On Friday night we went to see Deacon Blue play at the Opera House in York.
As I work in York on a Friday, it was just too convenient not to go.
I have not seen Deacon Blue play live for years and by years, I mean probably close to 20+ years or so. I loved this band and listen to their albums fairly regularly still. (All cassette’s now replaced by CD copies!) I felt this gig would either bring back fantastic memories from my youth or completely shatter them! No middle ground.
We arrived at the Opera House ( a typical old theatre) and had a drink in the bar. It was a nice surprise to be in the younger demographic at a gig, as at most gigs we usually feel quite old!
So we take our seats! Again, a weird experience as we always stand at gigs. Then a keyboard player and guitarist come onto the stage and then 5 girls dressed in white. The support band! They were called “Angels in White” (Nope, I’d never heard of them either!) they were a 5 piece vocal harmony type of group. In fairness to the girls, they could sing but that kind of music does nothing for me. I find it all a bit dated and sorry to say a bit cheesy, but good luck to them.
Then it was the interval, there was ice cream sellers! Another bizarre gig experience. Beer and ice cream just do not go together.
Well the lights go out and Deacon Blue came out. I wanted to stand up yet everyone else sat down!! The set was amazing and soon the crowd got into it and were up on their feet clapping, cheering and singing along loudly. they played all the old favourites “Dignity, Chocolate Girl, Raintown, Real Gone Kid, When Will You and When Will You and I was not disappointed at all, Ricky Ross’s vocals were still as good as I remembered and Lorraine McIntosh was as superb as ever and looked exactly the same age as when I saw her last all those years ago. I was also impressed that she still wore “nightie” style dresses and Doc Marten boots! I knew I wasn’t too old to be wearing Doc boots still!!
When the band played slower songs, the audience sat down! Maybe at their age they needed to rest their weary legs or something.
All too soon the set was over and they went, but came back to do an “encore”. The crowd were going mad and the encore included really good singing in “I’ll Never fall in Love Again” and the last song was “Fergus Sings the Blues”. It was fantastic!
It was the weirdest gig experience I have ever had but it was one of the best gigs I have ever been to. I am a big supporter of Keeping Music Live and that was one of the best live gigs I have ever been to. Great songs, great musicians, great atmosphere and absolutely great singing!
I will be keeping an eye out to see them again, if you get the chance, go and relive your youth. You will have a fantastic night.