On Friday 13^th May 1983 I went along to the Playhouse in Edinburgh as a fresh faced teen to see the mighty Iron Maiden for the first time. Maiden were superb and the gig was one to remember, but the other thing that came out of that night was a lifelong love of the band Grand Prix.

Grand Prix were support that night and they completely blew me away. I bought their ‘Samurai’ album on the day of release and managed over the next year or so to amass their back catalogue, still prized amongst my vinyl collection today.

Fronting the band that night was Robin McAuley. A great frontman with amazing vocal ability. I have followed his career with interest over the years and managed to see him on a number of occasions as part of the McAuley-Schenker Group in the late 80’s.

Robin has had a real renaissance in the past few years releasing three excellent solo albums, including ‘Soulbound’ earlier this year, and fronting Black Swan along with Jeff Pilson on bass and Reb Beach on guitar who are about to deliver album number 3.

Having missed out on Robin’s appearance at last years Firefest Festival in Manchester, I wasn’t about to miss out on this chance to see him live, especially with the promise of a few GP songs in the set. So, tickets were purchased, and anticipation was high.

Before the main event though we had a band that again I hadn’t seen since the late 80’s. Lyin’ Rampant were stalwarts of Glasgow live scene back in the day and our paths crossed on a few occasions back in a land before mobile phones and baldness (on my part anyway!).

Stewartie Adams on vocals is still as hirsute as ever with a mop of flowing locks to be proud of. His vocal prowess is also still very much in place as he belted out set opener ‘Crazy’. The bulk of the set was taken from the band’s debut album ‘Up And Cumin’ with ‘Breakdown’ next on the set list. Guitarist Eddie Trainer was playing up a storm whilst Kevin Archer on bass was clearly loving his work. A couple of new songs were aired, namely ‘From Heaven To Hell’ and ‘All But Gone’ which went down well and hinted at a new album incoming.

However, it was the likes of ‘Fantasy Girl’ and set closer ‘Say Goodbye (Sayonara)’ that brought the biggest cheers from the crowd and the roar that went up as the last chords rang out were well deserved. It will be interesting to hear some new material from the band and they are obviously enjoying being back on stage. Old rockers never die…

After a quick set change (well, the drum kit was converted from left handed to right handed), Robin McAuley took to the stage to another huge cheer. Opening the set with ‘Save Yourself’ from his McAuley-Schenker days, Robin was in great voice and looking every inch the rockstar.

‘Standing On The Edge’ was up next from Robin’s solo album of the same name. One thing that was evident very early in the set was the calibre of the band members on stage, especially guitarist Keith Atack, his fretboard work was excellent, especially when recreating Herr Schenker’s guitar parts. He shone again on ‘This Is My Heart’ which was up next.

Robin then took us back to the dark depths of 1982 and his days in the mighty Grand Prix leading into the first GP track of the night. ‘Shout’ went down a storm with the crowd singing and, aptly, shouting along with every word. Another GP classic followed with Robin saying that Journey said ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ where as Grand Prix encouraged you to ‘Keep On Believing’. At this point it would have taken something catastrophic to wipe the smile off my face and these two songs alone were worthy of my entry fee. However, the best was to come later…

‘Take Me Back’ did just that to 1989, a time of big hair and even bigger riffs when MTV was king and David Hasselhoff brought down the Berlin Wall, although I may have mis-remembered that last fact! Things were then brought bang up to date with ‘The Best Of Me’ from Robin’s latest solo album, ‘Soulbound’. This is a monster of a track which showcased the drumming of Josh Devine as he steamrollered his way through the song giving his double bass pedals a good work out.

Another of his solo tracks was up next with the title track to the ‘Alive’ album. This featured another fantastic, soaring vocal from Robin, especially in the chorus, he really can belt it out! Robin then asked if there were any Glasgow ‘Bad Boys’ in the house before launching into said track. This was followed by another McAuley-Schenker classic from their ‘Perfect Timing’ album in the shape of ‘Gimme Your Love’. This proved to be a real crowd favourite with voices raised in unison once more on the chorus.

The pace then slowed a bit for the classic ballad that is ‘Anytime’, which again had the Glasgow choir on song. However, the set highlight for me was up next as Ged Rylands played the keyboard intro to the Grand Prix classic ‘Samurai’. Robin introduced the band over the strains of the intro before launching into the song.

It had been 42 years since I had last heard this track live and to hear it played again was a magical moment. Both Robin and the band were spot on, and it transported me back to that night in Edinburgh where this song had made such a huge impact on the teenage me.

‘Love Is Not A Game’ finally round off the night, complete with Lyin’ Rampant joining the band onstage for an end of tour singalong and knees up. A great end to an excellent night that those onstage had enjoyed just as much as the assembled crowd.

Hopefully, with the success of these dates it won’t be too long until Robin and co are back for more dates across the UK. I don’t think I have another 42 years in me to wait for the next live experience!

Review and photos by Dave Wilson

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