Luke Morley (With Hillbilly Vegas) @ The Cathouse, Glasgow January 26th, 2024

While the band may still be new to UK ears, they have been plying their trade together in the US since 2011 with two albums under their belt (Ringo Manor and ’76 (released in 2011 and ’16 respectively), and a lengthy list of gigs, headlining and supporting.

The band landed on stage prompt at 7:25 to meet the Cathouses’ strict deadline. Playing with intensity from the moment they hit the stage their Southern, sorry, country rock influenced rock ‘n roll set was superb. Hillbilly Vegas set drew from their 2022 album “The Great Southern Hustle,” (recorded versions of the pick of the songs from the two earlier albums plus a couple of new songs) there was no time wasted and the band delivered each song with superb playing and a swiftness that’s unusual in Southern rock this genre of music.

Highlights of the set were “Shake It Like a Hillbilly,” by the end of which we were all members of the band’s family, the storming “High Time For A Good Time,” and the endearing “Long Way Back,” inspired by Steve Harris’s grandfather’s tales of being in the navy and stationed in North Africa during World War II. Throw in an excellent (and crowd pleasing) cover of Frankie Miller’s “Down the Honktonk,” and the crowd were well and truly won over.

A band to check out if you’re a fan of Blackberry Smoke, Whiskey Myers, Turnpike Troubadours, and their like. Once you check them out, you’ll be saying hello to you new favourite Hillbilly rock band.

During the interval I had a genuine concern as to how Luke Morley and friends could follow that. I’d noticed that both Chris Childs and Sam Tanner from Luke’s touring band (and Thunder) had both wandered out to catch Hillbilly Vegas’s set. So, they knew the bar had been set high.

It won’t be a surprise that tonight’s set drew heavily from Luke’s recent album “Songs From The Blue Room,” but there was also a good sprinkling of songs from his earlier solo album “El Gringo Retro.”

Luke had hand picked the people he wanted in his band for this tour, and no one let him down on the evening. On second guitar he had his old nemesis Dean Howard (Cats In Space, T’Pau), on Bass, his old mucker and sexual deviant Chris Childs (Thunder), Sam Tanner Thunder) supplied keyboards and on drums was Jack Taylor (Tax the Heat). They proved themselves to be the perfect band for Luke’s more blues/roots approach.

One of the great appeals of Luke’s solo work, and his albums with The Union, is that you never feel like you’re listening to Thunder’s leftovers. These are songs written for a different approach to the day jobs louder and harder sound. It was good to hear that the songs lost none of that individuality in transferring them to a live setting, particularly given that the band was three fifths made up of members of Thunder.

There were a lot of highlights in the set tonight. The top pick for me were these songs:

· The cheeky tongue in cheek “Killed by Cobain.” The sad tale of how grunge and Nirvana dealt Thunder’s American dream a heavy blow. But don’t worry Luke “Love’s every song” by them.

· “Errol Flynn,” “Songs From The Blue Room’s” tale of understanding there comes a point in time when we need to step aside and leave behind the things we can no longer do before it becomes embarrassing.

· The sunny wistfulness of main set closer “Watching The sun Go Down.” Would make a perfect pairing with Thunder’s “Dancing in the Sunshine” on any playlist.

· The encore’s “Go with The flow.” More on that one below.

Ahead of talking about the encore’s I don’t think Luke will hate me for saying he’s not a natural front person and there were a couple of “just talk amongst yourselves a moment” moments in the set. That didn’t distract from the music and played into Luke’s general good bloke to go for a pint with personality. However, it also sparked the buzz of conversation in the crowd and not all of them shut back up when the music started. At these points you did kind of miss Danny Bowes stagecraft that would have covered for Luke getting set after a guitar change.

We did get two longer monologues from Luke during night. One to give a potted history of the origins of Thunder and how they had come together by pinching the best bits from all the other bands on the circuit, apart from Luke’s mate/nemesis Dean Howard. Dean did get the upper hand in this tale though as while at a low point as Terraplane disintegrated looked flicked on “Top Of The Pops” to find Dean on screen and at number one as guitarist for T’Pau.

The second came during the encores when Luke thanked the fans for their continued support while Danny Bowes recovers, their financial support when Danny needed care, and then dedicated a rootsy slightly pacier rendition of “Better Man” to Danny and Ben Matthews. A grand old sing along followed.

A storming rendition of “El Gringo Retros’” “Go with The Flow” followed “Better Man.” With a distinct whiff of early Dire Straits sound circa “Sultans of Swung” and a guitar duel between Luke and Dean this was a fitting end to the evening. Except it wasn’t.

Having announced the end and thanked everyone and turning to leave the stage Luke came back to the mic once someone reminded him that they still had one song to do. Blaming it all on a “senior moment” Luke explained that they were going to do a cover of a song about a man who had managed both The Kinks and Thunder. Of course, given that intro it had to be “Lola.” Another full-throated singalong ensued (the encore was full of them😊) and then it really was the end and we trundled out into the chilly windy Glasgow night.

It was a great night in a small club with a decent sound, sensibly priced tickets and two bands who performed brilliantly on the night. What a fantastic way to start the weekend.