poppedmusic

Cast

Glasgow, December 11th 2014

Words: Gary Feeney

Still touring almost twenty years on from their debut album, it’d be fair to say Cast are one of Britpop’s greatest survivors. Releasing All Change in 1995, Cast proceeded to enjoy great commercial success over the next few years with subsequent albums Mother Nature Calls and Magic Hour following the debut release into the top 10 and spawning a string of equally successful singles before splitting up in 2001 after the commercial flop of fourth effort Beetroot. After spending the remainder of the decade on a number of solo projects and a brief reunion with Lee Mavers and the La’s in 2005, lead singer, songwriter and general fulcrum John Power reconvened his band for a 15th anniversary All Change tour which was followed by Cast’s fifth studio album Troubled Times which failed to even enter the charts.

Unperturbed by the lack of interest in their new music, Cast have been regulars on the touring circuit over the last few years, almost entirely, it has to be said, on the basis of their early work. It’d be easy to describe them as a nostalgia act, but on entering the main hall of tonight’s venue, there was a sizeable section of the crowd evidently too young to be here reliving their youth.

After a somewhat underwhelming opener, a double salvo of Promised Land and Sandstorm coaxed the beginnings of a reaction from the crowd followed by Fine Time, the song, according to Power in a rare interaction with his audience, “that got us started”. Beat Mama comes next with its irresistible groove, a song which highlights Power’s knack for a catchy, addictive hook.

The first time the crowd really comes to life is with Four Walls which sparks an avalanche of the sing-a-long acoustic anthems which Cast so excel at, including I’m So Lonely  and Live The Dream although predictably it is the classic Walkaway which gets the biggest cheers of the night. Cast returned to their slightly “heavier” numbers after this with Flying including the rather bizarre sight of one overly-enthusiastic punter pulling his mate to the floor off of someone else’s shoulders so that the three can have a hug. A rousing rendition of Guiding Star followed, with Free Me proceeding to close the set.

It had been a set with plenty to enjoy so far, even if there were at times an element of “by numbers” to it, but at this point the night took something of a downward turn, which turned up to be further exacerbated the day after the gig. After the closing track, the roadies returned to the stage to tune up the guitars, something which seemed to take exceedingly long to the growing frustration of the crowd (one wag suggested that he had heard “they couldn’t play on any more as the drummer got a skelf”) with background music eventually being played suggesting some sort of technical issue; eventually though, the lights went up to boos from those who had hung around long enough waiting on the band returning.

It was hard not to feel a bit disappointed leaving the venue, especially considering arguably Cast’s finest moment, Alright, hadn’t yet been played, but that feeling increased upon reading John Power’s Twitter moans that “the crowd didn’t shout loud enough for an encore” followed by a few rants at people who questioned this attitude and the assertion that he “owes fans nothing”. Whilst it’d be churlish to say this wasn’t a good gig (whilst it lasted), a band trading on past glories and charging £20 for the privilege may come in time to find that in reality, they DO owe their fans a full set containing their best songs.