On Monday night I boarded the 525 to Glasgow accompanied by Mr A. The weather Gods were shining on us. The sun was shining!

Our destination for the evening was the city’s O2 Academy. The walk down there was almost pleasant.

Who were we off to see?

Atlanta’s finest, Blackberry Smoke. This show had been a long time coming, having been postponed from 2022.

The rail Gods were also smiling on us, and we got a nice wee spot just left of centre. Happy days!

There was only one support act for the evening – the Read Southall Band who hail from Oklahoma. These guys, fronted by Read Southall, were a new name to me and may have the honour of being the first band from Oklahoma that I’ve seen. They delivered a solid nine-song set over forty-five minutes and definitely fit into the same niche as the headliners – too country to be rock; too rock to be country.

High Speed Feed – Read Southall Band @ O2 Academy Glasgow 27/03/23 – YouTube

Check them out for yourselves and make your own mind up.

It had been four long years plus a few months since Blackberry Smoke had played Glasgow, but Glasgow certainly hadn’t forgotten about them. The show was a sell-out! There was a buzz in the air.

At 8:55 the lights dimmed, and the crowd went wild as the intro tape played. The familiar intro to Six Ways to Sunday rang out, the lights went up and Blackberry Smoke were there in full flow. The fans were ecstatic and in full voice right from the get go. Brilliant start! (Ok I may be slightly biased as Six Ways to Sunday is one of my favourites)

Six Ways To Sunday (set opener ) – Blackberry Smoke @ O2 Academy Glasgow 27/03/23 – YouTube

One thing is for sure, Blackberry Smoke didn’t shortchange their fans. They played a full two hour set that ran to some twenty-one songs. The set was a great mix of songs from their entire back catalogue.

There were too many highlight moments to call them all out here.

Let It Burn form 2016’s Like An Arrow album was definitely up there as one of the key fan favourites.

Let It Burn – Blackberry Smoke @ O2 Academy Glasgow 27/03/23 – YouTube

Sleeping Dogs with its extended mid-song meander through Tom Petty’s Don’t Come Around Here No More was a song to lose yourself in. Stunning stuff.

Sleeping Dogs – Blackberry Smoke @ O2 Academy Glasgow 27/03/23 – YouTube

At the start of No Way Back To Eden,  from the Holding All The Roses album, frontman  Charlie Starr  introduced the band members to the crowd, starting from as he put “the handsome side”. What an outpouring of love and support for Brit Turner, who is battling illness. We love you, Brit!

No Way Back To Eden is a gorgeous song and it was great to see it in the set.

No Way Back To Eden – Blackberry Smoke @ O2 Academy Glasgow 27/03/23 – YouTube

My personal favourite of the night was the beautiful Sunrise In Texas. Love it!

Blackberry Smoke rounded out the main body of their set with Old Scarecrow before returning to the stage for a two song encore featuring two more of my favourites- Shakin’ Hands With The Holy Ghost and Ain’t Much Left Of Me.

Awesome show! Good for the soul.

Don’t leave it so long next time, boys. We love you all!