Nice ‘n Sleazy
Glasgow, Scotland
20 April 2013
Show Report by: Mags Campbell
A roomful of inebriated Glaswegians is always lively. So imagine how rowdy a Glaswegian hen party is. Anyone who knows anything about Sam Bradley could instantly see the possibilities for hilarity when he’s put in a room with a hen party and he really did deliver! He interrupted their celebrations and invited the bride-to-be onstage to sing to her, to cheers from her friends. Luckily nearly everyone got Sam’s sense of humour when he serenaded her with Woman You Crazy.
Sam was his usual energetic, edgy, intense and hilarious self, meaning anyone who didn’t know who he was looked nervous and unsure whether to laugh while fans were laughing and enjoying the bonus comedy with the fantastic music. Some of the songs might be fun but that doesn’t detract from the power of his voice. In fact, the jokes in between numbers only accentuate how good Sam is as a musician. He gets a room going, with laughter, but mostly with awe when he lets loose and sings something like 'Lights'. All round, he’s a brilliantly unique performer.
There's no doubt that Sam leaves his audience wanting more and vowing to go back to see him play again as soon as they can. Surely there’s no greater compliment or testimony than that.
The Nice ‘n Sleazy’s venue downstairs was
an intimate room with plenty of space for an ample crowd. The place filled up pretty quickly and it
soon became clear that tonight’s audience were going to be energetic, vocal and
that there would be no room for ballads on this set list. The audience were
talkative and the place was buzzing especially with the addition of a hen party
,who sat at the back of the room, yet made their presence clear from the onset.
From the get go, after introducing himself
as Sam Bradley with a spot on his chest, Sam drew the audience in and what
better way to engage an audience but to invite the hen up to the stage for an
extra special rendition of ‘Woman You Crazy’.
The males in the room were particularly
amused and entertained by both Sam’s escapades and tales of what inspired him
to write ‘Passport’ and everyone thoroughly
enjoyed the lyrics of ‘Soho Whores’, joining Sam in a chorus of “Don’t tell the wife”.
In between songs Sam was hilarious as
usual, even treating us to a few bars of R Kelly’s “Bump N’ Grind” proving that
he has great... ahem...’moves’. He kept the crowd riveted, laughing and
singing along for the whole time he was on stage and had them more than geared
up for the headline act, Ryan Keen, with the cries of “I say Ryan Keen, you say
Sam Bradley” 10/10 for marketing!
It was evident by the end of the set that
the cheers in the room proved that we’d all thoroughly enjoyed Sam’s
performance and would have welcomed more.
Collectively between us we’ve attended 10
gigs of Sam’s over the last 16 months and we both agreed that tonight’s was by
far the best we’ve seen from Sam yet; not only for his musical talent but also
for his skill and ability to capture the audience’s attention and maintain it
throughout his set. Newcastle and
Glasgow were two very different gigs and Sam delivered perfectly on each
occasion. We cannot wait for the EP
release in May and are certain that if Sam’s reception on this tour is anything
to go by, he will be a well deserved headlining act in the UK in no time.
