I'll start at the beginning, well first thing I did was go to the merch stall, the Idlewild merch was thin on the ground, but they had 12 t-shirts that had been made by Roddy, there was a really great Roseability one, but someone just beat me to it :-(, so I had to settle for an non-unique Make Another World t-shirt :-).
Right the music, first support were Broken Records from Edinburgh. I thought they were outstanding actually a fiddle, a cello, a keyboard, a couple of guitars, a bass, a drummer, switching instruments they also include a trumpet, an accordion and a glockenspiel - they pretty much have the instruments covered. The music's a pretty wonderful combination of Scots music and a hint of rock, they were deservedly warmly received by the crowd with their uplifting melodies. Probably another one of those reasons I should try and pay more attention to the Edinburgh music scene.
Second support were Glaswegians The Twilight Sad who I last saw supporting the Smashing Pumpkins, and I was somewhat critical. And I think some of my criticism still stands, the sound engineer had set them really quietly and the sound was lost somewhat. Not the case tonight, Idlewild are not scared to let the support play at the same volume as them, and the difference it made to The Twilight Sad was remarkable, the music had the drive and pulse of it's Scottish rhythm coming through loud and clear. They had a couple of the Idlewild boys on stage for a couple of the songs, so they clearly rate them. I also think supporting a band with a similar sound to them also helped them a lot, I think with the Smashing Pumpkins they were just too different from the main act to have a real impact, but all 3 bands today are completely unashamed to show their Scots roots and influences, which I think made the whole evening more coherent.
Then as ever it was time for the headliners, Idlewild and they were simply awesome. My earliest memory of this band is hearing When I Argue I See Shapes on the radio when it first came out, I instantly fell in love with the song and the band, but didn't get to see them live until earlier this year when they were supporting Pearl Jam, where they were good but the half hour slot was just too short and the fans dispersed a bit thinly through the crowd to create any real atmosphere. So, so different tonight, the Queen's Hall is a fairly small venue, and the fans were rabid, geared on by the fact that the band played a set dripping with their earlier and faster material, It's been a while since I got all bouncy at a gig, but it came out tonight, bouncing, singing and joining the rest of the crowd in the worship of these Scots gods come home.
The crowd was triggered when the band opened with
I Don't Have the Map 100 Broken Windows is a terrific album, and will probably always be in my top 10 of all time, love the track, and it was preformed brilliantly. Don't have a good enough memory to remember the set-list but here's my best attempt at listing all the tracks they played, hopefully someone else knows the order/got a setlist/managed to record the gig.When I Argue I See ShapesEveryone Says You're So FragileI'm a MessageLittle DiscourageRoseabilityLet Me Sleep (Next to the Mirror)Actually It's DarknessYou Held the World in Your ArmsA Modern Way of Letting GoAmerican EnglishEl CapitanIn Competition for the Worst TimeNo EmotionMake Another WorldThere was a slight dampener on the evening when the fire alarm went off in the middle of Idlewild's set, fortunately the Fire Brigade showed up and sorted it out fairly quickly, and everyone was back inside and the band was back onstage about 10 minutes later. Due to the delay Idlewild didn't do the leaving stage and coming back on for an encore, but just stayed onstage while Roddy apologised that they couldn't leave the stage, they then launched into their debut single
Queen of the Troubled Teens, then the Twilight Sad joined them on stage for a cover of the Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated then wrapping the show up with In Remote Part. Just sublime, absolutely fantastic, I don't think I could have hoped or wished for a better show.
