The last time Sean Carey came to Glasgow was in 2011, where he was playing the SECC as a member of Bon Iver.
Tonight with his solo band he plays the more modestly sized, but far better suited, one would argue, CCA.
The support comes from Rue Royale, who is based in Nottingham; but you wouldn’t have been able to tell from their American accents.
The two-piece come on while most of the crowd are sitting down on the venue floor, to which the band jokes: “we have Rue Royale pillows on sale”.
The cosy and intimate atmosphere is aided by crowd sitting as they listen intently, as well as the band’s calming, predominately acoustic music.
Between them, Rue Royale has a drum each, guitar/singer Brookln Dekker has a bass drum at his feet, while, I’m assuming Brookln’s sister, Ruth Dekker hits a snare drum while playing keyboard.
This makeshift drum kit is both interesting and effective, and the Glasgow crowd appeared to enjoy the set.
“Hi we’re S. Carey, and we’re drinking Scotch” is the opening statement from lead singer Sean Carey, as he begins the set the way new album Range Of Light begins, with ‘Glass/Film’.
The crowd finally decide to stand for the headline act, minus a small contingent directly in front of the stage.
Aided by four other musicians, multi-instrumentalist Carey plays mainly keyboard throughout the set, while occasionally playing a drum situated next to him (the same one which was being used by Brookln Dekker of the support act).
The highlight of the set is ‘Mothers’ followed by ‘Action’, which are played one after the other, the same way they appear on Carey’s debut album All We Grow.
‘Mothers’ is a tame, melancholy song with lyrics of despair and desperation, while on the other hand ‘Action’ is loud and uplifting, driven by Carey and the band’s drummer’s intricate and intertwining drumming.
This makes for an exciting contrast, and is extremely well received by the otherwise politely quiet crowd.
Other highlights included recent single ‘Fire-scene’, as well as set closer, a cover of Bjork’s ‘Unravel’.
Billed on posters as ‘S. Carey of Bon Iver’, Carey proves tonight that he is undoubtedly a solo artist and clever songwriter in his own right, while his band are more than competent in aiding the singer in mesmerising the audience.
The cheers for an encore are proof of a stellar performance and Carey rewards the crowd with two more songs.
The atmosphere inside the venue aids the melancholy music of S. Carey, who jokes: “we love Glasgow so much, do you guys all want to come on tour with us?”
After tonight, most of the crowd would definitely oblige.
Words: Neil Hayton
Photos: Ronnie Poffley
