Tuesday 7 July 2015

Graeme Clark: An Clachan Cafe June 2015

Graeme and I after the gig
Less than two weeks ago, my Mum and I went on another of our mad music treks to Glasgow to see Graeme Clark, bassist of Wet Wet Wet who happened to be playing an intimate gig in a tiny café named An Clachan situated in Kelvingrove Park. I first attended one of Graeme's solo concerts last year when he played a gig at the Harbour Arts Centre in Irvine. Had we not picked up one of those "What's On" guides in our local supermarket we'd probably never have even heard about it. Thankfully on that occasion we did and decided to go along-if you know me well you'll know that I never need an excuse for live music! Both Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed the gig and were extremely excited to hear that Graeme was holding another gig in Glasgow this year. Literally the very second that the show was announced and tickets went on sale; I quickly added them to the online shopping basket and confirmed the order just seconds later.
So on Wednesday 24th June, we arrived at the tiny café situated behind the gates of Kelvingrove Park just a short period of time before the doors were due to open. At this point a small crowd of people had already accumulated and there amongst them was Graeme Clark and his fellow bandmate/drummer of Wet Wet Wet, Tommy Cunningham chatting with those who had come along for the gig. Having spoken via twitter on a couple of occasions, Graeme recognised me and came over to chat before popping off to get a bite to eat whilst everyone else went inside to get a seat.
The café was so small, very cute and reminded Mum and I of a café we often visited during my regular visits to London as a small child. It's small, intimate setting was the perfect place for live music in my opinion! Initially, there was meant to be only 25 tickets available for the gig but due to such high demand they managed to increase the numbers to something like 42 (I'm pretty sure that's what I heard anyway!) which considering the size of the room, was pretty remarkable.
At around 7pm, Graeme's support act took to the stage to perform for us all. Fiona Cuthill and Stevie Lawrence are a Scottish contemporary guitar and fiddle duo who successfully warmed us all up by playing a range of music from their album "A Cruel Kindness". Throughout their entire set, the sound of people clapping along to the beat of the music filled the room around us. It's infectious in a way, without warning you find yourself joining in and clapping along-there's nothing wrong with that though! I'm sure those who were in attendance would all agree that their set was most definitely a great start to what was most definitely a great evening!
After a short interval Graeme arrived through the backdoor, with his guitar in hand to a warm applause from the Glasgow crowd. Over the course of the evening we were treated to a set list which was filled to the brim with music from Graeme's career as a solo artist and as a member of Wet Wet Wet. I'm pretty sure there'd have been a few disappointed members of the audience had the Wet Wet Wet hits not been included! In between songs we were entertained with Graeme's humorous stories of his time in the Wets and the back stories of how they came to write some of their biggest hits, which is always interesting to hear as you really learn a lot.
As I mentioned a little earlier in the post Tommy, drummer of Wet Wet Wet was also in attendance and filmed the entire show on Graeme's behalf with the intentions of uploading the footage to Graeme's YouTube account. At one point towards the end of the concert, Tommy decided to film from a different angle which happened to be just a short distance in front of me. Being the camera fanatic that I am; I couldn't help but find myself engrossed in the recording of the gig-it was rather fascinating to watch I must admit! Tommy's evidently got an eye for filming and from what I could see captured each moment in an unique and creative perspective. So be sure to pop over to YouTube and check out the concert footage once it's uploaded but in the meantime why not check out Graeme's other videos via the link at the end of this post!
Like I said, Graeme played a bunch of songs from his solo catalogue which I've been a big fan of ever since I first heard it performed live at his concert in Irvine last year. Graeme is a very talented singer, songwriter and musician and I really admire the work he's produced over the years. Not only does his music sound great recorded on an album, it also translates perfectly when performed live in front of an audience.
As well as performing a selection of his older songs, Graeme treated us, the audience to a new acoustic track named "Sometimes". Just a couple of weeks prior to the gig, I'd seen a clip of "Sometimes" that he'd posted up on his Facebook account. I instantly fell in love with this song and was absolutely delighted that Graeme had decided to play it live at his concert. Just like his other songs it sounded great and I for one can't wait until it's released as part of an album or on iTunes so I can purchase a copy and listen to it on the move.
Just as I had the previous time I saw Graeme in concert, I left the gig absolutely raving about his cover of "Summer Breeze" by The Isley Brothers. Of course I love the original, but Graeme's cover absolutely blew me away on the two occasions I've heard him sing it live. "Summer Breeze" is a magical song anyway but Graeme's take on it is something extremely special! It's absolutely breath-taking to listen to! To be completely honest I actually prefer Graeme's version to the original recording and would've been extremely disappointed had he not included it in the evening's set list. That was the one song that I really wanted to hear him sing so as you can imagine I left the venue one happy girl after hearing it again! I really hope that one day Graeme might even record his version of this amazing song to include in one of his future albums-it's far too good not to in my opinion!
As the concert came to an end, Fiona and Stevie who opened for Graeme were invited back up in front of the audience to perform Wet Wet Wets' biggest hit "Love Is All Around" much to everyone's delight! There was such a nice buzz within the room as everyone joined in singing the lyrics we all know and love. It's so nice to look around and see so many people enjoying themselves and of course enjoying the music. That's the power of music for you; it brings people together, uplifts them and puts a big smile on their faces! That's one of the very reasons why I love it so much! 
Unfortunately, all good things have to come an end and so did the gig! It was another excellent show from Graeme, filled with amazing music and good Scottish humour! I seriously hope it's not too long until next time! If you ever get the chance make sure to pop along to one of Graeme's future gigs in your area-you don't know what you're missing out on!
 
If you want to find out more about Graeme's music be sure to click on one of the following links:

Official Website: http://www.graemeclark.co.uk
 
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