Having been tipped as 2011 next big thing from various lists, and having already supported Hurts and The Script on their respective tours, Clare Maguire finally steps out on her first headlining tour, her only Scottish appearance on this tour at Oran Mor in Glasgow on the 15th April. Support on the night was provided by Jonathan Carr (who admitted himself, it was a last minute gig).
Hailing from the county of Lanarkshire (making this almost a 'local' gig for him) Jonathan appeared on stage with just himself and his keyboard. It would be easy to class him in the same genre as Jamie Cullum as he powered through a half hour set of his songs including Daisy Buchanan, Not The Cheating Kind (which he explains was difficult to explain to his girlfriend as the song is about a guy who cheats but tries to say he doesn't), The Joke's On Me (where he recounts performing the song and John Mayer inviting him to record the song as well as performing guitar on it) and Love's On It's Way (which he encourages the crowd to download so he can earn 50p from each sale).
Also included in the set is a cover from 'the other gig in Glasgow tonight', and proceeds to perform Adele's Rolling In The Deep and a song that he and Lou Hickey (of Codeine Velvet Club fame) wrote called Perfect To Me. During his set he also mentioned how he was hoping to have his own headline show soon complete with band. Not that he was touting for business. All in all, it was a great warm up to the main act.
After a quick stage re-arrangement, it was time for the main act. Using the intro from the album, Are You Ready? to bring the band and backing singers on stage, it leads into Ain't Nobody using the Breakage's Suck It Up remix as inspiration (many may recognise it from the most recent Renault Clio Va Va Voom advert). It's the first time we get to hear the voice, and if her voice was 'under the weather' as she mentioned on twitter, it didn't seem to show. From here it was straight into current single The Shield And The Sword and then onto Freedom.
During the songs, Clare travels up and down the small stage in small steps that as a fan, you' be worried that she's going to fall over (whether due to the tight little black number she wore, the shoes or a combination of both). You're Electric, I Surrender and Sweet Lie are all up next, the energy and power not dwindling from Clare, the band or the crowd. Break These Chains follows. She then mentions how she recorded as song for the Chase & Status album and performs that very song. Of course, it Midnight Caller.
Before moving on she announces how she first played Glasgow supporting Hurts and how she love the venue she's in (“great food, great drink”). She slows the tempo down with the beautiful ballad Bullet. The slowness doesn't last though as she heads into Burn before announcing her last song, The Happiest Pretenders. During this, she climbs off the stage and walks through the crowd as she sings. In an unusual move, the crowd just seems to part to allow her through, no ambushing her or anything. She ends the song back on stage and everyone leaves the stage. Cue the crowd to start chanting (they've already been told earlier in the night that The Last Dance was coming up)
After a few minutes, Clare returns with guitarist Paul, who she takes great pride in announcing that he's Scottish, getting a cheer from the crowd. The pair then perform Trouble In Mind before asking the crowd if she should bring the band back, to a resounding cheer. Clare apologises but the next song is new so no one will know the songs, but asks the audience to stamp their feet and clap their hands. The song is Mess You Around (which she revealed later on that it's likely to be on the new record). There's almost a feeling that you want to whip your head back and forth and maybe a little head banging.
The night ends on a high with what is probably her most well known track, The Last Dance, which gives the crowd a chance to sing along (as if they haven't the whole night) and go a little mad.
Clare Maguire is one of those artists that to truly appreciate her voice, has to be heard live. As said previously, Clare had posted on twitter that her voice was tired and that she apologised. However, she didn't need to. It's hard to imagine what her voice live when 'not tired' sounds like. Maybe one small draw back was that the venue was small, so whilst it was an almost intimate setting maybe the true potential is shown better in a slightly larger venue. Time will only tell. Still, catching Clare live is well worth the ticket price. If you've been impressed from what you've heard from the studio versions, then you won't be disappointed.
Photos © Vhari Lannigan
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