Tom Robinson, Glasgow review: 'still raging eloquently'

Beloved new (old?) waver Tom Robinson is 74 years old and slightly out of puff, but he was fully committed to performing tracks from his first two albums at this delightful club show, demonstrating that his spirit – musical, humanitarian, political – has not dimmed on the taut and brawny All Right All Night.

This bruiser of an opener was followed by his Peter Gabriel co-write Bully For You, with Robinson heading off any Pink Floyd comparisons at the pass by revealing the hookline “we don't need no aggravation” was produced six months before Another Brick in the Wall.

There was fond reminiscing about his late wingman Danny Kustow, his fellow “refugee from boarding school” who passed away in 2019, and some deep cuts, including the ska-tinged Let My People Be, which he hadn't played in 45 years, and Days of Rage on its second live outing ever. Meanwhile, Grey Cortina recalled the epitome of teen ambitions in 1978.

However, this was no sepia-tinted show, with Robinson still raging eloquently, updating the lyrics of the raw Ain't Gonna Take It to reference Liz Truss and Boris Johnson and most notably tweaking his singalong liberation anthem Glad To Be Gay to reflect the shifting colours of the LGBT rainbow.

There was more revision on a spirited rendition of Up Against the Wall, another late Seventies social anthem which could have been written yesterday. Given Robinson’s innate compassion, this was probably a source of regret as much as a badge of honour.

Robinson never let his rage get in the way of a good time, rocking out with his superb band on 2-4-6-8 Motorway and Power in the Darkness, the latter garnished with a tremendous organ solo, before closing with the celebratory Never Gonna Fall In Love Again, a self-styled “gay disco song co-written with Elton John”.