It’s another typical night at Sleazy’s. The room: dark, with minimal lighting. The crowd: quiet waiting with anticipation. The alcohol: pouring in a steady stream. The atmosphere: electric. The gradual restlessness of the crowd is soon calmed by the appearance of a lone figure holding a guitar. With an air of confidence and showmanship, he begins to play.
Scott Cowie serenaded the audience on Tuesday night as the first warm-up act for Moon Party, the up-and-coming Scottish indie band with a bit of a twist. The audience quickly warmed to Cowie’s confidence and general stage-presence. His mix of brash humour with impressive guitar work made him a big talking-point even after the headliners had performed.
Opening with ‘Helen’, Cowie presented a sweet ballad about a girl behind the till; reminding us all that sometimes we can’t always get what we want. His deadpan delivery of this hilarious song cemented its success and set the tone for the rest of the night. ‘Crackhead Whore’ introduced the theme of unpleasant ex-girlfriends which was reintroduced by both Debrasco and Moon Party later on in the evening. ‘Sky High Dreamer’ demonstrated Cowie’s impressive dexterity and technical ability, while ‘Laptop Gangster’ got the audience rolling about with laughter once again (though, admittedly, this could have been due to copious amounts of alcohol).
Dedicating his cover of ‘May You Never’ to Moon Party’s John Martyn-fan guitarist, Cowie added smoother, slicker element to the evening with stylish palm-muting and hammer-ons. He even unplugged his guitar and left the stage in favour of a more intimate performance of ‘The Girl I Knew’. This gave the song a real exposed feeling, yet a somehow full sound. More people should use their guitar as a percussive instrument – it’s one of the best sounds ever! Closing on a cover of Frankie Valli’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’, Cowie encouraged the audience to sing along with the well-known chorus, engrained in our heads by that brilliant scene in ’10 Things I Hate About You’. The enthusiasm and joy shined from the audience and Cowie ended his set on a definite high.
Scott Cowie is definitely the ideal warm-up act. He’s funny, talented and – ladies – single! The fact that he took time out of his set to engage in some light-hearted banter with a few audience members shows that he is at home on stage and enjoys what he does. Hopefully he will soon be appearing in a more prominent capacity, rather than just a warm-up act.
Check out Scott Cowie at https://soundcloud.com/scottcowiemusic or follow him on Twitter at @scowiemusic