Paolo Nutini: Last Night In The Bittersweet Tour 14/12/2022

Where: OVO Hydro – Glasgow, Scotland (UK)

Venue rating: 10/10 (I don’t remember having any problems on this occasion)

Who I went with: Myself

Where I stayed: Renfrew Rooms at City Centre (a few doors down from my beloved Hampton Court Guesthouse. I love this place… There’s huge rooms, Netflix, tons of tea/coffee etc.)

How I travelled there: Walked there after a chill day in Glasgow

Beverage of choice: Cava then water

SETLIST:

Afterneath
Lose It
Scream (Funk My Life Up)
Let Me Down Easy
Acid Eyes
Stranded Words (Interlude)
Radio
Heart Filled Up
Better Man
Through The Echoes
Coming Up Easy
Petrified In Love
Pencil Full of Lead
Jenny Don’t Be Hasty / Teenage Kicks / New Shoes
Take Me Take Mine
Candy
Everywhere
Julianne (Encore)
Iron Sky (Encore)
Shine a Light (Encore)
Writer (Encore)

It was one of the coldest days ever. Unfortunately for me, all of the fog from yesterday was completely gone. I don’t know why I like it so much… It just has a magical/mystical feeling about it. Paul thought I was a weirdo when I expressed my love for it via WhatsApp. I don’t think I’d have such a glowing opinion of it if I was driving in it, however. I checked out of Hampton Court Guesthouse and, even though my second hotel was just down the street, I decided to carry my backpack with me until check-in time instead of trying to figure out how to store it with them. You can’t access this new hotel, Renfrew Rooms at City Centre (although it has a variety of names online), without a key. There is a convoluted way of storing your bag with them in a separate building and having to look at a camera so it recognises your face etc. but I decided to not give myself a headache and just went places I could sit down and rest now and again. I had the whole day to myself, which was nice. Quite the opposite from yesterday. After that nightmare bus journey, I didn’t want to hop straight back on another one that had a 9/10 chance of breaking down or being delayed. If I went home that quickly, it would barely have felt like I even stepped foot in Glasgow. It’s one of my favourite cities and I’m happy I had so many chances to explore it in 2022.

I had breakfast at the hotel about 8:30am and soon headed off to explore. Sorry Paul but I still think potato scones are the worst part of a full breakfast and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind. I wandered around the shops and got extra clothing, since I didn’t originally expect to stay two nights. I have a habit of over-packing, so I didn’t need much. I forgot to pack a toothbrush, though. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me! I bring toothpaste and my retainer but forget the toothbrush – it makes no sense. The Tesco near the hotel is so handy for blunders like this. I’m very happy it exists and I’m sure people who are as disorganised as me feel the same way. I stumbled across a Pret and watched the world go by for a while as I devoured my coffee and chomped away at my pain au raisin. I read all about the accidents the day before and shared the articles with my mum, dad and Paul. It was hard to find any information on the Greenloaning accident. I only discovered articles about the queues of traffic and the horrible delays caused by it. Sometimes terrible accidents happen and then you never hear anything about them again, it’s so strange.

I decided to go to the cinema to pass the time, as I was surprisingly impatient waiting for check-in at 3pm. I think it’s because I was tired and the weather was baltic. I went to the Vue cinema inside St. Enoch shopping centre to see ‘Matilda The Musical’. I debated going elsewhere to see ‘Elf’ or ‘Home Alone’ to get more in the Christmas spirit but I’ve already seen them a thousand times each and some of the cinema prices around Glasgow are steep. I opted for this one because I love Matilda (the book and 90’s movie) and had never seen the musical version of it. For the most part, West-End musicals are pretty good and you can’t really go wrong with them. I went in with an open mind, knowing it would probably differ a lot from the original story. It was annoying because I knew it would be released on Netflix soon anyway but I was quite glad I went as the seats were comfy and it was quiet enough to enjoy the experience without any interruptions. But this isn’t a movie blog, it’s supposed to be about Paolo Nutini!

I had some Cava in the hotel and watched a couple episodes of ‘Wednesday’ on Netflix before heading out. Even though I had all day to get ready, I ended up cutting it fine in the end. I think once I was settled inside I didn’t want to go back out to brave the cold again. It was better this time, as I didn’t have to hurry to get a good view as I had purchased a seat. I was in Section 224, in the front row. I was delighted this seat was still available and thought it would be an ideal location because I’d have an unobstructed view. How wrong was I! I didn’t care the glass barrier got in the way sometimes but I DID care about people constantly pushing past me to get more food/drinks. Because I was in the front row, people were coming down the steps to walk past our row to get to the exit, instead of going up and around without bothering anyone, like civilised people. These people were from all over the place, not even just our section. I was getting up every two minutes to let people pass, which was extremely frustrating. For this reason, I would never book a seat in the front aisle again.

