The only Scottish date on his Detour tour, for two and a half hours he freewheeled through his vast back catalogue, charming with anecdotes and recollections from a lifetime in and around the music business.
Opening with 1978's "This Year's Girl," a giant 60s-style TV dominating the set flashed up images to illustrate the various songs. On guitar and piano, crowd favourites included "Shipbuilding," "Watching the Detectives," "Oliver's Army," "Accidents Will Happen," a spine-tingling version of "Alison," sung without any amplification, and "She."
As striking as his musicianship and lyrics was his voice, which sounded gorgeous. He can deliver heartbreak like few can. He played four songs from A Face In The Crowd, a new musical he is working on, including a jingle-inspired "Vitajex" (on ukulele) and "They Call Me Mrs. Lonesome."
As he swapped musical styles, Elvis traded his red trilby for a white one or dispensed with it all together when the electric guitar came out. All the while, he was tugging at the musical thread that links him to his father, band leader Ross MacManus, and grandfather Pat, who was a bandsman in the First World War and then a musician on cruise liners.
Other stand-out tracks played included 1998's "Toledo," which he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach, "Indoor Fireworks" and the haunting "Church Underground." Ensuring we saw a flash of grit and steel, he ended with anti-Thatcher song, "Tramp the Dirt Down." Only then did Elvis leave the building.
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