Gig review: Charlie Simpson

Published on Thursday 30 June 2011 11:32

Charlie Simpson King Tut's, Glasgow ***

IT'S been six years since Charlie Simpson broke teenage hearts by quitting Busted in a bid to escape the straitjacket of boy-band disposability.

His second band, Fightstar - an angsty post-hardcore reaction against Busted's multi-million selling spiky faux-punk tomfoolery - having won him back a relative degree of cred, the 26-year-old has put that project on ice to launch a solo career of dreaded "serious" acoustic songs.

Simpson's loyal young followers are evidently happy to indulge him judging by the capacity turnout and eager reaction at this first gig of his first solo tour. They've even bankrolled the recording of his forthcoming album Young Pilgrim via Pledgemusic, an online platform that lets unsigned artists take advance payment for their records from trusting fans before they're made.

He's still a startlingly good-looking lad, and the shrieks that met Simpson's arrival onstage could easily be attributed to lingering teenage crushes (one girl fainted towards then end, though probably because of the heat). Yet to hear much of the crowd singing along to every word of material released so far - singles Down Down Down and Parachute and a scattering of free EP tracks - was to realise he's established a bond with his listenership that's strong and genuine and hard to knock.

It's a shame the same couldn't be said of his songs - tame soft-focus MOR pop-rock things full of clunky lyrics describing hearts "smashed to smithereens" and likening girls to sundowns. If reliving his arena-filling days, this time with credibility, is the ultimate dream for Simpson, it's still some way off yet.