“Glasgow is always a tough crowd!” muses a jauntily spirited Edwyn Collins as he nonchalantly dispenses with an undercalculated pin-drop silence that echoes after one of many crowd-pleasing moments throughout a career spanning set. Opening song ‘Falling and Laughing’ appeases as an excitable intro while ‘What Presence?!’ is an aptly fitting track early on as the willingly captive audience delight in Edwyn’s trademark baritone crooning which sounds as strong as ever with no signs of diminishing either.
Quentin Crisp once remarked “Charisma is the ability to influence without logic” – ironic then it would seem that Edwyn’s recovery has defied all logic and charisma is something that the ex-Orange Juice frontman has in spades. Gleefully swinging his Mafioso walking stick, which brings with it a sense of towering autonomy, Edwyn looks self-assured and focused as he dictates song titles to his tightly knit band who so effortlessly accompany a trajectory of classic hits. ‘Rip It Up’ has a sprightly spring in its step and scales its heights on the wailing saxophone solo from multi-instrumentalist James Walbourne. ‘Losing Sleep’ has all the breezy stomp of early Motown and locks into a Northern Soul groove that delights a number of the more rambunctious amongst the audience who happily break out some old school shuffles. Meanwhile, Orange Juice classic ‘Blue Boy’ sounds as fractured and angst-ridden as ever and yet somehow even more resonant given its introverted and bruised nature which echoes recent events. Upon his recovery Edwyn had the ability to coherently utter one full phrase and for a man that has successfully galvanised a renaissance period in his career it is inspiring to have him remind us that “The possibilities are endless.”
