Hestia gets into some Bad Company

Bring that middle-aged Domestic Goddess to my dressing room, NOW!

Classic Rock magazine once started a review of Paul Rogers with the words, "Like good wine and bad women, the holy voice of Paul Rodgers gets richer with age."

And it's no lie - the man's voice is like honey rolling over hot coals.


I'd bought the tickets ages ago, well, B and C had bought my tickets ages ago, but sadly Tartarus shipped out to Mexico on the day of the gig and we could not get the ticket sold.  So we had the most expensive coat and handbag depository in the country last night!


We had fully intended to catch Joe Elliot of Def Leppard who was the support act with The Quireboys, but the convivial conversation and red wine in the Pelican Cafe (slap bang opposite Kelvingrove Art Galleries) was too convivial to wolf down.

The weather on the West Coast was beautiful yesterday, all Pixar blue skies and heat haze shimmering on the tarmac - just the temperature for kicking back with a lovely Pinot Noir and plates of seafood linguine with some old friends....hmmmm *drools like Homer Simpson*.


Anyway, we just got into the Clyde Auditorium and the 5 minute warning tannoyed out - just time to pick up some 'water' from the bar.  I've never been at a gig in the Clyde Auditorium and while the acoustics were great, the drab grey interior only lacked the white, black and red of the swastika drapery and it would have made the perfect venue for a Hitler Rally.


We were delighted to note that we seemed to be amongst the youngest there - or perhaps we ALL look that age these days and all still feel about 21 inside, who knows.  Anyway, we had good seats and settled back for the show.


And from the moment Rogers appeared on stage, you knew that you were in a safe pair of hands.  Moving seamlessly from Bad Company to Free to his own solo material and back again in any number of permutations, we marvelled at the quality of his voice -sure the high notes he didn't hang onto so long, but come on, the guy must be 60 if he's a day!

He's also not much into between song banter.  We got a 'Great to be back in Glasgow' and a few 'Lemme hear you sing' kind of comments during songs, but not much else.  And I'm not complaining.  Nothing is more likely to make my stomach tighten into a knot is when an artist on stage tries to reply to some Glaswegian shouting.  Usually the shouting is benign, but it can quickly escalate into 'Hey, cu*t - gie us some All Right now'...oh yeah, been there, heard that - it's humiliating to think that these giants of rock might leave the venue thinking that we're all Neanderthal knuckle-draggers in this city.  I iz quite cultured, akshully.


Actually, Rogers was looking pretty buff - a white t-shirt that showed off his toned physique and black jeans. He looked a damned sight better than Tartarus would do in that outfit, for sure.   It was effortless, comfortable stuff from a guy that knows he doesn't have to try too hard to be marvellous.  True, he now seems to sport teeth that gleam so brightly you could see them from space, but if I had that kind of money, I'd have everything capped and gleaming too.


The Nazi Rally thoughts abounded as stewards stalked the rows, making sure that no-one took pictures and that lone dancers in the middle of rows were made to sit down,  If everyone was up, then they let the dancing go, but they were pretty strict about the photography *bugger*.


What is it with people that they can sit and text while in the middle of a concert?  A concert that you paid £45 a ticket, to boot.  We nosily read the texts and bad jokes over the shoulders of the people in front - don't they know that the glowing screen can be seen from stage? What an insult to an artist.  Here's a couple of the Hugely Important Texts sent from the row in front:


'Spoke to L and she's coming.'


'Next week?'


And a joke about Neil Lennon (the manager of Celtic Football Club that cannot be repeated, even on my very sweary blog)


As you can see - all TERRIBLY important......


After the gig, our ears humming, we headed back to B&Cs for a herbal tea and to pass out quietly in their spare room.  How rock and roll was that?


Paul Rogers was an excellent gig and I really wished that I was one of those bad women in the Classic Rock quote.... :-)


What was your most favourite gig to date and why?