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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
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Gun have a new album called Hombres, this is their 9th studio album. This event is on of a series of album launches arranged by Assai Record Stores, from whom I bought the package of a signed CD and the ticket. What a celebration it was, as the album has already reached number one in the Scottish UK album charts, and is in the top 10 for the UK charts! An amazing achievement for this marvellous band. Although they have been going since the late 80s this is the first time that have had such a good response to one of their albums. Judging from the joy and sheer emotion on stage last night, they are eternally grateful to all their fans for this long awaited acknowledgement!
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It was not your usual concert: there was no support act, we were told what time the band were coming on stage, and there was no bar. Just a merchandise stall and a room full of fans. I had taken my son, and his friend from school, with me for the evening. This friend had never been to a concert before and it has to be said that this was a nice way to first experience live music. It was not a huge arena tour with too many people and all the shenanigans that goes on with such events. I was not sure what he would make of it but was given a thumbs up very early on, and he assured me afterwards that he had loved it. We did hang around at the end and the band members were really patient, posing for photos with the boys and Paul even ran off back to the stage to find two drum sticks for them – and didn’t object when he was then presented with a Sharpie and asked to sign them! What amazing mementos of a special night and I’m sure they will be treasured, especially as the friend does actually play drums.
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The setlist was a little shorter than a normal concert but I had thought it was just going to be the new album, so was happy to get some old songs mixed in. We started with Lucky Guy from the new album, the older songs were All Fired Up, Steal Your Fire and the encore was Shame.
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There was quite a lot of chat in between the songs. Dante explained how much this album meant to them, that some of the songs were written in lockdown, and here they were with a hit record! It was also a special gig for Ruaraidh (Roo) the guitarist as he grew up in Montrose and we were told about when he did not even make the top seven of a talent show at school! Things have certainly come full circle and it was lovely to find out at the end that the band had actually been into the school during the day and some of the kids had been invited along to sound check earlier in the evening and were enjoying the concert and seeing where one of their fellow pupils had ended up in the spotlight. Roo did an amazing guitar solo, hopefully inspiring the next generation of rock band members.
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One of the songs had featured in a Samuel L Jackson movie, and Dante explained that You Are What I Need was also supposed to be used in a scene where he gets drunk, but unfortunately it was cut from the actual movie. Dante thought this was quite unfortunate as it was a perfect song for this scene, and we all enjoyed it anyway. I might need to see the movie at some point.
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Falling is Dante’s favourite song from this album, Jools wrote the chorus and verse in lockdown and took it to his house and he loved it so much he just wanted left alone to work on it. Many of the songs from this album were written during the pandemic when no one knew what would happen moving forward, or when bands would be able to tour again and share the live music experience with their fans, which somehow made this amazing evening even more enjoyable and special.
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Further information: https://www.gunofficial.co.uk/
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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.
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