We took the long treck to Perth, Scotland to see one of my favourite bands, Belle and Sebastian, play the new Perth Concert Hall and it was well worth it.
As well as being treated to a couple of new numbers, the band did an on-the-fly cover of Elvis Costello’s Oliver’s Army. They played their second album If you’re feeling siniter almost in entirety. Not my favourite album but it sounded much better live than on record and I can understand why they’d want to play so much of it as it proves how bad the production on that album actually is.
Leader Stuart Murdoch was highly entertaining, jumping into the crowd to check the acoustics of the new concert hall and engaging in amusing banter between songs. The band really involve the crowd - even inviting people onto the stage to dance to the final number.
With such a huge back catalog it was inevitable that a few favourites were omitted but that doesn’t matter because the band bear repeated viewings live. I’ll certainly make more effort to see them again soon.
Read the review from The Herald: Belle and Sebastian, Perth Concert Hall - The Herald.