The old theatre wears its history on its sleeve, a bit rough around the edges with references to past glories adorning the walls. Many would say the same applies to the Reid brothers – but not tonight. Somewhere in the blinding lights and dry ice, Jim and William, accompanied on stage by Scott Von Ryper, Brian Young, and Mark Crozer, were about to exceed expectations and once again prove themselves to be an outstanding live proposition.  

Tracks from 2017’s acclaimed ’Damage and Joy’ slotted in seamlessly alongside the classics – as a band now in the 4th decade of their career there’s a lot more of these than you think! Where previously a track could have descended into a dirge, tonight they gave us rich layers of textured guitar sprinkled over the arrangements by the impressive Von Ryper. A backlit Jim Reid stalked the stage throughout, his mike lead bunched to his face, driving home each line with his whole body, a thousand-yard stare in between. William never strayed far from his amps – working the riffs out his guitar from underneath his trademark mop of slightly greying curls. This was not a band going through the motions – it was intense.