Friday nights are never quiet at the Admiral and tonight was no different with Chris Helme and John Rush playing to a sell-out crowd prior to the end-of-the-month Madchester night.
From the moment support act John Rush picked up his guitar and opened his own set with a tribute to Chris – in the form of ‘Blinded By The Sun’ – it was clear the audience were in for a lively night. With it being ‘Pay Friday’ the drinks were free flowing and, prior to John taking the stage, a few ladies at the front asked me if I had been to see John live before? My answer to this was ‘no’, and the ladies informed me I was in for a treat and also told me John was from their hometown of Paisley and has made a bit of name for himself on the local circuit. I have to say, I was impressed with John and enjoyed his voice and songs. Judging by the reaction of the audience I was not the only one ‘feeling it’ by the end of his set.
So onto the headliner: Chris Helme! Chris entertained the crowd from the offset and wasted no time getting the audience fired-up by dropping a few Seahorses songs and fan favourites into the set early on. ‘Hello’, ‘You Can Talk To Me’ and ‘The Boy In the Picture’ all featured early in the set. Chris sounded great and having only caught Chris once live before (back when The Seahorses supported U2 at Murrayfield Stadium on their Popmart tour) I was taken back at how good his voice sounded.
Chris was clearly in the mood for it tonight and engaged in a bit of ‘chin-wagging’ between songs, telling a number of hilarious stories with Max Bygraves, Cliff Richard and Mark Morriss of The Bluetones all getting a mention. Chris and his sense of humour connected with me and a few times I found myself laughing embarrassingly just a little too loud.
The set also included a number of songs from the ‘The Rookery’ album with ‘Pleased’ and ‘Summer Girl’ sounding great and ‘Set In Stone’ also getting a play in response to a rather loud shout out and fan request. Chris also paid homage to the late Phil Everly with a cover of ‘The Air That I Breathe’ that got the crowd participating in a huge sing-a-long of the chorus. John Rush made a return to the stage and joined Chris in a cover of The Faces ‘Ooh La La’ which both artists clearly enjoyed, whilst at the same time delighting the crowd to a classic tune.
Towards the end of the set Chris returned to The Seahorses material and belted out ‘Love Me and Leave’, the lyrically unforgettable John Squire penned ‘Love Is the Law’ as well as the stunning ‘Blinded By The Sun’. For me personally ‘Blinded By The Sun’ is up there with the stand-out tracks of the 90s and hearing the song up close and live just reinforced what a fantastic song this is. The set was then brought to a rousing close with ‘Be Your Husband’.
With Chris currently working on new material hopefully it will not be too long before we see his return to Glasgow.
Catch Chris on tour now, dates are listed on his webpage.
Stay up-to-date with what Chris is doing by checking out his Facebook page or following him on Twitter.
Bazza Mills
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