Why was this a bit of a disappointment? I’m still not quite sure.

Certainly a massive traffic jam on the way into Edinburgh from Fife didn’t help set the right mood but fortunately the delay of half an hour didn’t mean that I missed too much of BALLBOY. I guess that I’d like to hear more before making any purchases but curiously I was left feeling much the same as the time after I first encountered headliners the Delgados - interested but not feeling as if my life depended on checking out the records. The whimsical nature of some of the songs probably has something to do with that.

The night though was always going to depend on the DELGADOS and as I stated at the top of this piece it didn’t quite gell as it might have.

Whilst all the constituent parts of the Delgados’ sound were present and correct, there was something missing and it might have been simply volume.

Whilst things gradually improved during the course of the set, opener The Light Before We Land was tiny when it should have been monumental. (Ballboy by contrast in admittedly an emptier hall managed to shake my internal organs quite significantly!)

The crowd too were laid-back to the point of horizontal, something Stewart commented upon a couple of times. Certainly they got into the swing of things by the end but the long pauses between songs failed to elicit any real banter between the songs. More often than not in fact there was an uncomfortable silence.

But this WAS the Delgados so there were lots of positives. Firstly the set was varied from the QM gig earlier in the year with the introduction of some different songs and the demise of Mr Blue Sky. (Am I alone in hoping the old codger was taken up a dark alley in New York and executed gangland style with a bullet through the forehead? Mind you the killer would have had to be careful with his aim- the geezer’s dodgy 70s perm may well have returned the bullet with interest!)

Into the set came what were presumably a couple of rehearsals of earlier songs for the Lyric shows later this week, The Arcane Model and Primary Alternative, whilst the order of the set was changed a bit.

Then the finale of course is difficult to better - All You Need I Hate, (an admittedly slightly flat) Accused of Stealing before the organised chaos of 13 Gliding Principles and If This Is A Plan. And then No Danger back in its rightful place as an encore - simply one of the finest EVER rock songs in my book.

Aside from the chaos though the best bit was when the low volume was an asset - the wonderful Pull The Wires From The Wall and an outstanding, fragile Child Killers (beautifully respected by almost the entire audience apart from a couple of wankers standing at the back on the left who insisted on talking through Alun’s verse - you know who you are.)

Despite the highs though it seemed appropriate that the house lights came up with undue haste after No Danger to bring the gig to a premature end.

Next time…

Set List

1. The Light Before We Land 2. American Trilogy 3. Woke from Dreaming 4. The Arcane Model 5. Coming In From The Cold 6. The Drowning Years 7. Pull The Wires From The Wall 8. Child Killers 9. All You Need Is Hate 10. Accused of Stealing 11. Thirteen Gliding Principles 12. If This Is A Plan

Encore