Glasgow SECC

we had plastic trumpets last year and we intend on whipping em out again this year!!

Love all the reviews and impressions from the Glasgow show...sounds like a good time was had by all! Glad everyone enjoyed it, though I wasn't actually too worried that you wouldn't. Thanks all for sharing your reports - anyone get any pics?

I did try a couple when i first got in and couldn't get a decent picture, with light settings etc and we were quite far back - so in the end I just didn't bother. Hopefully someone may have been a bit closer, there weren't many with cameras out - although loads of folk standing seemed to be taking footage on their phones.....I just 'focused' on the show

There's some photos online at Flickr, courtesy of Fishbones Photography...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fishbonesphotography/sets/72157626153305053/with/5531337261/

Those are great - thanks holmes. I do like to see gentlemen in a smart suits - looking fab!

I dont think i am being unfair with my comments, to be fair!lol With an approx 2 hour set im sure room could have been made for a couple of tracks off each of the first two albums, dont think im alone with this view, the last album was toured to death and even if they didnt play the usual ones off early albums like Newborn, Any Day Now etc it would have been great to hear some they maybe dont play that often, eg. Cant Stop, Ive Got Your Number, both great tracks which would make it a better blend of their music back catalogue overall, i obviously expect alot to be played from the current album which is fair enough, they could have taken a few tracks out from TSSK and LOTFW albums though, i know i will enjoy the Nottingham gig either way, always do, this will be the 9th time i have seen them

Finally back from Glasgow - and the concert was wonderful!! We weren't sure how early people would be queueing for the arena so got there an hour early and were pleasantly surprised to get front row standing spots. I loved the Elbow string quartet and filmed a few short segments of Not a Job and Picky Bugger that I will post shortly (they're literally 20 second clips though).

The actual concert was spectacular! Particular highlights for me were The Birds, Some Riot (so heart-wrenching, and exactly what you said, GraemeScott), and Open Arms. I was a little disappointed that the setlist was exactly the same as Cambridge but it was still a brilliant show and my sister really had an amazing time! They really managed to make an arena feel like a more intimate concert with the stage decor and Guy's audience interaction which I thought was great

As many other people have already said, they mentioned a few times how nervous they were about the arena show but really settled in by the second half of the concert, so I hope the rest of the concerts on the tour are just as amazing!!

Highlight at Glasgow for me was shaking Guys hand and getting a drink of his vodka and red bull
I really enjoyed the new material. Well worth sacrificing older songs for. Now that I have seen some new tracks live I have enjoyed Build A Rocket Boys! even more.

bt_remix wrote:

Highlight at Glasgow for me was shaking Guys hand and getting a drink of his vodka and red bull
I really enjoyed the new material. Well worth sacrificing older songs for. Now that I have seen some new tracks live I have enjoyed Build A Rocket Boys! even more.

Haha! That was before Weather to Fly right? You must have been standing so close to them during Weather to Fly, Puncture Repair and Some Riot.
The new material was excellent! And I definitely agree that hearing it live makes you appreciate each song that much more

Well lets just say I was close enough to Guy to polish his shoes Emma, which badly needed done lol. Overall a great night. My m8's and I were staying in a hotel that night. About 1:30am they went for a fag outside the hotel. Came back 15 minutes later to say they had been speaking to the Villagers who were staying in the hotel aswell! Small world.

Here is my review which should be appearing in this week's Edinburgh University Student paper:

Elbow (Support: Villagers)
Tuesday 15th March 2011
SECC, Glasgow
***** (4/5)

Ted Edmunds

After almost 20 years together as a band, it is hard not to view Elbow within their own historical context – years without a record deal, a modest but hugely dedicated following and then, in 2008, new found fame and media exposure due to a Mercury Music Prize winning album. With the trappings of success came the opportunity to embark upon a maiden nationwide arena tour giving the new fans a chance to see the band for the first time. For the more seasoned Elbow enthusiasts, however, this tour offers the opportunity to assess whether or not fame has gone to their heads and if their well-travelled feet are still firmly on the ground. The verdict? A cracking concert in itself but alarm bells would surely have been ringing.
The stage, which Elbow took to with confidence, would have been inconceivable just five years ago – an enormous mirrorball, hugely elaborate lighting and a catwalk into the crowd for the band to stroll along in their sharp suits. Lead singer Guy Garvey would be the first to admit that he is no male model or style icon for the noughties but he and his bandmates threw themselves into these unfamiliar surroundings right from the opening song The Birds, a lengthy, chugging piece of prog-influenced ornithological reflection. The first seven songs on the night all came from the band’s last two albums and featured the likes of The Bones Of You, Mirrorball (complete with the aforementioned gigantic piece of lighting), With Love and lead single from current album Build A Rocket Boys!, Neat Little Rows which was performed with energy, passion and volume: “Lay my bones in the cobblestones. Lay my bones in neat little rows” implored Garvey almost devouring his microphone.
Notable highlights included the airing of older numbers such as the acoustic Great Expectations and the fleeting piano piece Puncture Repair, the latter being performed at the end of the catwalk using a piano that doubled as a cocktail bar during a humorous interlude between songs. Sadly, the only further glimpse of older material came during the encore with an outstanding rendition of the existential Station Approach: “I haven’t been myself of late. I haven’t slept for several days.” Guy Garvey the student perhaps?
It was the night’s closing number that really justified those alarm bells: One Day Like This left me feeling like I was in a BBC montage clip, surrounded by camera phone flashes and groups of people linking arms and singing along to what they had heard on that nature programme a few years ago. Or was it that Children in Need appeal? If Elbow are to come away from this arena tour unscathed among their loyal fans, they will have to go back to doing what they do best: playing older, crafted, more personal songs and not tend towards the radio-friendly and the superficial. The Elbow ‘rocket’ that the boys have built may be enjoying its time in orbit just now, but re-entry is hopefully not too far away.

Agreee with some part of this review, the gigs have been great, the new material ive enjoyed listening to live, fine to sacrifice older songs for songs off the new album, thats one of the main reasons for the tour, to promote the new album, the disappointing thing for me was totally leaving out anything from pre LOTFW days, the Guy banter is great but after having seen them in Nottingham i have no doubt that room could have been made for a few tracks off AITB and COT, that would make it a more complete live occasion, i'm still hopeful that later in the year they will change the setlist to take into account fans from the earlier days as well as new ones. A few people ive talked to recently about Elbow said they have become 'boring'! Whilst i obviously disagreed with them, part of me was thinking and hoping that after all this relative fame calms a bit, they go back to pushing their musical talents to the limit again. Just my view and the view of many long term Elbow fans i know of, this new album does and will stand up though as a good and valid addition to their discography, still loving listening to The Birds