Spring had broken and the weather was decent as we walked along Argyll Street towards the famous Barrowland Ballroom for highland indie-folk/rock band Tide Lines, their second night of three sold out concerts at The Barras. They can be considered the biggest folk band in Scotland and deservedly so, only Runrig in their heyday could have sold out three nights at this famous venue. Tide Lines are Robert Robertson (vocals/guitar), Alasdair Turner (guitar & bagpipes), Ross Wilson (keyboard) and Fergus Munro (drums), they formed in 2016 with their first release Far Side Of The World, by far their biggest track!
We arrived just in time for tonight’s support act LUSA taking to the stage, with lead vocalist Beth Malcolm telling the thousand or so fans that got down early that this was the band’s first ever gig, forming only a couple of months ago, making your music venue debut at Barrowland would have been daunting for most but the four members of LUSA on that stage took it in their stride. They were actually a last-minute change after Ferris and Sylvester had to pull out, however they entertained the crowd with a half hour set of synth-led music which had the crowd bopping away. Beth Malcolm deserves a mention with her beautiful vocals and stage presence. LUSA have only one released track to date Probably, which was left to the end of the set and the growing crowd showed their appreciation as they walked off the stage. 7/10
As The Killers Mr Brightside blasts out from the speakers Tide Lines take to the stage at 8.30pm one by one, the capacity crowd acknowledging each one as they did so, vocalist Robert Robertson got right down to business as the set began with Heroes, a track taken from their second album Eye Of The Storm, immediately getting the crowd dancing and singing the chorus back to the stage “Here’s to all the olden heroes/Everyone who’s gone before”, the band couldn’t have wished for a livelier start. Barrowland is the perfect venue for folk bands, indeed fellow highlanders Peat & Diesel played here recently proving that there is a big appetite for this genre of music in Glasgow. The lively set continued with Small Town Living and Running At The Dark, the crowd appreciating every note played. Surprisingly there was only one song in the Gaelic language tonight, Canan nan Gaidheal, written in the 1970s by Lewis resident and poet Murdo MacFarlane as the crowd listened silently taking in every word. We were delighted when after Shadow To The Light guitarist Alasdair Turner brought out the bagpipes for a solo which went down a treat with the patriotic crowd, Robertson then returned to the stage for two stripped back acoustic tracks – Bring The Summer and Since I Left This Town – proving that he has a wide range of musical talent.
We first came across Tide Lines during a Burns Festival event in Ayr in 2016 and the band’s fanbase has risen massively since then and will continue to do so as they are playing sold out shows in Germany, Denmark and other European nations. New song Homeward Bound was one of the highlights of the set alongside Fortunes Of The Fearless as the main set came to a close the band were given a rapturous applause from the enthusiastic crowd. Near the end of the gig singer Robert Robertson announced that the band had earlier in the day been inducted into the Barrowland Hall of Fame, Tide Lines now belongs to an exclusive club!
They were soon back on the stage for a two song encore with both songs taken from their debut 2017 Dreams We Never Lost album, firstly The Young And The Restless as the fans gave everything they had left in their lungs and a final singalong with their biggest song Far Side Of The World, it seemed like the whole Ballroom joined in with the chorus to this one “Cause I want to dance with a Highland girl/Were the skies reach out for miles/I want to feel the breeze of the Hebrides/On the far side of the world”. Amazing scenes to end the night on a high, but of course Tide Lines were coming back the following night to do it all again. The band will be busy touring throughout the year but hopefully they will be back in Glasgow soon enough for another run of shows, who knows maybe even a night at The Hydro? 9/10
Written by: Alan Brown
