Space, with support from Dylan Tierney and Searching For Donkeys, at The Ironworks, Inverness 22/4/2016. Review and Photographs.
First support act of the night was Dylan Tierney who, due to me being used as a taxi, I was only able to catch the last song and a half of his set so am unable to pass comment. However, the reaction from the small but considerate audience was favourable, even if calls for “one more song” were not reciprocated.
Next up were Searching For Donkeys who built a rapport with their audience early on. There was a change in personnel as Sean Fleming stepped in to temporarily cover for the absent Barry MacFarlane. The set sounded that bit heavier tonight with greater emphasis on Gordon Ross’s guitar with more freedom as exampled by new track “It’s On Tonight”, the video of which was released earlier in the week.
Space would be best remembered for their string of hits in the 90s but have recently produced new material with a new album on the horizon. With a small crowd it would be interesting to see if they were there for a slice of nostalgia or to take in the full repertoire. Peering out from the shadows and his wide brimmed hat, Tommy Scott led Space early on as they mixed in some of the new with the old with ‘Mister Psycho’ and ‘Money’ from the ‘Spiders’ album making an appearance.
The thumping ‘Give Me Your Future’ showed a change in direction with a tune that would not have been out of place a couple of years back in a tent at Rockness. Similar could be said of the delivery of ‘Drop Dead’ from the 90s. The hits such as ‘Avenging Angels’ and ’Female of the Species’ which were held back in the set were well received as you would expect. ‘The Ballad of Tom Jones’ didn’t miss out as Tommy duetted with a recording of Cerys Matthews to a projected backdrop of her.
The tour was to bring new material to the public and as well as the title track there was opportunity to hear ’The Loneliest Robot’, ‘Sharks’ and ‘Blow Up Doll’. ‘Blow Up Doll’ brought drummer Allan Jones away from his kit and onto guitar as an energised Tommy gave great delivery with the sound being very reminiscent of early Ants and PiL.
After stepping away from the stage briefly the band came back on for a two song encore culminating with a bounce along to ‘Me & You Vs The World’. This was a well put together set mixing old with new and Space connecting well with their audience.
There is still a great enthusiasm within the band who are not just out to tour on past glories but are still being creative and trying to be relevant today. Tonight’s faithful were convinced but it’s just about turning a few more heads and getting more onboard.