15 June - Belle & Sebastian @ The Arches, Glasgow.

It's always nice to hear the announcement of an unexpected Belle & Sebastian gig and it's usually due to some charity event and this was no exception. Tonight, money was being raised for a charity that is campaigning at the upcoming G8 summit in Gleneagles, a worthy cause as G8Alternatioves are fighting the world leaders for the common man! Log onto their websit at;

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Support came from Flying Matchstickmen, a local electornic-synth-indie-pop band, full of energy and led by the charismatic Graham Peel. I've seen them before and knew they'd go down well, great tunes and Grahams inbetween song patter is always a camp treat.

After this came a couple of videos to show why there should be protests at Gleneagles but the majority of the 800 strong crowd was there for B&S and to be honest mostly ignored the videos.
Then came the headline act and with the promise of new material the atmosphere was excellent. They started with 4 new songs, which all sounded excellent, then played requests from the crowd. Add another couple of newbees and a strong finish saw an hour of great live music and the usual blend of panto, but it wouldn't be a Belle & Sebastian gig without it.

Roll on album number 8!

Al

Setlist

Another Sunny Day
Sooky In The Graveyard
Mr. Richard
For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea
Dog On Wheels
The Wrong Girl
A14
The Blues are Still Blue
The Life Pursuit
White Collar Boy
ENCORE
Sleep The Clock Around
Judy And The Dream Of Horses