There are times when, as a writing hack, you feel the urge to reuse someone else’s catchphrases in the hope that such an action will pass as ironic and tonight at the Oran Mor was nearly such a night. There was, however, little in the way or irony in having Charlotte Marshall & The 45s and FuBB on the same stage but it was nonetheless a game of two halves.
FuBB were one of those bands old enough to know better and yet they clearly still believed in the dream that comes with your first guitar and the years of playing the back rooms in pubs had not dulled their enthusiasm for the task in hand one bit. Their set may have relied heavily on covers but, as they might well say of themselves, you always know what you are going to get with FuBB.
Charlotte Marshall & The 45s had far fewer miles on the clock yet they too had ploughed the fields of past musical styles before planting their crop of reverential yet eminently stylish songs that, tonight, were readily harvested by a sweating Glasgow audience. Out front, Charlotte Marshall – a devil in a red dress if there ever were one – switched her bluesy voice from wistful to world weary at will whilst adding the kind of glamour that you don’t often get even in this part of town and The 45s, for their part, provided all the rock solid backing that her dramatic persona needed. The end result, as you might now have guessed, was nothing less than an object lesson on how to give a crowd pleasing performance.
Although the sun might now be setting, I can guarantee that it won’t be dark outside as the stars will always shine brightly on Charlotte Marshall & The 45s.