Peter Capaldi swapped the film set for the concert stage to perform his first live gig 'in 40 years' in Glasgow this week.
The Scottish actor, best known for playing the leading role in Doctor Who and as the foul-mouthed communications chief Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It, took to the stage at city centre venue Stereo for the 'secret' show on Monday night.
The gig followed the release of Capaldi's latest single "Bin Night" in September, which will feature on Capaldi's second album Sweet Illusions.
Recorded and mixed in 2023/2024 and produced by Dr Robert of The Blow Monkeys, Sweet Illusions is being released by local record label Last Night From Glasgow (LNFG) in March next year.
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Musician Craig McMahon, who performed on stage with Capaldi at the gig, posted on social media: "A bit of a mad one that's been happening behind the scenes but aye...Peter Capaldi and band.
"For the past few months we've been rehearsing with Peter Capaldi playing his new album that's coming out next year. On Monday night we played the first gig he's done in 40 years at a "secret" show in Stereo.
"Peter has been as sound and welcoming as you'd think he'd be. A genuine legend."
peter capaldi performed a secret gig in Glasgow after 40 years, look at our rockstar peepaw go 😭🫶🏻 pic.twitter.com/sgBrylE4pO
— tania ⚭ (@twelvewaltz) November 28, 2024
Speaking ahead of the release of Sweet Illusions earlier this year, Capaldi said: "I was delighted that when I finished this second album, LNFG chose to come on board. Some of my favourite artists are on the label. But it's also a kind of a homecoming for me. If these songs have a setting, it is probably a city a lot like Glasgow. So it feels right, that that's where the record is coming from.
"It was a pleasure to work again with Dr Robert who produced the album with his usual wisdom and wit. These musical scribblings are picking up where I left off last time. Some art student, in the rain, wondering where the years went. Feeling the chaos. And sometimes putting the bins out."
Although best known for his extensive acting career, Capaldi is also a musician of long-standing. Whilst a student at the Glasgow School of Art in the late 70s, he formed punk group The Dreamboys, recruiting future comedian and US talk show host Craig Ferguson as the group’s drummer. The band, originally The Bastards From Hell, released a single called "Béla Lugosi's Birthdáy".
Capaldi also released his debut solo album St. Christopher in 2021.
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