Allo Darlin' @ The Captain's Rest

L and I went to see Allo Darlin' last Monday, a gig that we were looking forward to as the last time we saw them in the same venue, The Captain's Rest, they were thoroughly entertaining and a good night was had by all, even the two gentlemen in their sixties who were standing next to us and who randomly pick a band every month  to go and see.

So, expectations were high, even though Monday night is not what I would call an ideal night for gig going. We got to the Captain's Rest about 8 pm thinking we would be just in time to see the support. We were informed that the support weren't coming on until nine and Allo Darlin' would be taking the stage around 10 pm. My heart sank straight away realising that it was going to be a later night than I had banked for and also that the friend who was watching the boys was going to be get home a lot later then they expected.

Not many of you will by familiar with the Captain's Rest, so I will try to describe it for you. The pub upstairs is   like a lot of boozers in the West End of Glasgow, quite studenty but with the added bonus of the kind of Seafarers vibe going on. You have to go downstairs for the performance space, to call it a basement would be to place delusions of grandeur on the place, it is a windowless, dark, low ceilinged cellar which holds about one hundred or so people, so quite an intimate venue, which is great when the bands are on but between acts it is just a dim lit cramped space that tends to enhance the smell of BO. So not the kind of place that you would want to stand about aimlessly, however if you wish to get a decent view of the band that is exactly what you have to do.

So from about quarter to nine we stood about, me getting very bored, by the time that the support act, Maple Leaves,  came on they would have had to have been brilliant to have even raised a smile, needless to say they weren't and I didn't. L  liked them though and so it would seem did Elizabeth Morris who came out from back stage and stood next to me and and listened.  My teeth however started to ache due to the sheer tweeness of the music, flutes have no place in popular music! I am of course being overly harsh on the band, who seemed to be competent musicians and nice people but for me not worth standing in a cellar on a Monday night inhaling other peoples body odour for.

From the off when Allo Darlin took to the stage something wasn't quite right with Elizabeth Morris' vocals, on a few occasions she failed to reach the notes and was also out of key more than once or twice, not sure if she had a cold or not. The band sounded good and the new songs played makes the purchase of the new album essential for me. The set was quite short at around forty five minutes and with a glaring omission, she didn't sing Tallulah which was a huge disappointment..  If she had done so I would probably have left reasonably happy as it is I drove home trying to decide if it had been worth the trek on a Monday night.  A decision that I have still not made.

Here is a favourite cover by Elizabeth Morris when she was known as the Darlings.

The Darlings - You Shook Me All Night Long.

I'm off to see The Jezabels at Oran Mor tonight and I am hoping that this will turn out to be the first really good gig of the year for me.