MUSIC
Du Blonde
Broadcast, Glasgow
Jonathan Geddes
Three Stars
Given how Beth Jeans Houghton pivoted and sashayed across the Broadcast stage, you'd never have known she'd lost her voice the previous day. That illness prompted a cancellation of her Manchester gig, but here she was in Glasgow "loaded on steroids" and in fine fettle, all things considered.
The days of her Hooves Of Destiny and folk-tinted ways have been obliterated, not so much an artist shedding her skin as gaining a suit of armour and getting inside a tank. The Du Blonde project is much more muscular and robust, strutting through sleaze-ridden rock with a confidence that belies the troubled backdrop that led the Newcastle native to adopt the new persona.
Resembling Gwen Stefani in her peak No Doubt era, Houghton was an equally lively presence, making the most of fairly small surroundings and dropping in an entertaining anecdote about how she dreamed she was to be a surrogate mum for her ex and his new partner.
There were moments where her rich vocal and the pummelling sound of her four-piece backing band provided matching vigour to her movements - the stunning ballad of Hunter, a version of After The Show that would have suited a dramatic video of her emoting on a mountainside and the dirt-etched Cramps stylings of Hard To Please.
Such tunes were straightforward but hugely satisfying in their directness, but a few too many tracks slipped to being solid and no more. The power on the likes of Mr Hyde was there, but they didn't possess enough zip to convince beyond an initial punch, and a Where Is My Mind? cover was unneeded. However a couple of new tracks offered the most rounded material, and offered encouragement for the future.
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