The Waterboys – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

I originally bought tickets to see The Waterboys at the Usher Hall.

Being the careful financial strategist that I occasionally pretend to be, I opted for the restricted-view seats because they were cheaper. It seemed like a sensible idea at the time.

Then I went to see Primal Scream.

Unfortunately, that concert was also from the restricted-view section, and I quickly discovered that “restricted” was doing some very heavy lifting in the marketing department. The experience was restricted alright — restricted seeing the stage being the main restriction.

Lesson learned.

So when The Waterboys announced their Barrowland dates, I decided to cut my losses. I sold the Usher Hall tickets and bought a pair for the Barrowland instead. The upgrade only cost me about twenty quid in the end, which felt like money well spent.

Little did I know I’d end up seeing them before that anyway.

A few days before the Barrowland show, I was browsing a Waterboys fan page on Facebook when I noticed a post from a lady who could no longer attend that evening’s concert at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Rather than letting the tickets go to waste, she was offering them free to anyone who could use them.

Naturally, I sprang into action.

Messages were sent, comments were posted and fingers were crossed.

Thankfully, just as I was finishing work, the tickets were transferred into my account.

Fifteen minutes later, Emma and I were heading towards Glasgow.

Sometimes being in the right place at the right time pays off.

The Waterboys have been one of those bands that have constantly evolved throughout their career. Depending on which album you pick up, you might encounter folk-rock, Celtic influences, soul, country, blues or something else entirely. Yet somehow it all still sounds unmistakably like The Waterboys.

That’s quite an achievement.

Mike Scott remains one of Britain’s most distinctive songwriters and seeing him perform these songs live is always a pleasure. The band’s catalogue is so strong that every setlist feels packed with highlights.

The only challenge on the evening was filming.

The venue staff were making it clear that recording wasn’t really encouraged and seemed to be reminding people accordingly throughout the concert. As regular visitors to BillyWatson.tv will know, that creates something of a dilemma for us.

We like documenting gigs.

They like stopping people documenting gigs.

Still, where there’s a will, there’s usually a way.

Between us, Emma and I managed to capture a few clips without causing an international incident. They may not amount to a full concert film, but they do provide a flavour of what was a fantastic performance.

Looking back, it’s hard not to laugh at how the whole thing unfolded.

I upgraded my tickets because I didn’t want to suffer through restricted-view seating, only to end up attending an entirely different Waterboys concert for free before the Barrowland date even arrived.

Not a bad result.

The videos below capture some of the evening and offer a glimpse of a band that continue to prove why they’ve remained so beloved for over four decades. Sometimes a casual scroll through Facebook can lead to an unexpectedly brilliant night out.

This was definitely one of those times.

I took a few clips from the fanpage the next day and edited them together.