Slightly later than usual, Boy Child and I boarded the train to Glasgow in search of a new venue and old friends.

We were heading off in search of Ivory Blacks, one of the city’s smaller venues to  see Australian rock band Massive.

These guys from Melbourne are on the verge of releasing their third album and really deserve to be playing bigger rooms. Just saying….. but maybe I’m biased. I love these boys and have done since I first heard their debut album in 2014.

We found the venue … well, I found it. Boy Child walked past it! We were also first there.

As we stood waiting in the doorway,sheltering from the rain, the door opened and a tousled dark mop of curls stuck its head out before stepping out for a sneaky smoke – the band’s guitarist Ben Laguda. We chatted happily for a few minutes then Ben apologised that he needed to go back in and get changed for the show.

Doors opened a few minutes later and we found that the venue was even more intimate than anticipated.

Originally there were meant to be three bands on the bill but the opening support act had to cancel due to ill health. The job of opening proceedings fell to Brighton based trio, The Rocket Dolls. This band’s strength is its front man Nikki Smash (and those perfect teeth as Massive’s Brad Marr pointed out later on.) The guys played a solid half hour set. Perhaps it was the sound quality (I really struggled to make out the vocals) or the lack of numbers in the room but overall I grew a little bored here. Sorry, guys….

By the time Massive climbed onto the stage, a small but passionate crowd had gathered, several sporting Massive t-shirts from the 2014 and 2016 shows.

All credit to these boys, they played with as much passion and enthusiasm as if they were playing to five thousand folk instead of to less than a hundred rock fans plus half of Ben Laguda’s Scottish relatives.

Massive opened their ninety minute “set” (and I use the term loosely here) with Blood Money Blues, from their 2016 album Destination Somewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTUq1p9p8d0

Since I last saw these guys there has been a line up re-shuffle and this was the first chance I’d had to check out their new bass player and drummer. All four members of the band were in good form. Ben was in a particularly mischievous mood all night. (Maybe we should be thankful he only “mooned” us once!) As ever at a Massive show, the beer was flowing as fast as the music.

Part way through the set, post -Ben pee break, front man Brad Marr disappeared to the side to pull on a Scottish top. Sorry, Brad, it was neither a football top nor a rugby top but was a nice touch. Personally, I preferred the Saltire flag cape circa Oct2014.

The set proved to be quite fluid – Ben encouraged his bandmates to play a bit of The Proclaimers 500Miles (twice). We had a brief bit of Vanilla Ice rapping then a snatch of Under Pressure by Queen after an ice cube incident thanks to the mischievous Mr Laguda. Massive also played three awesome covers. I’ll come back to the third one in a moment but their renditions of Highway Star and Immigrant Song were brilliant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwGIcxFg3R0

Two of my favourite songs made the set, both from the band’s debut album Full Throttle. Dancefloor got everyone moving, including Boy Child. Great party rock song. Highlight for me is always Ghost  – I freely admit it….I love this song! Although, thanks to the arrival of a round of Jagerbombs on stage, it did dissolve into chaos in the middle. Here check it out for yourself as the vibe here sums up the whole show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1kM_XfcOUU

Glasgow was treated to a couple of new songs from the band’s forthcoming third album Rebuild Destroy. Loved Long Time Coming and current sing Roses.

Sadly, all good things have to come to an end (before the beer runs out) and Massive rounded the night off with a rousing version of ACDC’s Highway To Hell.

As we made our way back to the stations, Boy Child and I debated whether we had been to a gig or a party. Either way, it was awesome!

Hurry back, boys!