Rival Sons and The Sheepdogs Barrowlands

By the time The Sheepdogs hit the stage, the venue was already at near capacity, and the Canadian five piece took full advantage. Their mix of blues and country has a real southern feel good vibe and they played through a good selection of favourites, clearly enjoying the occasion. Highlights were ‘How Late, How Long’ the quirky ‘Southern Dreaming’, ‘Nobody’ featuring some lovely Allman Brothers influenced twin guitar work and the driving ‘Feeling Good’. But no trombone in tonight’s set! They’re back in June for some headline gigs - check them out if you like your rock a bit more laid back.

A thunder of drums and Rival Sons are off and running, launching into ‘Back In The Woods’, the first of a whopping ten songs from the excellent new release ‘Feral Roots’.

‘Pressure and Time’ is the first dive into the back catalogue, with the rhythm section laying down a swinging groove. Rival Sons are very much a visual spectacle with drummer Michael Miley always animated and Scott Holiday looking every inch the guitar hero. But it’s Jay Buchanan who perhaps grabs the limelight. ‘Electric Man’ sees him deliver some lung bursting vocals before switching to a more soulful style on ‘Too Bad’, which features the best Sabbath riff not written by Toni Iommi.

‘Jordan’ is always a highlight, but with it comes the inevitable sea of mobile phones to film the occasion. The oldest song of the night, ‘Torture’, comes a couple of songs later and the Glasgow crowd continue the singalong way beyond the end of the song, to the obvious delight of the band. More new tracks are split by 2015’s ‘Open My Eyes’ before the set is closed by thumping ‘Do Your Worst’.

A pounding heartbeat signals the band’s return and they kick off the encores with the gospel tinged ‘Shooting Stars’ before rounding the night off with the classic ‘Keep On Swinging’. It’s only the start of February, but this gig has set the bar high for gig of the year.

LH