Suzanne Vega Anniversary Tour - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Sept 23, 2017 12:36:50 GMT
leoroberts, brianr2, and 3 more like this
Post by Cams on Sept 23, 2017 12:36:50 GMT
I play guitar because of two artists, Suzanne Vega and Bert Jansch. Suzanne was first though, my first music crush other than Kim Wilde, but to be fair, Kim was more about the looks.
I have a vague recollection of switching on the TV one night in 1987 as a 15-year-old and hearing Ironbound / Fancy Poultry from Solitude Standing and being mesmerised. And so began a life-long love of Suzanne Vega. I'd never heard her play those songs live until last night, 30 years later. It was the first night of her anniversary tour - 30 years since Solitude Standing and 25 since 99.9Fº.
There's just something about Suzanne's voice that moves me. I was an active Towie for years, back before Facebook and social media, basically an Internet-based fan club, but with some involvement from Suzanne herself. Part of the deal with that was that you could say you were a Towie at gigs and get to go back stage and meet her, which I did twice. I'm not sure why I bottled it last night - maybe being 45 means I'm not so excited about meeting my heroes? Dunno, anyway... I did get a photo with Mike!
She had the old band last night, Mike Visceglia on bass, Doug Yowell on drums and Gerry Leonard on guitar. They played the whole of the two albums with a break in between and it was absolutely fantastic. I don't know how I managed to get front-row seats, but that's how it worked out. Gerry Leonard has some amazing effects going on with his electric guitar to make it sound keyboard-like or strings like, but the highlight for me was having a seat right in front of Mike on bass. That guy is astoundingly good. Watching him and Doug on drums made it one of the best shows I've been to, that couple with the fact that my wife came with me, a very rare thing because of kids and horses and living on Arran. And getting to hear songs that I'd never heard live before, songs like the aforementioned Ironbound, Song of Sand, Blood Sings Blood. Not only that, but to hear some of the stories of how these songs came about and just to see her live and hear her sing.
This was one of the most enjoyable gigs I've been to and I'm so grateful that I got to go, get such great seats and go with my wife!
If you get a chance to see this tour, you should!
I have a vague recollection of switching on the TV one night in 1987 as a 15-year-old and hearing Ironbound / Fancy Poultry from Solitude Standing and being mesmerised. And so began a life-long love of Suzanne Vega. I'd never heard her play those songs live until last night, 30 years later. It was the first night of her anniversary tour - 30 years since Solitude Standing and 25 since 99.9Fº.
There's just something about Suzanne's voice that moves me. I was an active Towie for years, back before Facebook and social media, basically an Internet-based fan club, but with some involvement from Suzanne herself. Part of the deal with that was that you could say you were a Towie at gigs and get to go back stage and meet her, which I did twice. I'm not sure why I bottled it last night - maybe being 45 means I'm not so excited about meeting my heroes? Dunno, anyway... I did get a photo with Mike!
She had the old band last night, Mike Visceglia on bass, Doug Yowell on drums and Gerry Leonard on guitar. They played the whole of the two albums with a break in between and it was absolutely fantastic. I don't know how I managed to get front-row seats, but that's how it worked out. Gerry Leonard has some amazing effects going on with his electric guitar to make it sound keyboard-like or strings like, but the highlight for me was having a seat right in front of Mike on bass. That guy is astoundingly good. Watching him and Doug on drums made it one of the best shows I've been to, that couple with the fact that my wife came with me, a very rare thing because of kids and horses and living on Arran. And getting to hear songs that I'd never heard live before, songs like the aforementioned Ironbound, Song of Sand, Blood Sings Blood. Not only that, but to hear some of the stories of how these songs came about and just to see her live and hear her sing.
This was one of the most enjoyable gigs I've been to and I'm so grateful that I got to go, get such great seats and go with my wife!
If you get a chance to see this tour, you should!
Jo whoever he is.
