Good Enough for Inverness: Dodgy Light Up An Seòmar
Almost wore my bucket hat last night but glad I didn’t as I was swiftly reminded when Dodgy took the stage that they were so much more than just another 90’s lad rock swagger band. Perfectly crafted pop songs were the order of the day last night – last day? Yesterday? Saturday? Good tunes – there !
The reminder was necessary as having ‘seen’ them both times they played T in the Park – 95 and 97 – I have no actual clear memory of those gigs (and yes, I AM that old). Something in the air at Strathclyde Park and Balado meant that that was a common side effect of the legendary Teeneepark. They say (who’s they?) if you can remember the early T’s you either weren’t there or you were a member of the constabulary.
Anyway – cracking wee set from Leith’s Delbhoy Kennedy and his band. Not their first time up here and hopefully not their last. Nice guys delivering heartfelt, street-born indie rock with acoustic roots. Nice! (If you don’t have that in your head in the style of Jazz Club you’re doing it wrong)
Dodgy were great. Right off the starting line – really great! Playing to a roomful of young and old – a brilliant mix of music fans which was nice to see in the age of TwixTwot and Snapshit. Kids out watching bands. Whoda thunk it? The Inverness audience were totally up for Dodgy from the get go.
Touring the new album – Hello Beautiful – the newbies sat seamlessly with the oldies. Anyone who came along with a Dodgy bingo card to mark off the hits with must have been more than happy with the latest songs. Buy the album or at the very least stream it – it’s a numbers game these days.
The hits were all there like “In A Room” (wow), “Good Enough” and that one about summertime as well as banter with the likes of Edinburgh & Aberdeen gigs getting a mention and Billionaires, Farage and Grimsby. I’ll say no more – what happens in An Seòmar stays in An Seòmar.
As always a huge thanks to Iain and all the team at An Seòmar for allowing us to do what we do. Cracking job – it really is growing into its role as a notable venue very nicely indeed……and if you were there – WELL DONE for buying a ticket and supporting the local venues. Keep doing it. It may be more important than you realise
Words and photos © Al Donnelly
