WHEN THE grey-haired, pony-tailed bouncer at the Union sings the opening riff to Chelsea Dagger to you as you leave his bar, you begin to think that your friends may have been right when they called the Fratellis “that novelty Scottish band”.




Though performing with a flair and audacity that surpasses that expected from a novelty band with Jon Fratelli soloing thinking he’s Dave Gilmour and Mince Fratelli smashing at his drum kit like the best of that old school of unwashed Keith Moon-types, the Fratellis are missing something vital. They’re missing the essence of what they are all about.


And that’s the fun that their music essentially is. An encore of Baby Fratelli shouldn’t be the first time that the audience sits up and realises why they forked out the twenty quid for their ticket. That moment should have come much earlier with Jon’s swagger onto stage being accompanied by a heavily-accented, “Hello Glasgow.”




The stage and music were superb. They performed fantastically but it was as if the Fratelli’s didn’t realise they had an audience there to impress.



3/5