Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is a salute, a score with destiny which must be paid in full, a dignity that is a duty to be acknowledged from the fans that have been thrilled by the Scottish band Deacon Blue, thrilled and electrified by their presence on stage, and that duty is perhaps, outside of Glasgow, never more settled than when Ricky Ross, Lorraine McIntosh, and the group come to Liverpool, a city dear to the hearts of many, cherished responsibly by Deacon Blue.

For as long as the Echo Arena has been played a prominent part in the big night out, so Deacon Blue have been integral of that genetic make-up that has flourished and bloomed before the people of Liverpool, then again for over thirty years Deacon Blue have found a special bond with the fans in the city, the gigs over the last decade inside the arena have just been the icing on the cake, a symbolic relationship that seems no sign of slowing down and arguably a place which one of the first to be nailed on the list, fitting for the band’s titled To Be Here Someday tour.

To be here someday, for the many thousands who braved the horrendously biting wind that had gripped the Mersey River and its banks during the waking hours of Saturday, that day was undoubtedly always going to be looked forward to, the advent calendar having several rings of increasing density around them, never mind the small treat behind the door, this was a night when Chocolate Girl mixed freely with the Queen of the New Year on this,  wages of love and celebration day.

A thirty-year salute, a storm of audience cheer as songs such as Rain Town, Love and Regret, The Hipsters, Real Gone Kid, The Believers, Twist and Shout, I Was Right And You Were Wrong, and Your Town took the incredibly, and deservedly, hyped-up crowd on a journey through their own time, their own passions and watched as it all spilled out over the rows and minds of all inside the Echo Arena with generous electricity sparking and blowing the dance shoes completely off, left to sing out loud at every possible moment.

It would be virtually impossible to say how the tour would have been greeted in another town, but in Liverpool Deacon Blue reign supreme, the music always cool, forever huge, in a world of pop and blues influence, of keen-eyed observation, this is a night of Christmas carols in which the Queen of the New Year implored all to get loose and get in the spirit; an anniversary waltz in which Deacon Blue were the masters of all they stood before.

Ian D. Hall