*
A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson
*
We all love a story, that is one of the connections with music for a lot of people. Whether it is a love song, or a tale of woe, or just girls wanting to have fun; at some point we have all connected with the story of a certain lyric or song that means something to us.
*
By day, I am a Librarian and so stories have been as big a part of my life as has listening to live music, in my “by night” persona of a live music addict and reviewer. So I felt hugely privileged last night to find myself sat in the Green Room at the Tivoli Theatre with the band GlasVille chatting away about their story. I have interviewed musicians before, but just by email, so this was an incredibly marvellous chapter in my story, and another tick off my music loving bucket list. So before I start I need to say thank you so much to Joe for setting this up, and to the whole band for humouring me!
*
*
GlasVille’s story started 10 years ago when a Glaswegian drummer called Joe realised that Scotland was sadly lacking in country music musicians and decided to start a tribute band. As this is the 10th anniversary tour it totally proves his point! The following year they did a set based on the music of the popular TV show of Nashville and their fan base grew from there. Joe is also their social media guru and back then used Twitter to promote the band – gaining likes and shares from people like Charles Esten and Hayden Panettiere, actual stars of Nashville TV show!
*
The current line up of GlasVille has many stories too. Mikey messaged Joe to say happy birthday and asked if he had got sorted with a singer, which turned into him taking the role until they did. Ten years later he is still there, doing a wonderful job! He invited his chum from school to a gig as he knew Lee’s girlfriend liked the TV show and the next thing Lee knew was he was the band’s bass player! They all have day jobs, many based around music. Lee is a teacher, Laura runs her own company, Jenna teaches children music and dance and Joe is a project consultant. Mikey is a full time musician and funnily enough I got a photo with him in the summer when I saw Bay City Rollers in Banff! He transforms seamlessly from kilted guitarist playing Bye Bye Baby, to stetson wearing guitarist and lead male vocalist.
*
We chatted about the wonders of country music, Joe’s trip to Nashville and those famous venues, who we had seen at Country 2 Country over the years in Glasgow, and how that has been great at bringing the American greats over to the UK and showing them we love their songs too. Acts such as Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Lady Antebellum are marvellous to experience live, and this has added to the attraction of GlasVille through the years. The TV show Nashville has brought country music into the mainstream a bit more in the UK, it used to be a bit uncool to like such music, although that did not stop little Laura staying up late to watch the Country Music Awards with her clipboard to grade them all and her teachers knew not to be surprised when she was tired the next morning! Now she sings these amazing songs, glittering in those spotlights like the stars she grew up admiring.
*
*
It was great to see folk coming into the concert later on complete with their cowboy boots and stetsons – even if some were fluffy fun ones! For those of us who came unprepared GlasVille had us covered – as we arrived we were all given a magical gadget bracelet, programmed to change colours and flash at certain points in the show. Joe explained that these were their anniversary gift to their audiences, we can keep them and bring them to next year’s show. He did admit his wife said “no” as he reached for his phone after seeing the effect of such bracelets at Glastonbury for the Coldplay set, apparently sometimes she just cannot hold him back! Although the vibe from the band seemed to be similar to that of Joe’s wife they did concede that they really do love the effect from the stage, as they can then see each audience member instead of the front couple of rows as is usual due to all the lights. My teenage son seemed more intent in pulling his apart to see how it worked but most of us were gleefully waving our arms around to be part of the show, for the benefit of the audience and the band!
*
GlasVille also threw out some pink glittery cowboy hats to get everyone into the spirit of things, most of them landed in the front few rows but one managed to reach the higher seats, much to the delight of a group of girls in the corner grabbing madly!! There were also a couple of GlasVille t-shirts and baseball caps thrown out, they had been supposed to go to a youngster whose family had messaged in as it was their birthday, but no one answered when Joe asked, so the crowd were delighted to get them instead. And as if that is not a big enough sign of how much the band love and appreciate their fans – I had found out earlier in the evening that Mikey actually married a fan he met at one of their shows, and they now have 4 children! That is a LOT of love!!
*
The concert itself was a brilliant set of many of the songs we know and love and a few that we did not. The band transformed from the “ordinary people” I had chatted to back stage to the glittery glamour of the stage, with its bright lights and gorgeous backdrops! There was Wagon Wheel, Beer Broke My Heart, Dirt On My Boots, Cowboy Casanova, Need You Now and Tennessee Whisky. Laura told us about a chap yelling out last year for Watermelon Moonshine, so they hoped he was coming one of the nights this year as they had specifically learnt it for him. We were encouraged to clap, dance and sing along, getting taught the “woah”s for Road Less Travelled by Lauren Alaina. Jenna and Lee lead us in a specially choreographed line dance that we could do in the restricted space between seats, much to the delight of the excited ladies behind us! The band said their motto was Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy and it sounded like we were all enthusiastically singing along to that one! A highlight was certainly Devil Went to Georgia when Mikey on guitar was pitted against Jenna, the “fiddle in the middle”. It is not just her silvery boots that shine brightly, she is just amazing.
*
*
As the show came to an end and Mikey introduced their last song, Brother Osborne’s appropriately named Stay A Little Longer, there was an echo of sadness through the theatre. Although the band that just keeps on giving did of course give us an encore, after we screamed and stamped our feet till they reappeared!
*
Firstly, Joe left the drums to thank everyone for their support over the last ten years and to explain that next year there are two Aberdeen dates that we can get our tickets for now. In April they will be back at the lovely Tivoli Theatre for a Music of Nashville night with songs like Telescope, I Will Fall and Black Roses from the TV show. Then in November they will move to the bigger Music Hall for the GlasVille hits…well the songs they love from Shania, Kane Brown, Rascal Flatts, Lady A and many more.
*
It is easy to see why their initial two nights at Tivoli sold out this year and they had to add a third, it is expected their dates next year will also sell out. I suggest you are not like my sad colleague yesterday who had missed out on getting tickets and you get yours before it is too late.
Further information: https://glasville.com/tour/
*
Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
*
Subscribing to the 5D Pop Culture Website
If you would like to subscribe (for free) to the 5D Pop Culture Website and keep up to date with our content then just go to the bottom of the home page, submit your email & click subscribe!
5D Reviews
If you are a content creator and interested in having your work reviewed here on the 5D Pop Culture Website then contact us at 5DPopCulture@gmail.com
Ko-fee
If you would like to donate to help this website, you can support us here: https://ko-fi.com/5dpopculturewebsite
*