It was the last gig of 2025 for me, so what better way to bow out than in the company of one my favourite bands who also happened to be the purveyors of one of my albums of the year (a list which I’ve not even considered yet, and given that I missed a whole chunk of the year needs a bit of thought…) and also in the presence of a singer who I last saw in what I fear was as far back as 1994 in King Tuts if my memory serves with her first band Lush, so I was well overdue a re-acquaintance. There was a celebratory mood in the air, the bands having one night under their belts already after playing together the previous night in Edinburgh and I’m delighted to report both bands were in top form.
If it had been over 30 years since I saw Miki Berenyi last, the same couldn’t be said for f.o. Machete having seen them earlier in the year in the self same venue celebrating the release of their most excellent Mother of a Thousand album, from which the majority of their jubilant set came, bar their newest single and its rehearsed intro “How are you Paul” the response resulting in much laughter as they launched into the brilliant I’m Fine, Are You, and also included a perfect version of their classic from pre-comeback days, Panda. It’s always a pleasure to see f.o. machete live, and they were clearly having as much fun as we were, their between song banter meaning we didn’t get a chance to hear their last planned song (the Enhance Button… for anyone who is interested), that just means I’ll have to go and see them again as soon as they announce any dates for next year…
Miki and Co were in jovial mood too, with plenty little between song quips and off the cuff remarks. One of which indicating that they didn’t have enough songs to fill a set yet & having to play some old songs, just ahead of playing one of my Lush favourites, Leaves Me Cold, I certainly wasn’t complaining. Then later giving a mention to the one and only Gary Sloan in the intro to one of the many set highlights, the single 8th Deadly Sin, before regaling us with the rest of the tale of a night in Glasgow involving Robin Guthrie and his brother at the end of the song… I’m ashamed to say I’ve not yet bought myself a copy of the Tripla album, and as I dashed off to get my train straight after the set I couldn’t rectify that, but on the strength of the highlight strewn set tonight, with the songs from the album standing shoulder to shoulder with anything you could pick from Miki’s back catalogue, demonstrated perfectly by the “toxic masculinity” section of the set with the Big I Am from Tripla followed by Ladykillers, I do believe I’ll be treating myself to a wee early Christmas present. I look forward to seeing the trio again when the opportunity arises.
Off for plenty R&R and family time over the next couple of weeks to ready myself for what already looks to be a busy year for gigs in 2026.
See you down the front…