Edwyn Collins

Ladies and gentlemen, the musical maestro Mister Edwyn Collins is in Town for one final time to tour his new album, Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation. It’s his tenth solo recording in all, since he left Orange Juice back in 1985 and first ventured out on his own.
Tonight is also the ninth night of his twelve-date tour and its rather fittingly titled as, The Testimonial Tour (a last lap around the UK).
There is already a lot of energy and eagerly anticipated excitement in the room amongst his avid followers as I enter the venue, this for a man that has had some profoundly serious health issues during the past twenty years in amongst his very accomplished career.
He is welcomed onto the stage with rapturous applause and hollering ringing around the venue as he shuffles over to his chair front centre of the stage. He says a polite hello and then just gets on with playing for the next couple of hours and from the off its fair to say that the room is rather enthusiastically buzzing its socks off.
Since his illness he has taught himself to speak again after he was left with barely being able to talk, his speech is still somewhat difficult, but it doesn’t stop him and my oh my does he come alive when he starts singing, it’s really quite incredible to witness. Every single song is introduced, and he articulately engages with the audience multiple times, and in these moments, we are hanging onto and treasuring his every spoken word.
Collins is a thoroughly charming man, a real distinguished troubadour of the British rock music scene these past forty plus years or so.
The set list is made up of both classic Orange Juice and solo tracks, and its songs like Gorgeous George, I Can’t Help Myself, Don’t Shill Shally and of course Rip It Up that really help to lift the soul and get the various ageing hips around the room to at least attempt to move in the right direction!
As the evening draws towards the end of the set, it’s fair to say there is plenty of shilly shallying going on, let me tell you!
He leaves the stage at the end of his biggest ever hit A Girl Like You, to more rapturous applause, it’s just like the eighties, when the crowd used to demand more if they’d had a great time. And much to my surprise, he and the band do come back for more, for another four songs all told, all of which help to bring the heart rate back down during the final twenty minutes following the very lively end to the main set.
When he does then once again leave the stage, he frantically waves goodbye with his walking stick swinging around his head in the air and right now it all feels very emotional, what an inspiration he is. There were I am sure a few moist eyes right there at the end in that moment.
There has been so much love and respect in the room tonight for such a notable talent, for a man that has become something of an icon of British music, he really is a national treasure.
It has been a great honour and a real privilege this evening to have spent it in such distinguished company, what a truly great performer and beautiful man Collins is as he bows out, for good, from playing live.
Big respect to you Mr Collins, please take a bow.