Gig review: Edwyn Collins and Teenage Fanclub

Published on Friday 11 September 2009 20:51

EDWYN COLLINS & TEENAGE FANCLUB **** MONO, GLASGOW

EVEN before the band made their way to the stage, there was the feeling that few previous Glasgow concerts could have exemplified the city's indie music tradition. A short slalom through the dense crowd from doorway to bar brought face-to-face contact with members of Belle & Sebastian, Sons & Daughters, the Pastels, BMX Bandits, the 1990s and more. But then they were here to see Edwyn Collins, the man who started it all with Orange Juice at the turn of the 1980s.

Collins, in fact, backed by Teenage Fanclub, themselves seasoned representatives of the local scene, but also men who practised guitar in their teenage bedrooms to Collins' early hits. There was something modestly epochal about this show, but the fact it was timed to coincide with the opening night of the impressive Trongate 103 complex – a beacon of cultural renaissance for troubled times, in whose foyer this scratch band had made their debut – was appropriate.

The set was drawn entirely from Collins' catalogue and included soaringly precise versions of Rip It Up, Falling and Laughing, What Presence? and Blue Boy. More modern output like A Girl Like You and new song I'm Losing Sleep wasn't delivered with quite the same devotion, but the whole show – including, it must be said, the mixture of good cheer and resolute stubbornness with which Collins tackles his continued rehabilitation from serious illness – was a touching tribute to both singer and city.