Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Matthew Nolan and Nathan Evans at the one and only Barrowland Ballroom, where (and I quote) dreams are made (can confirm). This was probably one of the most wholesome gigs I’ve ever been to, the wholesomeness only ever so slightly offset by two young girls fighting during supporting act Matthew Nolan’s set.
The charming, funny Matt Nolan took to the stage at 8, warming us up with 11:11 and a few more originals before jumping to covers, with renditions of “Before You Go” and “Someone Like You” being the standouts. He emphasised “if the big guys backstage hear you singing along with me, they’ll know you’re gonna sing along with them too”. With or without that statement, the crowd had been buzzing since doors and there was no lack of energy during this set.
He let us know he’d be in the pit dancing with us, and reminded us that he’s coming back to Glasgow this July to play at SWG3, his third Glasgow venue after supporting Little Mix at the Hydro and Nathan Evans at the Barrowlands.
Music blared over the PA system during the interval between sets and the crowd continued to dance and sing along. Then the lights dimmed, and Nathan Evans and Saint PHNX appeared before us, with Nathan’s ever iconic poetry playing over the speakers seconds before. They launched into their set, starting with “Flowers in the Water” and not a single tune went by that evening without the crowd singing the lyrics back to them.
They moved on to other crowd favourites, “Wagon Wheel” and “Told you so” before Nathan shared the story of how he and his wife met, the ups and downs of their relationship right before launching into “Perfect Storm”, which he’d dedicated to her and her unwavering patience for him over the years.
Before he sang “Paper Planes” he looked back upon a particularly difficult time in his life, encouraging us not to give up hope in the face of tough times, and to use him as an example of how quickly luck can turn around. At the beginning of the track, a voice memo from circa 2020 plays, with Nathan speaking about how life was going downhill and sounding altogether hopeless. The venue suddenly filled up with paper planes made by fans and his smile in that moment was worth billions.
The highlight of the show was Nathan heading to the centre of the venue to deliver an acoustic rendition of “Caledonia”. Once he made his way back to the stage, Stevie from Saint PHNX shared a touching anecdote about his father, before dedicating “Happy Place” to him, singing it himself.
The Barras echoed with chants of “No Scotland, No Party” as the band returned to the stage for the encore, covering the classic “Country Roads” before my personal favourite track “Home”. They moved on to “Heather on the Hill” and “Highland Girl” before Saint PHNX made their way off stage and Nathan began waving goodbye to us.
But no Nathan Evan’s show is complete without “Wellerman” which is what began blasting on the speakers right about then, complete with blinding blue lights flashing in our lights and the band returning to the stage armed with super-soakers. We all left the venue with ridiculously big grins plastered on our faces, cheering like lunatics.
I was lucky enough to be able to speak with the artists after the gig, and aside from being massively talented, they are some of the loveliest people to chat to. I can’t wait to see Nathan Evans and Saint PHNX at more gigs and festivals later this year and Matthew Nolan when he plays SWG3 this July.