There is a certain irony that the one song that I haven’t
heard Them Beatles perform, or at least I can’t recall them performing, is
‘Rain’ as that less than rare meteorological phenomena almost invariably
accompanies a trip to a Them Beatles gig. We’ve been soaked to the skin is such
diverse locations as Bathgate, Hamilton (so much so that the merchandise stall
had to be located to find some dry clothes), Bellshill and, of course, Glasgow.
It was damp too when we arrived at the Giffnock North Social
Club on May 11th. When I say ‘we’ there was on this occasion a
change to my companion for the evening. My normal ‘Passerpartout’, Alison, was otherwise engaged and I had thought that I would be flying solo
for this one. However I was joined by The Milliner, himself no stranger to a
Them Beatles gig, for the evening. His reward for being designated driver for
the evening was not just the pleasure of my company for the evening but a
raffle prize of a dustpan and brush.
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| Cleaning up with a raffle prize |
Although I grew up quite close to Giffnock this was my first
visit to the Giffnock North Social Club. We found the venue in double quick
time. So early in fact that the band were still sound checking when we arrived.
The main hall was obviously out of bounds at that time and a notice on the bar
door declared that only members and their guests could use the facility.
Were we to be denied a pre-gig refreshment?
We needn’t have worried; we were quickly ushered into the
bar and is almost always the norm in these places the welcome couldn’t have
been friendlier or warmer. In next to no time the collection of badges on The
Milliner’s bag had been commented on and in general a pleasant hour or so was
spent waiting for the doors to open.
When the doors opened I got the chance to meet Jim who I had
spoken to on the phone to arrange the tickets. I asked if they had booked Them
Beatles before.
“This is the fourth time”; came the reply followed by; “and
they played at my daughter’s wedding”. Them Beatles are clearly popular round
Giffnock way.
And that was reflected in the attendance in the hall. There
weren’t many spare seats and we found ourselves over on ‘Paul’s side’ with an
excellent view across the stage.
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| A bad picture looking across the stage |
As we waited for the band to come on the DJ kept everyone
entertained with some appropriate music before Them Beatles hit the stage at
9:15pm.
The set opened with a blinding performance of ‘I Saw Her
Standing There’ which set the tone for the remainder of the set. The guys perform
these songs up to several times a week but there’s always a freshness and
energy to their sets.
There’s an ample dance floor at Giffnock North but it took
until the 7th number, ‘From me to You’, and some gentle urging from
the stage for the first dancers to hit the floor. The dance floor wasn’t always
packed but there were usually at least a few people on the floor from then
until the end of the night.
Just some of the highlights from the first set included
‘This Boy’ with the three part harmony performed at just the one microphone,
which I first saw at Bathgate last year ( video from Bathgate below) and an excellent performance of ‘Honey
Don’t’ from Ringo.
The distinctive first chord of ‘A Hard Days Night’ was
struck; to these untrained ears, to perfection. ‘Help!’ meantime was supposed
to signify the end of the opening set but were given a bonus in the form of an
energetic rendition of ‘Rock and Roll Music’.
The second set opened with as good a version of ‘Helter
Skelter’ as I’ve ever heard. George at one point even playing his guitar with a
drumstick.
George as ever gave a faultless performance of ‘Something’
which prompted one member of the audience to get right to the side of the stage
to capture the moment on video.
John took to the keyboards for a storming version of ‘Back
in the USSR’ before Ringo again took centre stage with ‘Octopus Garden’.
We, well not us personally, had a slosh on the dance floor
for ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-DA’ and a mini slosh for ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’.
The conclusion of the night took us to the Apple rooftop and
fantastic performances of ‘Don’t Let me Down’, ‘I Got a Feeling’ and ‘Get
Back’. The latter of that trio, the show’s finale, was played to the backdrop
of a packed dance floor.
Well, it wasn’t quite the show’s finale. The band came back
on stage to perform the almost traditional ‘Hey Jude’ encore.
This was a cracking night at a smashing venue in front of an
appreciative audience. Should Them Beatles return to Giffnock North, which
given this was their fourth visit wouldn’t seem unlikely, then I wouldn’t have
any hesitation in making a return visit myself.
Tom Evans
First Set
I Saw Her Standing There
Some Other Guy
Ain’t She Sweet
Money
Love Me Do
Please Please Me
From Me to You
All My Loving
Do You Want to Know a Secret
I Want to Hold Your Hand
This Boy
Honey Don’t
Till There Was You
A Hard Days Night
The Night Before
Help!
Rock and Roll Music
Rock and Roll Music
Second Set
Helter Skelter
Revolution
Something
Back in the USSR
Octopus Garden
Here Comes the Sun
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
The Ballad of John and Yoko
Let it Be
Lady Madonna
Birthday
Don’t Let Me Down
Get Back
Encore
Hey Jude
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