There was also a woman behind me who talked the entire time! I’m not exaggerating. It was like the Elton John concert at Madison Square Garden all over again. I shot her a nasty look (which is rare for me because I despise confrontation) but of course it made no difference. I attempted to take a video/recording of ‘Acid Eyes’ as a keepsake but when I listen back all I can hear is her yammering all the way through it. She wasn’t even discussing the concert – which wouldn’t have been much more excusable, anyway. I just don’t understand people sometimes. Why go in the first place if you’re not even going to listen? She was really loud, so must have known she would be annoying everyone around her who paid to listen to Paolo Nutini and not her. I saw on Twitter someone paid over £60 for a seat even further away than mine (I don’t know how, when I paid under £30) and the stage was completely obscured by a sign on the glass. You’d think the people in charge of putting the sign there would have taken its placement into consideration.

I went to get myself a “sausage and chips supper” and a glass of water to wash it down as inexpensively as possible. It was really nice, actually. I was expecting it to be super over-priced and bland but it wasn’t bad at all. Well, the water was about £2.50 but you would expect that at a place like this. I was glad I finished it before people took their seats next to me, as I feel insecure eating in front of people. I try not to be completely rude, like a lot of others in the arena who clearly don’t care about negatively impacting other people’s enjoyment. I made it in time to see the entirety of the opening act this time, Lizzie Reid. To be honest, I remember next to nothing about them. I’m just rarely a fan of starter acts… Bands are a lot more engaging when you already know their music well, in my opinion. There are rare exceptions, like Half Alive and Sam Fender – who I knew very little about before seeing live. They’re an up and coming local band from Glasgow who are obviously showing a lot of promise since they were selected to open for PN (a great privilege) – I just can’t remember any of their tracks. Maybe I’ll get an opportunity to see them again and refresh my memory.

The crowd was much more full of life tonight and PN was revelling in it. I don’t know if after the first night a lot of the “stick in the mud” people just decided not to come, or what. The atmosphere was noticeably a lot better, even though people weren’t exactly leaping out of their seats and dancing around. One particularly stern looking man near me was sitting with his arms crossed the entire time (probably after being dragged there by his wife) but even he started nodding his head to the music by the end. The concert started off similarly to the night before and then the song order was mixed up a little and new ones were added in. I was especially excited to hear the ones he hadn’t performed last night – though he still didn’t do ‘These Streets’ or ‘Last Request’! It was nice to hear the more obscure numbers, however. ‘Julianne’ was a quiet/gentle song he played delicately on the piano. You could almost hear a pin drop, everyone was listening so intently. He built ‘Writer’ (the final song) up a lot as a song he never plays live, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought it was a strange choice to end the show on as it meant he didn’t really go out with a bang but, like I said, it’s always nice to hear the lesser played/more unusual songs. The more hardcore fans were singing along and seemed to appreciate it but I didn’t know the words.

PN was full of energy all night and stood to sing nearer the barrier this time around, delighting fans. He even leapt off the stage and climbed up on to the barrier (under the watchful eye of the security people) to greet eager fans. I wondered why he didn’t do this the previous night, this more personal interaction with fans. Did he realise the atmosphere soured after his controversial political remarks, after all? He thanked the crowd profusely for being so excellent and the intimacy seemed like a big “thank you” for not standing there in silence like many people the night before. People were singing along a lot more tonight, especially to the chorus of ‘Pencil Full of Lead’. I don’t know if that was really the case, or if I could just hear the full arena better from the height I was at this time around. I heard some complaints about the sound quality but I had no problems with it at all and found it to be crystal clear. I appreciated the medley more tonight, since I had time to digest the revamped versions of his classics. I still think the original ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’ is far superior but I’m stubborn and used to the sound of the original.

I don’t remember any particular stand-out moments. He was very professional tonight (though still sporting a casual/carefree t-shirt and jeans combo) and didn’t do or say anything to upset anybody, which was already a vast improvement. I enjoyed this night a lot more because I wasn’t rushed for time or harassed by unreliable public transport. In case you are wondering, YES my bus broke down on the way back home the following day! I’ll never travel in winter again, if I can help it. I like PN but I feel I forced myself to have a better time than I really would have had, to make up for the horrific journey there. He was excellent though and evidently a talented musician and singer/songwriter. I look forward to seeing what else he has up his sleeve and I hope he doesn’t wait so long to tour again the next time around. There was a lengthy eight year gap between ‘Caustic Love’ and this new album, ‘Last Night In The Bittersweet’. There was a lot of speculation over that time where he had gone or what he was up to – if he had quit music for good or not. He did pop up now and again to perform songs in bars etc. to my knowledge, so was never gone gone. If I ever see him again I’ll make sure to jot down some notes, so my next blog is more cohesive! All in all, the first two nights of the five shows were brilliant and his voice is totally captivating. I love listening back to the performances on YouTube and admiring how well he performs live and caters to the crowd. He also smiles a lot and I can tell you it’s contagious! The rest of the shows went smoothly too, as far as I can make out. He even added a Christmas song to the setlist in one of the later shows!

GALLERY: