Words and photos by Darren Grayer.
The Southampton Summer Sessions kicked off in fine style last night (12/6/26) with a stirring performance by Scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald.
After a week of pretty dull and inclement weather, luckily things took a turn for the better, with the sun beaming all over Guildhall Square as it welcomed ten nights of live music.
Amy’s fellow countryman Cammie Barnes was given the honour of kicking things off and he obliged in fine style with a high tempo set of songs that combined contemporary country rock with traditional Scottish influences, and his interaction with the crowd between songs ensured their engagement and must have made him feel very welcome on his first visit to Southampton.
Liverpool has a fine history of producing bands with a strong penchant for writing timeless guitar-influenced pop and rock. I mean, everyone can name at least one, can’t they?
The Coral can quite rightly take their place within that history, and since releasing their self titled debut and Mercury Prize nominated album in 2002, another twelve albums of great consistency have since been released, with the latest, 388, hitting the shelves a couple of weeks ago.
Those albums have spawned numerous hit singles, making them among the finest British guitar bands of this century. Trying to cram a career defining set into 45 minutes would present anyone trying to write a set list with a few scratches of the head, but the band did their best. Pass It On, Jaqueline, In The Rain, Lover Undiscovered and In The Morning are absolute gems coated in 60s psychedelic/beat pop goodness. They even managed to find a place for a cover of The Doors’ People Are Strange as they fairly rattled through their set before ending with third single Dreaming Of You, which saw the crowd singing along before showing their appreciation for the band as they left the stage. So good to see them back in Southampton!
With the sun slowly disappearing behind the Guildhall, headliner Amy MacDonald made her way to the stage to rapturous applause, proudly wearing her Scotland football shirt, before getting straight into things with the appropriately named title track from her latest album, Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For?
We were three songs in before Amy finished Hudson by starting to engage with her audience, but once she did, she shared her delight in being there, and the only place she’d swap it for right now, is Boston, to watch her beloved national team kick off their world cup campaign. With six studio albums under her belt, MacDonald headed back to her 2007 debut for Mr Rock & Roll, which is a great example of the bittersweet folk rock she does so well. Spark, taken from the follow up, 2010s Curious Thing, and Fire from 2020s The Human Demands are rousing anthems that were enhanced by the colourful images being projected onto the huge stage backdrop.
In a light hearted moment Amy tried to get the crowd to singalong, and mentioned the people at her gig in Portsmouth did a far better job of it when she played there a while back, drawing a pretty mixed reaction from them, which she answered by stating – “ You don’t need to tell me about rivalry, I‘m from Glasgow!”
She also became wary of the fact there is a strict curfew in place for 10.30pm, so it was quickly on with the tunes, and the set continued with a lovely intensity that accompanied her strong voice.
Slow It Down saw MacDonald call for more audience participation, and they obliged with backing vocals ringing all around Guildhall Square.
Poison Prince is an out and out riff laden rocker that’s a clear crowd favourite, but Amy MacDonald saved the best till last with her global hit This Is the Life, still sounding glorious nearly twenty years on.
With time rapidly running out, the band were straight into material usually saved for an encore. Barrowland Ballroom saw Amy MacDonald pay homage to her iconic home city venue of the same name. It made for a stunning visual experience with a huge and colourful mural with Barrowland written across the backdrop behind her, and who knows, it may well have provided the inspiration to start a career in music, so Let’s Start A Band from her debut album was a totally fitting end to a hugely uplifting and exhilarating set of songs that saw rapturous applause and cheers from every part of Guildhall Square.
A great start to this year’s TK Maxx presents Southampton Summer Sessions and if this is the shape of things to come for the next ten days, then those attending are in for a treat.
- In Common is not for profit. We rely on donations from readers to keep the site running. Could you help to support us for as little as 25p a week? Please help us to carry on offering independent grass roots media. Visit: https://www.patreon.com/incommonsoton
See more photos from Friday night:
Photos: Amy Macdonald headlines opening night of Southampton Summer Sessions