It wasn’t in total the “50,000 voices singing in the rain” that Amy MacDonald sings about in her 2012 hit ‘Pride’ but 4,000+ voices was a pretty good result considering the downpour that persisted throughout her performance at Kunstrasen on Wednesday. “We have a word for this. We call it ‘Dreich weather’ in Scotland” she told us. Before continuing with a smile “It’s really the normal weather in Glasgow”. But how many of the 4000+ would still be there by concert’s end? Real supporters or fair weather fans?…
“There was a short discussion a few minutes ago as to whether, for your safety and ours onstage, the show should be called off” admitted Amy early in the set. In the event it went ahead, with the start shifted to 15 minutes earlier than planned so seemingly things were already expected to get worse rather than better later in the evening. It all came, literally, out of the blue. The sky had shifted to a threatening grey only minutes before support act Blair Davie stepped onstage at 7 pm. Then the heavens opened and within 20 minutes gaps appeared, and where people once stood were suddenly small ponds of grey mud. A good many of those people must have been cursing the gate security who had insisted on large umbrellas being deposited at the cloakroom security tent.
A short word of praise to Blair Davie, and indeed the early audience. Despite the downpour being at its worst during his set they sang along when requested to songs they didn’t know and they, in turn, thanked them profusely for staying to listen. If that sentence sounds confusing then it’s because Davie is ‘non-binary’ and therefore doesn’t identify as he or she. I will admit that I heard most of his set from an awning under the side of the stage so cannot attest to the acoustics, but Davie clearly has a good voice and some equally good Pop songs that were delivered well by the band. Well worth giving a listen in the warmth and comfort of your living room via the music platform of your choice. I did even grab a few pictures after the wooden-slatted roof above me started to leak rain onto my head.
Amy Macdonald, being from Glasgow, was perfectly placed to assess the drenching we were getting. She even claimed the Scottish weather as a present she’d brought along for us. Fortunately she also brought along a treasure trove of her best songs from 19 years of recording. I still remember her 2009 appearance in Museumsplatz and have to say that although there have been several album releases and songs since then, the oldies from her debut ‘This is the Life’ still seem to possess a touch of extra indefinable something extra that the later efforts don’t. Which isn’t to say that 2025’s release ‘Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For?’ is not a solid pop/rock album. Perhaps it’s just that what was once fresh now seems formulaic.
At any rate, 7:45 pm (earlier than planned) her set kicked off with the new albums title track that I will reduce simply to what it says on the set-list – ‘ITWYBWF‘. Possibly the longest song-title ever conceived, it certainly was what the rain-bedraggled, poncho bedecked army of faithful fans had been waiting for. They were rewarded with a solid collection culled from all of MacDonald’s releases since that 2007 mega-bestseller that started it all off.
2010’s release ‘A Curious Thing’ vied with the new disc for the most songs on today’s set-list with ‘Spark’, ‘Run’, ‘Poison Prince’ and ‘Barrowland Ballroom’. 2012’s ‘Life in a Beautiful Light’ brought us ‘Slow it Down’, ‘Don’t tell me that it’s over’ and ‘Pride’. The latter was inspired by Amy getting to sing the Scottish National Anthem to 50,000 fans before international football games at Hampden Park. She even sang it outside Buckingham Palace for the London Olympic/Paralympic Games (cannily adding ‘red’ to the line “Well the blue and the white of the flag shines bright“!). Her football crowd savvy worked wonders in tonight’s conditions with the fans as she commiserated that Germany, like Scotland, didn’t fair too well in the recent World Cup.
To sum up then – Amy Macdonald is still making good pop/rock music in 2026, even though the oldies (and is 2007 already ancient history?!) are still a touch more memorable. She still has an excellent voice and a good band even though they never really get a chance to stretch out due to the short pop single format of the material itself. She did a wonderful job of communicating with the cold and wet fans. “You’ve been wonderful” she said encouragingly. “I’m sure you are all looking forward to getting home later to a hot drink and a warm bed. I would happily come by and tuck each and every one of you in. Sadly that’s not possible as I have to travel on to Dresden…” But otherwise you can almost imagine her doing it. And the audience that stayed (which was most of them) would have thoroughly deserved it.
