FM/Collateral - Oran Mor, Glasgow 31st May 2024

1984 as we watched the LA Olympics, Ronald Reagan was elected for a second term and Steve Jobs brought his new Apple Mac to the world we all listened to the newly released 1984 from Van Halen and Born in the USA from Springsteen, In London a new band was forming, members of Samson were joining forces with a couple of brothers from and band called Wildlife and in doing so gave birth to one of the UK's most endearing rock bands The “MIGHTY FM”.

Fast forward 40 years, yes FORTY, and we are at Glasgow's Oran Mor to see the band take to the stage in support of their latest album, and to celebrate those 40 years of melodic rock masterpieces. 

I first saw them in February 1987 at Glasgow QMU, a night I will never forget because that sparked a passion for the band that still continues to this day. Quite simply they ticked all my musical boxes and I could not begin to count the numbers of times I have seen them live. Indeed I recently found an old bootleg cassette from that very gig in my loft bought from a dodgy Glasgow Barras market stall. I just don't have a cassette player any more to play it on Doh!

Rockfiend favourites Collateral opened the show tonight, having just released their second album 'Should've Known Better' to critical acclaim and learning just before taking the stage that they had grabbed 2nd spot in the Rock Charts, the lads are understandably on a high. Opening with the anthemic 'Glass Sky' they only have a short 6 song set and taking the stage 15mins earlier than billed has not affected the crowd numbers too much as these boys are steadily building a large following of their own. Fists pump to 'Mr Big Shot' before we get a song that is destined to be a favourite for all time, a soulful heart felt ballad about losing someone you love, 'On The Long Road' is a song that punches you in the face with its lyrics and meaning. Frankly in my opinion its a masterpiece of songwriting and deserves to be a hit the world over. 

All too soon we are singing along to 'Midnight Queen' and the end of their short set. I predict it wont be long till we see them return, and to bigger and bigger venues. 

And so to FM, I can't imagine how anyone can sit down and plan an FM set list. Classic after classic melodic rock songs from 4 decades. 

We kick off with 'Digging Up The Dirt' from 2015's 'Heroes and Villains', and without pausing to draw breath its straight into 'Tough It Out', the venue is packed and a well “watered” audience are straight into the sing alongs. 'Killed By Love' ends an opening salvo of songs. 'Someday' and the sublime 'Everytime I Think of You' sit either side of the first song from the new album 'Don't Need Another Heartache'. The first single from 'Old Habits' is next with 'Out Of The Blue' and that is swiftly followed by the fourth song of the night from 1989's 'Tough it Out' album. Life has many great mysteries, how were the pyramids built, is there life on other planets, what does Mr Rockfiend look like without that beard, but surely the greatest mystery of all time is how 'Tough It Out' never broke FM in America to super stardom. We will never know the answer but their loss is our gain as they say. 

Sometimes you have a song that does not make the cut and becomes a B side, and that is what 'Say It Like It Is' was for FM, but the track has long been held as a classic by fans and the band have brought it back for this tour, that opening riff sent chills down my spine, what a treat to hear this one live again. Lets hope it remains in the set for a while. 

It says something about the FM back catalogue when we are thirteen songs into the set before we get the first number off the classic debut album 'Indiscreet'. 'That Girl' still sounds as good now as it did in 86. This would also be the time to acknowledge the sad passing of Chris Overland who sadly left us recently, a huge loss to the FM family. 

Following 'Bad Luck' and another 'Indiscreet' number in 'Hot Wired', We have an encore of the stupendous "there is no other word for it”, 'Story of My Life'. How Steve Overland has maintained that voice over 40 years is nothing short of a miracle, when others have seen their voices crackle into submission he continues to deliver night after night and 'Story Of My Life' just highlights that fact. 

We finish with crowd pleasing 'Other Side Of Midnight' to rapturous applause from the masses. 

The only downside on a personal note was once again wearing my photographer hat, I found the front of stage lighting almost non existent. So I can only send out a plea to venues, help us to help you, give us something to work with, and we will produce images that will promote your venue, artist and tour. 

During the show one punter shouted out “when are you coming back” to which Jim Kirkpatrick quickly retorted “can we finish this gig first mate”. Lets hope though it's not too long before we get to enjoy another night of the finest melodic rock n roll.

Old Habits truly do Die Hard.