After Gary bugged me for ages (partly via previous reviews he’s done) about how good Chantel McGregor is, I spotted that she was playing Glasgow on this tour so dutifully signed up. Not before reviewing her most recent album, of course, which gave me good hope that Gary knew what he was talking about. The Healing is a cracking listen, though apparently more rock and less blues than her earlier material.
Talking of blues, tonight’s opening act were Blue Nation. Hailing from Birmingham (though the singer insisted on making sure that we knew his roots were in Clydebank), they were hugely entertaining. Like TopHouse a few weeks ago and McGregor herself who followed, Blue Nation did more than simply play music. It must be something to do with this venue, but G2 seems to get the Best Bands for Banter (there should be a trophy) and Blue Nation are up there in a podium position.
Genuinely funny and engaging well with the crowd, to the point of picking out individuals, they interspersed the songs (which were also a treat) with some amusing stories and chatter. If you got to the end of the set and didn’t like the music, then at the very least you couldn’t help but like them. The songs were all well put together, a nice mix of rock and blues, and the harmonies between lead and backing vocals worked really well. The more I remember the more I kick myself for not picking up an album at the end of the show.
Credit also for their fundraising. On this tour they have had a bucket on the merch stand with the money in it being donated to Ian’s Chain. Thank you, gents, for raising both cash and awareness for men’s mental health. As all who are regulars on our site and socials will know, this is a subject (amongst many) about which we care deeply. The band’s management have also told me that you can win a fully signed backdrop from the 2025 Blues Federation Awards that the band gave the charity by grabbing a raffle ticket. There are only 500 tickets, so those odd ain’t bad!
For a band playing to a not-full venue, the racket made by the audience during the singalong section of “Down By The River” showed that Blue Nation had them enthralled. Not simply the volume, but the enthusiasm and the lack of requirement to keep the crowd singing showed that they were well into it. Consider me sold, and Blue Nation on my “must see again” list.
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The arrival on stage of Chantel McGregor and her band caught me by surprise. There was no subtle lowering of the house lights or incidental music, just BAM – they were on stage and playing. We rapidly made our way to the front and listened to “I Will Breathe” as it kicked in.
Immediately after the song finished we had a pause as a sound issue was corrected. It was right at this point that I knew we were going to have a good show as Chantel took it all in her stride, with her and the band joking about the low bass hum that was causing problems, going as far as working out what key it was in! The whole show was presented in a lovely fashion, with Chantel turning to the band before each song and saying “Shall we play…?” and naming a track. As such I have no idea if the set actually followed the set list I have a photograph of. I know that it didn’t in Edinburgh, as Gary reported back from that one saying that she chopped and changed the order!
With the only other issue being that her vocals were too low in the mix at times (one audience member did shout out to her / the sound guy that this needed fixed), both the music and the personalities on stage carried the night through. Partly due to the vocal issues, it was the quieter songs which really shone through where we felt the full force of how good Chantel’s voice is. Without the louder guitars and drums behind her, songs like “Anaesthetise” blew me away.
That’s not to say that she and the band can’t rock. While the former track included clean fingerpicking, the lengthy prog monster that is “April” shows that she can shred with the best of them. Fingers and pick a blur, there were riffs there that wouldn’t have been out of place on a thrash album.
Finishing with the title track from the latest album, which happens to be one of the best on it, McGregor and company left the stage to much deserved applause… and headed for the merch stand where her mum and dad were looking after things. Having lived in the city for 13 years myself, it’s good to be reminded that there are more good things to come out of Bradford than the M606!
With lengthy sections of chat and some genuinely funny stories and verbal riffage amongst the band members, they added to the feel of the evening that had been introduced by Blue Nation. This was a musical get-together, a fun evening with music as the means of bringing people into the room. This is why live music is so good, and why you need to be going to more gigs – especially when the bands themselves are humble, communicative and as talented as every individual to walk the stage this evening.
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Photos by Gary Cooper Photography except where indicated
