Gruff ain't rough!
Glasgow may be a city with its fair share of space cadets and rockets but when Gruff Rhys came on stage dressed as a pilot accompanied with an air hostess, you knew the frontman was setting the scene for an out of the ordinary night.
As Gruff and his assistant stepped inside the large television screen to start the show, the 3D glasses may not have been needed to point out that a spectacle was up for grabs. Like support act Euros Childs, Rhys holds an amazing ear for melodies, regardless of whatever language he chooses to sign in.
'Candylion' from the similarly titled album is no more or less entrancing than any of the Welsh language songs played throughout but the lyrics do make it easier to grab a hold of and try to sing along with. There may be some who say that there is little difference between a fluent Welshman or a drunken Scotsman but there was a lot of admiration for the solo Furry.
There's an electronic edge with beeps and glitches throughout the show, which mesh well with the more traditional folky and acoustic side that Gruff is playing. This will come as no surprise to fans of Gruff's main band, one of the best bands for mixing genres and playing around with styles. The solo show may have more of a focus on the particularly quiet or downbeat stuff than the Furries do, but little elements of musical freedom still seep through during the evening.
With album epic 'Skylon!' dominating the close of the show with its impending boom, the set may have come at the end of a long and eclectic evening but a rapturous send-off from the audience indicated that Gruff had come out on top.