Sometimes things are worth the wait.
in a week where I personally had an intense release of pressure after finally delivering the pilot of a training programme that has been delayed for years not months due to COVID, Run Into the Night and Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something finally got to play their gig in Broadcast. And what a gig it was to, a celebration of all that is good about live music, a coming together of like minded souls, a common stream of consciousness if you like, basically, with an emphasis on having a good time.
We arrived too late to see the first support Fog Bandit, who appeared to have gone down well with the assembled throng.
Just enough time to get a pint in and take up a good vantage point before Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something took to the stage ready to rock an unsuspecting Glasgow crowd. This was the final date of a double header tour for the bands (with Jemma and the Cosmics playing a final hometown London show tonight) during which the two bands seem to have struck up a close friendship.
I have a certain Ged Babey to thank for introducing me to the the music of The Cosmic Something, ending up with me putting their album in my top ten for 2019. Up until now though, I’d never managed to catch the band perform live.
Before a note was struck, you knew you were in for a great set, just a quick glance at the effects pedals, and at Jemma’s onstage get up was enough for you to know you were about to witness something special. Once the show commenced and Jemma struck rock star poses and made forays into the crowd, you knew they were on top form. The full-on star performance is a massive transformation from the quiet and unassuming demeanour of the person you meet offstage.
This stage presence isn’t unjustified, the phenomenal riffs, licks and intricate playing are all there in bucketloads to back up the energetic stage persona. New songs in the set hint at a fantastic forthcoming new album, due when backlogs at worldwide record pressing plants are allows. I’ll be first in the queue for a copy.
Then it was the turn of homecoming heroes Run Into the Night to take their applause from the Glasgow gathering for the first hometown unveiling of new line up of Tina and long time friend and PowderKeg drummer Andrew.
Tina and Andrew looked, and sounded, genuinely delighted to be back performing after so long away from the stage. If I’m honest, the gathered throng in the room were just as pleased to be back, the mutual appreciation apparent throughout the set.
With absolutely no disrespect meant to Ellie, Andrew brings a new dimension to the bands sound, apparent in the first fruits of their labours Common Stream of Consciousness and another as yet unnamed song, a heavier muscular beat with a gritty powerful edge to it. I expect great things from this new pairing.
The set was littered with the well kent Run Into the Night favourites, from oldie Devil’s Rhythm, through the bittersweet soaring beauty of Mon Cheri and including a cameo from Jemma on a glorious rendition of Turn to Static, before finishing with an unexpected treat of a song they wrote together before the days of Run Into the Night.
I felt a genuinely warm and fuzzy feeling throughout the night listening to both bands and chatting briefly to Andrew, Jemma and Christina after the gig, roll on the next time, hopefully without another enforced gap between…