Live Reviews

LIVE REVIEW: brownbear, CLR Theory, Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, 19/01/2025

Having lived in Ayrshire for sixteen years it’s about time that we reviewed a band that come from the local area and brownbear are that band. Hailing from North Ayrshire Matthew Hickman is the brains behind the brownbear project, releasing debut single Dead or Alive way back in 2014 and since then they have built a growing fanbase as well as releasing two albums. Tonight’s venue is the stunning Saint Luke’s, a revamped church that is a stone’s throw from the iconic Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom and a very fitting venue for a show that is part of the Celtic Connections Festival that runs from 16th January to 2nd February.

After a well spent couple of hours watching the movie A Complete Unknown based around the early career of Bob Dylan it was a quick dash along to ‘The Barras’ where we caught the last fifteen minutes of CLR (Colour) THEORY who provided a good mix of traditional Scottish music. Band members Hannah and Gill began as a lockdown project and quickly expanded into a full collective releasing debut album Waves in January 2023. We were reliably informed that three-hundred tickets had been sold for the show and a decision was made to keep everyone together downstairs meaning that the balcony was closed off for the night. It did help to create a nice collective atmosphere that continued throughout the performances, the acoustics and aesthetics of Saint Luke’s has made it one of our favourite venues to visit in Glasgow.

brownbear’s 2023 album release Demons would come back to life tonight with a string quartet and a trio of backing singers helping to add great musical diversity to the show and a promise to play all ten tracks from the album. Opening track Unity was a good first choice of song to get the crowd onside straight away as we all joined in with the chorus “I do it for my people, I do it for me/I do it to be equal, do it to be free”. Matt moves easily from piano to acoustic guitar and vice-versa and even plays a couple of tracks on his trusted ukulele. Little White Lies is an early highlight in the set, a song written about how easy it is to go off the rails when you are young. The crowd down at the barrier are singing every word back to the stage keeping the energy levels high, even though it is a Sunday night what better place to be on a Sunday night than in an old church having a party? Take Your Time sees the string quartet and backing singers come to the fore, they are absolutely faultless tonight while Telling Stories is another highlight with Matt on the ukulele, he really is the perfect example of a multi-instrumentalist.

Matt Hickman describes the band’s music as ‘Indie-Soul’ and he describes himself as the Godfather of the genre, he also announces that a record label has been set up that saw the crowd respond with a loud cheer. Indie Soul Records’ first release on the label will be vinyl reissue of Demons and we wish him luck with the new venture. This show almost didn’t go ahead, the plan was to play both albums in full but unfortunately guitarist Andy was involved in a recent car accident but thankfully Matt informed us that Andy was at the gig tonight and is making a good recovery. Before Telling Lies, Matt commented that the streaming services are making too much money and that “the song is about someone not in my life anymore, no they are not dead just an arsehole!”. Let Your Guard Down is played acoustically and one of the best of the set while the album title track Demons is played in a very laid back style. The crowd are relatively quiet tonight but very observant, they came to life towards the end when a new track was played followed by the excellent What I Want, ending a very intimate couple of hours of music. The Celtic Connections Festival seems to be getting bigger every year and we are looking forward to next year’s events already. 9/10

Written by: Alan Brown

Alan Brown

Alan Brown

Fan of most genres of music
Enjoy live music, festivals and pushing my musical boundaries!