glasgow university, queen margaret’s union:

I’d never been to Scotland before, let alone Glasgow. I knew about the gig a couple of months in advance and knew I’d like to see them again but… Anyway, I met this girl who said she liked Belle and Sebastian and she was American, over for a few months, and, well, Americans have no idea of distance. And she said she was thinking of going and I said I’d like to go too and so we started looking into it. And, as luck would have it, there were tube posters at Euston advertising trains to Glasgow for only £19 if booked a week in advance.
Anyway, we met on platform of King’s Cross on the day of the gig, her with her friend who’d changed her flights over from the states so she could attend and off we set. Five and three quarter hours later we hit Glasgow and found, eventually, the hotel.

The QM was pleasant enough once you’d gotten past security. It was then that we found that the tickets I’d asked to be reserved for us on the door hadn’t been but it hadn’t sold out and we were early so that wasn’t a problem. The actual hall was a bit strange, the stage took up the longer side of the place making the bit where the audience stood very wide but not very deep.

V-Twin came first. Everything was played well and with enthusiasm but it wasn’t really my thing, too much like rock music so… Adventures In Stereo were next and suffered in a live context because the changeovers between songs were longer than the songs themselves. The samples and loops of the (excellent) self-titled lp were also missing although the set did tend to avoid the lp tracks that relied on them too much. The lead singer’s voice, however, was a relevation, strong and well-pitched with what looked like the minimum of effort, and which made up for any of the other ingrediants that were lacking.

Belle And Sebastian started with a new song (“Beautiful”) and followed it with another – “Centuary Of Fakers” which, like so many of the new songs they would play over the weekend, inhabit the same universe as the old favourites, use a few of the familiar names and, as such, are instantly enjoyable. Songs you find you can sing along with during the first couple of hearings are usually very good or very bad. These were finely crafted and familiar without being formulaic or cliched. There were eight of them on stage. Not all of them play all of the time and would just loll about the stage or sit quietly until needed. Another two new songs before the now traditional mid-set break – “Dog On Wheels” (the new single) and “Belle And Sebastian” (which, strangely, manages to rhyme “shame” with “Sebastian” without sounding pants). The Monkees were playing down the road at the SECC, the first date of the British leg of the comeback tour. In celebration of this the odd Monkees riff would start between songs, plucked out on the lead guitar whilst waiting for the others to change instruments or re-tune.

Out of the break (after rounding up the stray band members) with “Mayfly”, a personal favourite, let down slightly by the lack of stylophone. It was there and Sarah was playing it but the mic hadn’t been turned on again after the pause so it was inaudible.

And then, something i wouldn’t have thought possible. There are some tunes that are so perfect in their original versions that to cover them is pointless and, occasionally, criminal. “Reel Around The Fountain”, i’d’ve said, is one of these tunes but this version, slower than the original, was pulled off superbly and left those of us of a certain age, dumbstruck. This was followed by the slow version of “Seeing Other People” where Stevie, Stuart and Isobel each sing a verse before all chipping in on the last verse. It’s almost a different song from the other version, a lot more melancholy.

Another two new songs sandwiched around what is arguably the bands signature number ended the set. Monica guested on the last song, adding to it a voice that her from The Beautiful South would kill for.
Set List:
Beautiful
Century Of Fakers
My Wandering Days Are Over
Seeing Other People
Dog On Wheels
Belle And Sebastian
Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
(break)
Mayfly
Reel Around The Fountain
Seeing Other People (Slowly)
Middle Distance Runner
The State I Am In
Lazy Line-Painter Jane

edinburgh assembly rooms:

The Edinburgh concert was held in The Assembly Rooms, the kind of place more likely to hold choral evenings than rock gigs – stairways, a balcony and chandaliers. And no bar. There were also seats and tables within the auditorium, albeit off to the sides.
Support this time was from Monica, Monica from Thrum i found out later, with a seated guitarist and the occasional drum machine. The voice was still there and still intriguing, sounding at times like Ian McCulloch on Candlelands, but, again, it wasn’t really to my taste.
With little or no fuss Belle And Sebastian took the stage and launched straight into “The State I Am In”. Occasionally Stuart (and, later, Chris) would leave the stage and make his way down to the grand piano which was on the same level as the audience.

“Reel Around The Fountain” came as less of a surprise tonight, but didn’t lose any of its power for all that. Indeed, all the new songs heard for the first time less than 24 hours before felt like old friends. Over the two nights there were 7 completely new songs, one new treatment and a new cover version, enough for a third lp before i’ve had chance to tire of the first one.
Highlight of tonight was Chris looking like John Lennon, dancing like Bobby Gillespie. Unfortunately he later went into coolness deficit by spilling beer onto equipment and knocking the drum-machine off his keyboards.

No “Mayfly” tonight, it would’ve been nice to see them correct the lack of stylophone, but “Judy And The Dream Of Horses”, with its wobbly recorders, more than made up for this. Especially nice to hear all the songs with a live trumpet, something that was missing at the London gig late last year (and was very noticable in its absence).

I left Scotland the following afternoon (after a touristy trip over the Forth Bridge) feeling tired but happy. When i see weather maps i look towards the top and see Glasgow and Edinburgh and am constantly surprised at just how far they are from here but i’m so glad i made the effort to attend.
Set List:
The State I Am In
Belle And Sebastian
Dog On Wheels
Seeing Other People
Reel Around The Fountain
Like Dylan In The Movies
(break)
Judy And The Dream Of Horses
Century Of Fakers
You Made Me Forget My Dreams
My Wandering Days Are Over
Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
Middle Distance Runner
Lazy Line-Painter Jane

Andrew Dean