Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In the words of the Beastie Boys, You gotta fight for your right to party, or on the hottest day of the year so far, you have got to take in as much as can and hope that the experience is worth writing home about, that your memories of the music is such as that it rings across the space between the audience and the band with grace and with the heart beating wildly and in tune.

In Gun, memories and realisation are entwined tightly, the memory of a great band perhaps cut short but wonderfully re-established was surely high in the thoughts of those who braved the notion of tight sweat and heat inside the Indigo at the O2 and who would have been tantalised by the re-emergence of the Scottish band.

If you are not having fun when performing then there is something obviously wrong, if you can smile and feel the world is urging you on to even greater heights then the result is one of buoyancy, the art of progression ensured and the evening one of upheld belief; for Gun, this was very much the latter, the spark of energy powerful and illuminating and the memories, those times in which are sacred to any fan of music, was found to be true and worthy of the new album which was announced during the set.

As the band took on the afternoon heat inside the Indigo, tracks such as She Knows, Don’t Say It’s Over, Hold Your Head Up, Favourite Pleasures, Shame On You, and the two tremendous covers on offer, Cameo’s Word Up and The Beastie Boys’ anarchic and bruising anthem (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) were greeted with wild enthusiasm throughout the tightly packed hall and given the respect they fully deserved.

Time may have moved on, time may be ever fluid but for some bands, despite the years in between, the vision that they can command an audience’s attention so well is to be admired. A great set by a giant of Scottish Rock, a timely reminder that nothing stays away forever if it is loved enough.

Ian D. Hall