Venue:
O2 Academy, Oxford
Date: 09/06/2017
If I had to sum this up in one word, it would be joy. The ghost of the much-missed Stuart Adamson is never far away, but his guitar parts are recreated by Bruce and Jamie Watson, sounding uncannily like SA even without that battered old HH amp. They and the rest of the Skids (Richard Jobson, Bill Simpson and Mike Baillie) are clearly having a ball – I haven’t seen a band enjoy themselves this much since Bob Mould played all of Copper Blue in 2012. They start brilliantly, using “Peaceful Times” as their walk-on music and crashing into “Animation”, and it doesn’t let up. It’s around the tenth date on their tour but they’re playing like it’s the first, such is the air of rediscovery. The set comprises most of the singles plus a fair mixture from their first 3 albums, and Jobson’s very talkative throughout; it’s the day after the election so TV Stars includes namechecks for cabinet and shadow cabinet alike. Right at the end they indulge in one song off the new album and it’s OK. Fair enough.
The audience:
As you’d expect, overwhelmingly blokes the wrong side of 50. One ridiculously young kid (Jobson said he was nine, and he could have been) at the front – I hope his dad sorted him with earplugs because it was bloody loud. He got Baillie’s sticks at the end.
It made me think..
I’d forgotten how many of their songs were singalongs. If you ever loved the Skids and hesitated about this because of Adamson’s loss, don’t worry. Just go and enjoy this marvellous music all over again – it’s what the band are doing.
Oh I gotta dig out The Skids now!
Teenage fan.
Where’s ( Days in Europa) on Apple Music, man!?!!
It ain’t there. Why not?
Listening to ‘Charles’ now. Been a long time.
Thank you so much for this,Malc. Just what I needed.
☀️
A Skids knower declaring ‘Scared to Dance’ LP to be the quintessential.
New album, eh? Sounds intriguing. And if Jobbo can reanimate the rocker within, maybe my dream of Lady Laverne getting the band back together for their menopause years album is not without hope…
I knew Adamson (slightly) and original drummer Tam Kellichan reasonably well away back ain the day, and in fact I last spoke to Kellichan last year. Jobson was and perhaps still is a wazzock of the highest order and sacked Tam from the band, and a court case ensued and tam got a hefty payout with which he bought a bar in Majorca and proceeded to piss the profits up against the wall…”Best three years of my life” ….. I asked once him “Out of 10, how much of an arsehole was Jobson?”
He said “11” He mused for a moment then he told me that Adamson was the genius behind the band, the talent but that he was a homeboy, happily married and very shy and withdrawn. Jobson recognised Adamson’s talent and drove the band forwards. Kellichan said :”If it hadn’t have been for Jobson, we would still be a covers band playing the pubs in Dunfermline. Jobson was the guy who was instrumental, so for that I will be eternally grateful. What a pillock he is tho’.”
Noted.
Good story. I’ve been a Skids fan since No Bad Records….
What a load of shite. Both sides.
Set list here:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/skids/2017/o2-academy-oxford-oxford-england-1be74df0.html
Looks correct from what I can remember.
geacher’s story rings true, I don’t think Jobson would deny that Adamson was the genius. An ambitious pillock often makes a great front man.
Thought Jobson might have snuck Castles in Spain in. Shame.
Castles in Spain. I’d forgotten about that one.
Sorry about that. I often talk to my head when there’s no one there.
Well, there’s no ‘one’ one to be anywhere, but there is One that is everywhere.
Chicken noodle soup works wonders.
😎
As the great master Delia spake, One is Fun.
Is Jobbo still doing his bizarre atonal dancing?
Indeed he is.
Richard Jobson’s dancing was a true joy. He was also MAGNIFICENTLY pretentious. Hows this for 80s?
The Desert sand storm archeologist look was very impressive at the time.
Yes. They wore those goggle things on Whistle Test. I thought it was groovy. The music I don’t remember at all.
Lawrence.