It was icy cold as Boy Child chauffeured Mr A and I up the M8 towards Glasgow for our final gig of the year. The traffic was no kinder than the weather but we finally parked at the science centre before continuing our journey to the OVO Hydro on foot.
So, who were we braving sub-zero temperatures to see?
The mighty Danes – Volbeat!
Fortunately, the queue to get into the arena was short as was the wait for doors to open at 6:30pm.
When we entered the arena bowl we were met by a huge horseshoe shaped runway that projected out from the stage to about two thirds of the way back across the floor. It seemed excessively huge and only served to split the crowd into three section, with the VIPS in the centre “posh” pit. (There were very few people in there at this point) we secured a spot one row off the rail halfway down one leg of the runway…right in front of two of the confetti cannons!
First band on stage for the evening were Napalm Death. That fact could explain the frighteningly low crowd numbers at this point. Thumper Principle duly applied, and we’ll move swiftly on….
The “posh pit” was still practically empty (there were 13 folk in it – Boy Child counted) so it wasn’t a surprise when a member of staff walked the barrier of the main standing arena passing out VIP wristbands in an attempt to fill it.
The people in front of us were given wristbands and left so we got our rail spots. Happy days!
By 8:00pm the crowd numbers had begun to increase. The lights dimmed and the Imperial March intro tape boomed out.
Skindred were in the room!
Almost instantly the atmosphere in the crowd sparked into life as Skindred opened their nine-song set with Stand for Something.
As frontmen go, Benji Webbe is up there with the best of the best. He oozes charisma and “cheeky” …Ok in your face! – charm!
Rat Race with a snippet of Wonderwall and a “Benny Hill” moment followed before Benji organised the crowd participation for the ever-popular That’s My Jam.
(note – there is rather colourful language in this video)
Another set highlight was Kill the Power.
Using the runway to its full potential, Skindred had the crowd fired up before closing out their all too short set with Warning and the obligatory “Newport helicopter” moment. Loved it!
The “posh pit” still wasn’t full…. Yup, you guessed it. A member of staff did a second sweep of the rail offering out VIP wristbands in a final attempt to fill it before the headliners came on. If I had been someone who had paid full price for the “posh pit”, I’d be somewhat disgruntled by now…. but I totally get that they couldn’t leave it with only about 100 folk in it. Perhaps the hint there is that an arena the size of the OVO Hydro didn’t need the massive runway in the first place. A short centre runway would have sufficed…..just saying…
At 9:20pm with still slightly disappointing crowd numbers, the lights dimmed once more. (In total the venue was perhaps half full and that includes seating)
Flashes of white light pulsed and the crowd erupted as Volbeat took to the stage to open their set with the mighty The Devil’s Bleeding Crown. Awesome set opener!
The Devil’s Bleeding Crown (show opener ) – Volbeat @ovohydro Glasgow 15/12/22 – YouTube
By the time Michael Poulsen stepped up to the mic to address the fans a few songs later, he had a confession. He was suffering badly from a heavy cold and begged the audience to help him out for the evening. As he started Lola Montez, it was clear that he was feeling the effects.
Both bassist Kasper Boye Larsen and guitarist Rob Caggiano were using the runway to full effect, covering a lot of ground during each song.
The stage itself, dwarfed by huge video screens showing live footage from the crowd and band thanks to several cameramen placed in the pit, seemed miles away. The whole set up left a bit of a disconnect between the crowd and the band in my humble opinion.
Last Day Under the Sun followed and was definite set highlight moment. Awesome song.
A couple of songs later and an acoustic guitar was strategically positioned behind the mic at the centre point of the runway. The bulk of the crowd however was behind it… Pausing to chat to the fans briefly about his young daughter’s taste in music, Michael treated us to a snatch of I Only Wanna Be With You before launching into the fan-favourite, Johnny Cash-esque Sad Man’s Tongue.
With his voice coming and going, the Scottish fans did their best for the rest of the night to help him out.
Volbeat closed off the main body of their set with Seal the Deal and The Devil Rages On.
Seal The Deal – Volbeat @ OVO Hydro Glasgow 15/12/22 – YouTube
As the confetti settled, Volbeat came back out for their encore. Much to my surprise, they delivered a four song encore (why not add a couple of those on the main set, guys?) opening it with Let It Burn and finally rounding the night off with Still Counting.
The cannons fired streamers out over the fans and I’m pretty sure Michael Poulsen was celebrating that he’d made it through their shortened set.
I may have come across as quite critical of this show but it was still a great night with Volbeat. I hope it was a combination of bad weather and the rail strike that led to the lowish numbers… Volbeat also came across as just a little road weary. It’s been a long run for them but the usual Volbeat energy was missing. I can’t help but feel if the show had been in Barrowlands with no runway it would have been a better night with a better atmosphere…just my humble opinion.
Covered in streamers and confetti we headed off back out into Narnia.
the525toglasgow 