Scissor Sisters, Glasgow review: 'a special party band'
This was camp cabaret played to the highest musical standard, writes Fiona Shepherd
Scissor Sisters, Queen's Park Recreation Ground, Glasgow ★★★★★
New York’s Scissor Sisters - the toast of 2004 - have roared back in the last year to remind their diverse and (almost) all ages audience just why they are a special party band with their biggest, most outrageous and theatrical show to date. But all good parties must come to an end - in this case in a massive marquee on the southside of their favourite city to play.
Kicking off with the counter-intuitive uplift of I Don't Feel Like Dancing, this was camp cabaret played to the highest musical standard by the core SS trio - singer Jake Shears, bassist Babydaddy and guitarist Del Marquis - supplemented by drummer Randy Real, keyboard player Karme Caruso and Shears’ formidable vocal playmates, Amber Martin and Bridget Barkan, two trashy divas giving off B-52s-meet-Warhol superstars vibes. They got their first moment to shine on Tits on the Radio and then grabbed every opportunity to hold their own next to the charismatic Shears.
READ MORE: The Waterboys, Glasgow review: 'glorious'
Musically, the all-killer set covered that New York waterfront, from the “soft shoe shuffle” of I Can't Decide to the horny, hectic Any Which Way via soaring ballad Fire With Fire and their phenomenal disco cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. Joel Gibb of support band The Hidden Cameras joined the shindig on Take Your Mama, while Sir Ian McKellen cameo’d on screen with a suitably portentous monologue during the proggy epic Invisible Light.
Party proceedings took another handbrake turn into the queer cabaret of Let’s Have a Kiki, more mantra than song, before landing on the pop catharsis of Only the Horses. The main set closed in tribute to Dolly Parton and Tim Curry with an intimate, gospelly cover of I’m Going Home from The Rocky Horror Picture Show before a gloriously OTT encore with gonzo monsters invading the trash mayhem of Music is the Victim. No casualties here, and Dolly and Tim would have heartily approved.
The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today
Enjoying the Arts & Culture journalism on scotsman.com? Make it easier to find by selecting us as a preferred Google source
Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.