Tears And Testimonials
The Herald 21st May 1994
Deacon Blue Glasgow Barrowland
FAREWELL gigs by their very nature are uncomfortable, emotional events, and
Deacon Blue's certainly fell into that category.
A Friday night at Barrowland in front of a second sold-out audience would appear
fitting testimony to Scotland's best pop band of the past 10 years -- but many
are unable to tell whether the band's parting shot is a time for condolence or
celebration.
In the audience there are tears, and loudmouth record company people expel
gallons of high-volume hot air during the quiet songs, while on stage there is
an almost overbearing intensity which ensures Deacon Blue departs with one of
the most brilliant live shows in its eight-year existence.
For a band that has thrived on its on-stage energy, this is a heads-down
straight run-through of the many hits, which works as a result of its execution
more than its content. In doing so it also highlights the reasons for their
success and also their demise.
It is a mark of their skill at giving the audience what they want that means the
last set centres heavily on their earliest and best material, songs like
Chocolate Girl, The Very Thing, Loaded, and Love and Regret. Dignity is wheeled
out for the tear-jerking, sing-along climax, before the coffin lid is finally
shut with Southside Johnny's I Don't Wanna Go Home and their own Twist and Shout
merging into the Beatles' song of the same name.
Splitting the band at the right moment may turn out to be Ross's greatest career
move, and while Deacon Blue will not necessarily be buried on Iona with the
Scottish kings, they left in considerable style. The only fitting epitaph
would be a win for Ross's beloved Dundee United in today's Scottish Cup final.