Into Live Music Review: Chris Thomson, Paul McGeechan & friends
Concert: Chris Thomson (The Bathers), Paul McGeechan (Starless) & friends Venue: Glasgow Cottiers Theatre Dates: 3 October 2025
Outside, Storm Amy battered the streets of Glasgow, weather akin to a Fair Saturday in Millport. Inside Cottiers Theatre, the storm was held at bay by friendship, melody, and forty years of shared musical history. The old church glowed with warm light, familiar faces and the gentle hum of anticipation…….
Phil Campbell opened the proceedings with a solo set of piano/vocal reflections which was was understated, moving and perfectly matched to the space within the venue. Then, the gathering grew in front of what was the alter, buzzing with quiet anticipation. Chris Thomson and Paul McGeechan were front and centre, weaving exquisite songs from their rich band history, through The Bathers, Love & Money and Starless. The sound of piano and acoustic guitar complementing each other in a perfect union. Each song performed seemed to have been given an extra resonance by the sublime playing of Calum McNair (guitar) Hazel Morrison (percussion) & Martin Bond (bass).
There was a palpable sense of togetherness in the room, not just audience and band, more like a roomful of people remembering special times together while creating new ones right here.
The Love & Money song You’re Beautiful brought smiles and tears, Hazel Morrison’s lilting harmonies adding a soft ache to Campbell’s guest vocal. Lord of the Isles shimmered, wistful and sea-worn, McNair’s guitar curling through the air like salt spray. Sirenesque was ethereal and timeless, without a doubt good enough to brush shoulders with any song on Astral Weeks.
Stories also surfaced, such as McGeechan confessing that the Friends Again song Moon 3 was only 2 minutes long due to the recording tape running out while the band were still performing the track!
This story was the intro to an encore of three Friends Again (Thomson & McGeechan’s first band) songs written over forty years ago, recalling youth, love and future horizons, presented through the rear-view mirror of time. The finale, Honey At The Core provided the perfect ending to a three-hour performance, with a richly deserved standing ovation confirming the audience’s wrapped warmth and appreciation. In many ways it felt like a homecoming, a night where songs became memories, and memories became light. A shelter from the storm.
