I’m not going to beat around the bush here, Cameron Whitcomb played in Glasgow last night, and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a show like it. Some people are born to be on stage, and Whitcomb is exactly one of those people.
As an artist I’ve followed for a while, I’ll be honest, I gave up on the idea of getting to see him live – we find that as European fans that the artist we want to see does a ‘UK tour’ and it’s just… London, so imagine my excitement when I saw that Cameron Whitcomb would be doing a variety of dates, including Glasgow AND bringing along the insanely talented Crowe Boys.
Originally taking place in Saint Lukes, due to high demand, the show was upgraded the day it was released to SWG3 and proceeded to sell out once again – proof that Whitcomb fans are desperate for a show.
Opening the night was The Crowe Boys, whom I recently caught at The Long Road Festival in Leicestershire, and their voices truly blew me away. There’s something about their honesty in their music that just hits you hard. I remember where ” Where Did I Go Wrong came onto my TikTok homepage, and I’ve been following them ever since. A few months out from the release of their debut album, Made to Wander, the band took to the SWG3 stage to play a few tracks and get the crowd hyped up for Cameron. It’s so refreshing to hear more folk-influenced Americana touring over here; hopefully, this is the start of The Crowe Boys visiting Scotland more often.
Watching Cameron on social, there is no denying this man has energy – but watching him burst onto the stage in Scotland – wow. There is nothing that I can write to explain the vibe this man brings to a stage. Truly incredible.
With a whole band behind him, Cam kicked off with the tour named track Hundred Mile High which had the crowd roaring. Getting straight into his setlist, he followed with My Expense, which, after seeing Evan Honer, who he wrote this with, play at Oran Mor the other week, it was great to hear the other half of the track live too, and Shoot Me Dead.
I cannot stress enough, Cameron Whitcomb’s voice blew me away – I knew he had a good voice, but wow, hearing it live? Truly goosebumps. The flexibility in his performance is insane – doing backflips whilst singing and running across the stage? WOW.
Teenage Dirtbag was the perfect cover for Whitcomb and had the SWG3 crowd singing from start to finish, along with The Hard Way and The Devil I’ve Seen before taking things down a notch for an acoustic section, which, to this day, I STILL have goosebumps.
Starting with a track he wrote for his grandpa, Rocking Chair, it was genuinely hard not to keep a dry set of eyes. Call For You, which is his unreleased track, dedicated to his mum was honestly faultless along with Flower Tattoos, dedicated to his late friends – I hope that in years to come we get a Cameron Whitcomb acoustic album because truly, one of the most incredible voices I’ve heard live – and may I add, this is my 41st gig of the year.. so, you can safely agree I’ve heard a lot of live gigs this year to compare to…
Welcoming his band back onto the stage, Fragile and Bad Apple had the audience singing along – I, too, may have been singing along to Bad Apple a little too much… Forgive me, it was amazing!
The evening honestly flew by, Cameron has a stage aura that many artists would wish to have – chatting with the crowd about his journey to sobriety, creating tracks and the making of songs like Options, Medusa – we loved every second. After a very brief encore, Cameron returned with an acoustic guitar to play his iconic track Quitter, before grabbing an electric guitar and smashing it live on stage and puncturing a drum set. This man is iconic, and honestly, I’m praying plans for another UK tour are already in motion because that show was sensational. The energy, the voice, the lyrics and the way he can have an audience in the palm of his hand from start to finish – perfection.
Review by Lauren Page
Photographs by James Edmond Photography
