After many years housing only the local pigeon population, the old ABC cinema in Sauchiehall Street Glasgow has been revamped and is now a brand new concert venue simply called ABC.
I must admit that I was hugely disappointed that the new venue did not open on Wednesday June 8th with headliners Mogwai and support band Trout, who were due to reform especially for the event. Unfortunately the gig had to be cancelled as Mogwai's drummer has tendonitis.
The grand opening of the venue was then put back to Friday June 10th with headliner Roddy Frame.
The new venue is a huge impressive building which after many a jaunt down Sauchiehall Street I seem to have largely over-looked!
As I walked inside the first thing that hit me was the smell of freshly painted walls and newly cut wood. Everything inside looks bright and airy and un-obtrusive.
The venue has two different stages on two floors. The gig on Friday evening was on the upstairs stage and as I made my way up what felt like several flights of stairs I thought I'd never reach the top. Sure enough I found my way up to the proper floor and was impressed by the huge stage.
The modern, stylish bar is off to the left with the big stage on the right. There is a spiral staircase leading up to a VIP area on top of the bar with an elevated area in front of the bar.
Music wise the line up could have been more exciting for an opening night; acoustic guitars all round. I missed the majority of the first act, but what I did hear did not stir me to excitement.
Second up was the young Roddy Hart. The 24-year-old Scottish singer/songwriter released his debut album Home Tapes in 2003 and is influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Ryan Adams. He turned out to have a lot more stage presence than the Trashcan Sinatras who were up next.
The Trashcan Sinatras first formed almost twenty years ago and Friday night was the first time I saw them live. At the ABC they were a six-piece (with the addition of Roddy Hart on keyboards). The first thing that struck me was that there were far too many guitars all fighting for the same space in the sound. They are all good musicians but they played uninspiring songs that all sounded far too similar.
Thank goodness for Roddy Frame! The former Aztec Camera front man came on stage to the delight of the mostly middle aged crowd; I felt like the youngest guy there!
Roddy was a breath of fresh air after the mundane folk rock that was being played all night. He came on stage to loud applause as the huge red curtains opened in front of him. This was just a solo acoustic show with Roddy playing guitar and singing, no band backing him up. His sound is tremendous. This gifted guitarist does not need a band to make a song sound good; he fleets from strum along pop ballads to wonderful finger picking arpeggios and jazzy guitar riffs with ease. I did not know any Roddy frame songs before I went on Friday night but I left feeling like I just enjoyed a personal jam session with an old friend. The crowd loved his wit and charm as he shared many a happy moment with them and told stories about the origins of individual songs.
He said that it was fitting that he should play a gig in this new ABC venue because it was where he went for his first proper date when he was a teenager. The Shining was his romantic movie of choice!
What started off as a rather dull, predictable night soon picked up and turned out to be a lot of fun. The atmosphere was great and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the reminiscing.
