Rock gigs in Paisley are not the most frequent of occurrences but The Bungalow venue is trying to rectify that situation. It is the first time I have been in the venue which has gone under a few different names in the past and it is a great little venue with a good atmosphere. If it had air conditioning it would be near perfect.

Any night with the Quireboys is a hot night but The Bungalow with a capacity crowd equals Swedish sauna like temperatures, my pores were certainly cleansed by the end of the night to put it politely!

First into the furnace were Skam who had made the trip up from Leicester and it proved to be well worth the journey. The band have been a regular name on the touring circuit for a while but this was my first encounter with the trio and they went down a storm.

Playing a mix of older tracks and new songs from the forthcoming album scheduled for release in early 2017, Skam put on a great set. Singer and guitarist Steve Hill is a strong frontman with an excellent voice and the fretboard skills to match. His brother Neal battered the living daylights out of the kit whilst bassist Matt Gilmore hammed it up, pulling a multitude of tortured faces throughout. Matt’s stage act reminded me of Adam D of Killswitch Engage who I found very annoying on last viewing, sorry Matt!

Musically though Skam couldn’t be faulted. Their hard, blues influenced rock was spot on, the highlights of the set being No Lies, The Wire and Massacre which also featured a snippet of War Pigs in the mid-section. The band left the stage to a huge cheer from the appreciative crowd, a job well done and a name to remember for the future.

One name that is always a guarantee of a good night is The Quireboys. The stage at The Bungalow is not the largest so it was a bit crowded when the guys took their place. Spike had to curtail his usual mic stand swinging antics for fear for taking out a bandmate.

Things were kicked off with a new number, ‘Twisted Love’, the title track of the just released new album. The song was marred however by problems with the afore mention mic that turned Spike into Norman Collier for those old enough to remember his comedy routine, most in the hall were and did!

Another comedic moment came when Spike tried guitarist Guy Griffins mic only to find it was coming through loud and proud. When Spike asked why Guy’s mic was so much louder Guy quipped it was because he had turned up for the soundcheck!

The set was the usual mix of fan favourites interspersed with more tracks from the new album. The new material came across well including the rocking blues of ‘Breaking Rocks’ and ‘Ghost Train’ which Spike dedicated to his grandad who he said had fought with a Scottish regiment during the second world war which raised a cheer.

It was the older numbers though that really pushed the mercury off the scale and brought the hall to boiling point. ‘Misled’, ‘Hey You’, ‘There She Goes Again’ were all mass singalongs with Spike leading the Paisley choir.

The guitar pairing of Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin were in excellent form as was Keith Weir on the keyboards. With the restricted stage set up I was actually standing to the side of Keith and watching him play you can really see how much he adds to the The Quireboys sound as his fingers fly along the keyboard.

Another highlight was the slow and sorrowful tones of ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ with Spike pouring out his heartfelt vocal before being joined en mass by the crowd on the chorus. The set was rounded off with the ultimate party anthem, ‘7 O’clock’, by which time most of the crowd were ready to drop in the heat, but they still managed to dance along.

This proved to be a great night in an excellent little venue. The Quireboys showed once again that they are one of the best live bands on the circuit and with the new album ‘Twisted Love’ just released they will be out on the road for the foreseeable future. I urge you to catch them soon, but preferably in a venue with air conditioning!

Review and photos by Dave Wilson

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)