Steven Lindsay

Review of Steven Lindsay gig in herald 15 march 2005
Steven Lindsay, The Arches, Glasgow - The Herald

THOUGH 14 years have elapsed since the demise of Lindsay's great, unfulfilled band, The Big Dish, and his first tentative steps as a solo artist, there are striking similarities in both the sound and performance. Minus a drummer, but with a visual backdrop of speeded up cityscapes, Lindsay, pictured, spends the majority of the show behind a keyboard, singing his way beautifully through the batch of songs that make up his recent album, Exit Music.

Nerves brought on by the occasion accentuate an already uncomfortable stage presence, but, strangely, it is a technical mishap at the start of Breakdown which appears to set things on an even course.

It is an archetypal Lindsay song: piano-laden, melodic and relentlessly bleak in its lyrical outlook. If this is a well that is extensively drawn on, then many of the highlights come when he deviates from type. Solo renditions of Valentine and Goodnight are a reminder of the depth and power of Lindsay's voice, which matches the soulfulness of his Blue Nile contemporary, Paul Buchanan.

Elsewhere, Submarine is a resplendent pop song, and, though its layered arrangement is slightly clumsy in a live context, Butterfly is an ambitious and brilliant conceit.

Some latter-day Big Dish songs - Miss America and Warning Sign - make an appearance, but while there is no doubting their pop credentials, hearing them 14 years later finds them walking a tightrope between timeless and time-warped.

The oldest song, Swimmer, is offered as an encore (along with a version of Help Me Make It Through The Night), but while Lindsay's strengths clearly lie in writing and arranging, he is now a creditable, quietly-accomplished performer as well.



also this from evening times today (17 march)

SOLO STAR: Steven Lindsay is back in action with a new album

FORMERLY of Scottish 80s nearly men The Big Dish, Lindsay was back in town to promote his debut solo release, Exit Music.

Kicking off with Birdsong, and despite a 13-year lay-off from the live arena, Lindsay's soaring vocal displayed almost effortless fragility and purity.

This was his first solo gig aside from a support to Deacon Blue at the Carling Academy and he admitted his nervousness to the audience.

Performing without a drummer, he reliant on technology to assist.

Unfortunately prior to the excellent Breakdown, it did-!

A full recovery was made however, and it was warming to hear new material such as Butterfly and November alongside such old Big Dish favourites as Warning Sign and the timeless Miss America.

An emotional Shoot The Breeze and Goodnight gave us an insight into the break up of Lindsay's marriage and demonstrated the depth and range of his voice.

But it wasn't until he got out from behind his piano and strapped on a guitar for Submarine that the audience really warmed up.