Gig review: Lloyd Cole & The Leopards, Glasgow

'I was beginning to think there was someone up there who didn't like the idea of English people playing with Scottish people,' mused Derbyshire-born, Glasgow-made indie-pop godfather Lloyd Cole of this dual-headline date which the elements were doing their best to spoil.

Lloyd Cole reminded the audience of his ability to produce some terrific hits. Picture: Robert Perry

Lloyd Cole & The Leopards/Justin Currie and the Pallbearers | Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow | Rating ***

Moved to Wednesday evening from the previous Sunday due to warnings of high winds, ironically the show was played in probably worse conditions, as a steady rain fell on a heavily depleted audience intent on toughing it out in their ponchos.

Local boy Currie seemed in a drizzly mood, and largely preferred to stick to less obvious Del Amitri material and new songs, keeping his droll chat to a minimum. Always The Last To Know and Driving With The Brakes On were a pleasure to hear, but a one-paced set became increasingly hard work.

Where Currie had seemed intent on disguising the fact that he once had hits, Cole contrastingly delighted in reminding us of just how many he produced in a prolific burst in the mid-1980s with The Commotions. A swoonsome one-two of Rattlesnakes and Jennifer She Said opened a wholly retrospective turn backed by his current band The Leopards.

Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken? performed as an acoustic interlude together with his son William – the spit of his dad at the same age – will have left tears pricking the eyes of parents in the audience. Brand New Friend, Perfect Skin and Lost Weekend sent a force 10 gale of happy nostalgia blowing through the bandstand.