show. The Undertones have such a rich musical history and the crowd was filled with long term fans who had followed them from the early days.

The pace was fast, the music frantic and the band ripped through the debut album in double quick fashion. A series of two minute tracks were spat at the crowd, the twin guitars of John O’Neill and Damian O’Neill playing the well remembered three chord riffs. Girls Don’t Like It, Male Model, Wrong Way; they all sounded as fresh as ever.

Billy Doherty’s drums crashed their way through the mix, played at a frantic lick. He even asked for the guitars to be turned down so that he could better hear himself. Michael Bradley’s bass pounded out the beat, strong and true. And centre stage stood Paul McLoone, dancing and gyrating as he sang in the Derry burr that typifies The Undertones sound.

Here Comes The Summer saw the first big crowd reaction, with only the barrier at the front stopping the audience from spilling onto the stage as they danced and swayed along to the one time single. Jimmy Jimmy also went down well, McLoone pointing his mic into the crowd for a singalong chorus. And the closing track from side two of the album, Casbah Rock, saw a harder edge to the music as the guitars wailed.

The band then moved onto other albums, although a couple of tracks from the debut appeared to have been kept for later. Hypnotised and Wednesday Week from the second album alternated with newer tracks, before it was back to the debut to close the set.

The crowd reaction had been loud and raucous all night long, but the opening chords to Teenage Kicks took things to a whole new level. The classic track was delivered with as much passion as it always is and it clearly brought back memories for many.

And that was followed by another single, Get Over You, fast and furious before the final flourish, the crashing chords and cascading drums, and the set was over.

There had to be an encore and the band were back on the stage minutes later to rip through another six tracks in double quick time. My Perfect Cousin kicked things off and the closer was another crowd favourite: Mars Bar.

It was noticeable throughout the set how much the band enjoyed playing the old favourites. The hair may be greyer and the movement just a little slower but the infectious energy of each short slice of rock was as high as ever.

The whole set was a celebration of the history of a band who have contributed much to the music scene over the last thirty years. And for those of us who listened to the music when it was first released it was both a nostalgic and highly entertaining evening.