SSE Hydro, GlasgowWith half a million tickets sold, this 20th-anniversary tour is a spirited reboot for the Irish group’s chart-topping balladryDuring their pop hegemony at the turn of the millennium, fresh-faced Irish boyband Westlife were famous for …
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Dido review – featherlight hitmaker cranks up the turmoil
Royal Concert Hall, GlasgowThe singer cuts through the heavy emotional weather of her new songs with the crystalline tone that characterised her breakthrough hitsBefore Dido Armstrong begins her first UK tour in 15 years, an announcement appears on the…
Read moreThe Bizarre World of Frank Zappa review – toking poodles and holographic necromancy
Playhouse, EdinburghThe latest star to be resurrected as a hologram is beamed in for a gloriously garish night of uncanny jazz-rock revelryEver since Tupac Shakur’s shimmering Coachella guest spot in 2012, the eldritch art of resurrecting music stars v…
Read moreKiefer Sutherland review – off-duty star turns country outlaw
Cottiers theatre, GlasgowJack Bauer puts on his cowboy hat and uncorks his cask-aged vocals for a gleeful, low-key acoustic set of self-penned songsPlaying 24’s perpetual loose cannon Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland radiated intensity as a man ready to s…
Read moreShawn Mendes review – heartfelt songs from tousle-haired troubadour
SSE Hydro, GlasgowThe unstoppable rise of the clean-cut Canadian continues with a set of confessional ballads and grand romantic gesturesIn the competitive field of globe-conquering Canadian pop stars – a stacked bracket that includes Drake, Justin Bie…
Read moreHot Chip review – house humanists are still ready for the floor
SWG3, GlasgowReturning with new material ahead of their sixth album, the electronic eccentrics remain as colourful as their patchwork jacketsDuring the insistent shimmy of their 2012 track Flutes, four members of Hot Chip have assembled in a line behin…
Read morePanic! at the Disco review – ballads, backflips and big-top emotion
SSE Hydro, GlasgowVelveteen-voiced showman Brendon Urie’s joyful, muscular maximalism is a tonic for our timesThe stars keep aligning for Brendon Urie. Since Panic! at the Disco’s breakthrough in 2005, the puckish 31-year-old may have sloughed off foun…
Read moreCeltic Connections: Transatlantic Sessions review – foot-stomping all-stars
Royal Concert Hall, GlasgowFigures from the US and UK folk traditions pooled their talents into a 16-strong jam band, and alternated between the spine-tingling and the rollickingTowards the end of this epic gig, US dobro guitar-slinger and laid-back ma…
Read moreGrace & Danger: A Celebration of John Martyn review – torrid tribute from Paul Weller and friends
Royal Concert Hall, GlasgowThis Celtic Connections’ jewel marked 10 years since the death of a jazz-folk visionary. It was a reminder of his potent talentA hard-drinking, kaleidoscopically voiced jazz-folk voyager who flattened both genre boundaries an…
Read moreBoyzone review – highs and lows revisited in an emotional farewell
SSE Hydro, GlasgowThe quintessential boyband, now in their 40s, sang, danced and had a laugh before a heartfelt tribute to the friend they lostWhoever came up with the name Boyzone in 1993 – and the group being assembled from eager north Dublin wannabe…
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