A few months ago, Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald launched the STV Appeal by announcing that she was going to undertake 5 gig in one day to raise funds for the charity. Having already been in Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling & Edinburgh, Amy’s final gig of the day was to be in her hometown of Glasgow as SWG3.
Before Amy, we were introduced to Kamina Francis, a singer/songwriter from Blackpool who played three acoustic little numbers (which included Wherever I Go and Glory Days as well as gave some good old fashioned banter to the crowd between tracks. Despite the short set, she seemed to wow the crowd (and at the end of the night was seen meeting people, having her photo taken and seemed genuinely glad people had taken to her)
Next we had a little introduction from comedian Bruce Devlin, who had also been at all 5 gigs across the day and was giving the crowd a little background information to what the money raised was going to be doing as well as making use of members of the crowd for comedy. Then he introduced the woman of the moment to the stage, making way for Amy and two other band members.
Her first offering to the Glasgow crowd came in the form of current single Slow It Down (first from the new album Life In A Beautiful Light) which provided the crowd with their first listen to her voice. And despite the fact that she’d already played 4 other gigs in the day, her voice was still going strong as if it was the first gig of the day. At the end of this, she explained that as she wasn’t having to rush off anywhere after the gig, that Glasgow was getting a slightly longer set. This lead into the first playing of the day for the track from her second album (A Curious Thing) Spark.
Next it was onto the track that according to Amy was the one that probably introduced many of those present in the crowd to her. It is of course, Mr Rock & Roll from the debut album This Is The Life. Following this, she hints that she’s got a new album out and asks if anyone’s got it. The response isn’t enthralling, but she hopes that after hearing her tonight that people will go but it. At this point members of the crowd appear to wave copies and some asks would she sign it. She answers yes. Bless her. This leads in to a wonderful rendition of her new album’s title, Life In A Beautiful Light.
She recounts a stop for during the day at McDonald’s (probably just visiting relatives) where her radio promoter apparently overheard a few policemen (Amy seems to think it was a daily meeting judging by the numbers). Apparently one was overheard saying that they recognised her and that she had a new album. When asked how they knew, he replied that they were signed up to the mailing list (we like this person already) but that he deleted it straightaway. Anyone would have thought it was panto season all over again with the boos and hissing. All this after she’s posed for photos and autographs. She announces that this next song isn’t for them and proceeds to play Love Love.
Some backstory before the next track about getting to sing the national anthem at Hamden Park for the Scottish football team…before watching them get beaten….again. It’s another track from the new album called Pride. Finally rounding the whole set off is the ever popular This Is The Life which had the crowd going from the word go as well as a little sing along with her. And true to her word, a tired but still smiling Amy met fans afterwards signing and have photos taken.
Overall, it was a great night for a great cause and Despite having done a previous 4 gigs, Amy still managed to save some for the hometown audience and still delivered what many could have said was a first show performance. It’s a fantastic feat for her to have accomplished but sadly, we don’t think she’s going to make the Guinness World Records though it. It did however manage to raise a staggering £10,000 for the appeal. Let’s hope it’s not too long before Amy’s back gracing the UK stages in a tour of her own.
Photos © Vhari Lannigan
Karima Francis:
Official Site | Download @ Amazon.co.uk | Download @ iTunes
Amy Macdonald:
Official Site | Official Store | Buy @ Amazon.co.uk | Download @ iTunes
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