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JJ72 (supported by Xavier Floyd Firebird)

King Tuts, Glasgow on 14th May 2005
Reviewed by Bob on 4th June 2005

A sold out gig at King Tuts in Glasgow is the venue of the return of JJ72 to Scotland, a well anticipated gig and an energetic crowd await the falsetto tones of Mark Greaney and the rest of JJ72.

Xavier Floyd Firebird

Support tonight comes from the Southampton (although not proud of it) based 'Xavier Floyd Firebird', yes that is a very odd name for a band... but then, so is JJ72.

Xavier Floyd Firebird treat us to 30 minutes of their rocky tunes, which were good enough to make me buy the CD they were selling at the gig (It was only £3!). The band bashed their way through the gig with plenty of power chords to be heard by all.

Rating: 6/10
Website: www.xavierfloydfirebird.com

JJ72

JJ72 come onstage and take their positions, their first gig in Glasgow for a couple of years, the crowd wait for them to kick off. They start off with new track 'Heat', Down Down Down, down by the sea sings Mark and the audience are singing along as if the songs been out for ages! I love this song, it's a great way to kick off the gig and makes me all tingly waiting for the next album...

After Heat, the band treat us to Formulae, one of my favourite songs. This song gets the people who looked confused by Heat into the gig... alternating between oldie and newie, all the songs are going down well. The new songs fit seamlessly into the set and the crowd don't seem to be getting put off by them and I'm enjoying myself, I always like to hear new songs at gigs, it makes it feel special.

Improv, as always, is performed acoustically. Just Mark and an acoustic guitar... his vocals fill the room and everyone in the place is singing along. Next up, another new one, Mark warns it may be a bit boring, alas, he was wrong! Before this song Mark introduced us to Marmaduke the cat... (a plastic cat sitting in-front of the drums). They seem in a playful mood and are making plenty of small talk with the audience.

The band leave the stage after a loud and excellent version of Oxygen, and as the roadies set up the stage for the inevitable return of the band the crowd are still buzzing from the set so far.

Into the encore we go, finishing on favourites Long Way South and Snow... very apt for the start of summer in Scotland!

The setlist (thanks to avaadore on the official JJ72 forum):-

• Heat
• Formulae
• Everything
• October Swimmer
• She's Gone
• Undercover Angel
• Grower
• Algeria
• Take from me
• Improv / Someday
• Coming Home
• Underground
• Oxygen

Encore:

• Radio
• Long way south
• Snow

Rating: 10/10
Website: www.jj72.com

A great return to the live scene from JJ72, they've been missed and now, hopefully, they'll have a lot more opportunities to show off their high octave vocals to the UK. I can't wait for the new album later this year!

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