Barrowland Ballroom. Glasgow.
22nd December 2018

My night was curtailed by TK Max Berghaus walking boots. BLISTERS! I danced so much during The Medicine Men and Stanley Odd. Stanley Odd I had seen before on the festival circuit so I knew to expect good quality Scottish Hip Hop.. The Medicine Men I had nae seen before. Being a Spiritual Healer the name of the band intrigued me. An emerging talent that took Rock N Roll inspiration from Rush, progressive and captivating.creating in unison a very satisfying Progressive Rock/Funk groove. The perfect opener for the nights proceedings.

Indeed, the morning before the gig, I had freshly dyed my hair flame red, Brought a ten year cycle of Healing Development to a satisfying conclusion, shaped my eyebrows, crimped my lush red hair and spent some quality time doing my make up. When one has healed as deeply as this and one knows that this feeling in my heart a quiet celebration and my date with The Mustards at the Barrowland Ballroom gave me an added incentive to look fabulous. I had time to pop in to see Amisa Neonova before I walked into town for my bus to Glasgow, My boots had created a blister the day before so bought some plasters, hmm its a new boots kind of thing. So I placed plasters in the appropriate places and two pairs of socks. By the time I got to the bus stop the plasters were failing in preventing the blisters from hurting. It was nice to get on the bus my hip was nipping a bit too (Old age and growing pains). I meditated throughout my lovely bus ride. Holding the love in The Barrowland. The morning before whilst sending distant healing I had asked the Angels to ground the love and heal the hearts of the people attending in the Barrowland Ballroom. It worked. ❤ The place was Bouncing. However the walk from Buchannon street to The Barrowland, having only been there once before I had a vague idea of where I was heading, Divine disnae have a fancy phone so I had to use old skool tech knowledge and asked people directions to get to my destination. I wanted to be at the venue in time for The Medicine Men so had hastened my pace. This was not proving fitting for comfy walking.The Blisters were bringing tears to my eyes. The Barrowland Ballroom’s Brilliant neon sign flashing its multicoloured Glory, I joined the queue and picked up my AAA All Areas. Pass, put my coat in the cloakroom, had a burger and a can of juice and headed to the ballroom.

I hit the Ballroom dancef loor bang on 7.30pm. To be delighted by The Medicine Men, proving to be the perfect warm up for Stanley Odd. Who thrilled the increasingly filling Barrowlands. inbetween bands DJ5 mixed classic rave keeping musical momentum and driving my dancing feet wild. I boogied with Angela Jack for a while. By the time Colonel Mustard took to the stage my right foot was so sore it hurt to move it. So I flashed my AAA pass and took a comfy seat at the back of the Ballroom on the riser. It was a perfect vantage point.

Having followed the rise of Colonel Mustard And The Dijon 5 for a number of years now, this would prove to be the 2nd time I have seen them take the Barrowland by storm. Both times filling the place with their loyal Yellow Army, inbetween the two times I have witnessed the live spectacular, This band have notched up the air miles both creatively and physically. Taking the show to be a Headliner at The Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party to headlining most of the Scottish festival circuit performing to increasingly bigger audiences. They have also taken the Yellow Movement to South Korea twice. So with a set of songs so well rehearsed, it would be impossible not to thrill the now capacity Ballroom fit to explode with anticipation of their heroes return. With DJ5’s opening banger The Dijon 5 took to the stage and the party went off.

The Mustards played their cannon beautifully, full of colour an inflatable bounciness, firing through all of their greatest songs. The Ballroom was full of Bouncing happy people singing along to all of the songs performed, word perfect. A testament to how greatly loved Colonel Mustard And The Dijon 5 are. This band of Angels donate a large proportion of Gig profits to worthwhile charities. Indeed a creative art performance spectacular that benefits all concerned. So it came as no surprise that they were inducted into The Barrowland Hall Of Fame last night. The audience went wild, the legendary sprung dance floor was bouncing. This was the ultimate feel good Gig, The 90 min performance time flew by but bye eck I’m glad I made the effort.

After the gig I was torn between the options of going to The Art School After Party or catching the 23.59 bus home. My blistered foot was dictating the flow. So I hobbled across Glasgow and got the bus back to Edinburgh. The boots are going back to TK Max.

5 Stars For the Performance.
0 stars For the Boots

Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Photography: Mundito