Music

Hipsway

Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow

Stuart Morrison

four stars

GRAHAME Skinner was overwhelmed. "I’m a real man, I hate quiche, but I nearly burst out greetin’ there." The reason for this unmanly lapse was understandable. Some twenty odd years after splitting up, Hipsway had sold out the Bandstand and twelve hundred people had just sung along to opener, Set this Day Apart. Little wonder that the poor bloke was rendered momentarily speechless.

Hipsway emerged in 1985, during an incredibly productive period of Scottish popular music, which saw the likes of Deacon Blue, Love and Money and Del Amitri achieve success. Hipsway’s debut sold well and spawned a hit single. Their second album failed to emulate that success and eventually they went their separate ways. Clearly, though, lots of people still loved them.

To be fair, this was a game of two halves. The first comprised some well played, but fairly unremarkable, Scottish pop/soul/funk. It wasn’t until they played The Honeythief, which reached both the UK and US singles charts in 1986 that this show really took off. It electrified the crowd and seemed to relax the band. I’m Not Perfect, from their second and final album, Scratch the Surface, allowed them to really stretch out, guitarist Pim Jones, in particular, given room to produce a very fine solo indeed. However the set was drawn mainly from their eponymous debut and two of the outstanding songs from that were stand outs here. Long White Car exuded all the sleazy charm of the original and Ask the Lord was excellent. Their encore included a spirited cover of Bowie’s Golden Years and it was a reflection of how well they sounded, that it didn’t sound out of place at all.