GUN at The Borderline

The word “intimate” gets thrown around a lot at concerts, but that is definitely the sense heading down the stairs of The Borderline for GUN. The band’s greatest hit was, strangely, a cover of Cameo’s Word Up!: a funk tune they took apart and mashed with their own hard rock style back in the mid-90s. Red velvet walls, flowing beer and a host that seems to know the first few rows by name instantly make the gig feel like a family get-together. Even as the band walk out, it seems as if the crowd are here to see their mates perform. And that’s the strength of GUN’s performance, that close link with the audience means that each song the band throws out will be thrown back with a football crowd-like response.

The Glasgow-based rockers run through a set spanning twenty years of oldies and newbies, heavy rock to their new pop-rock sound. Equally pleased with both, the band’s extended London family either passionately head bang or awkwardly wave air-guitars around in response. The band start out intensely, leaving no time for cheers before they leap into Let it Shine and straight onto One Wrong Turn. All the while, guitarist Johnny McGlynn looks like he’s in a world of his own, standing on the edge of the stage, rolling his eyes and head and staring fiercely into the crowd. Both the vocalist Dante Gizzi and lead guitarist Giuliani Gizzi look like they’re in pain while playing the more intense cuts from their albums.

The family reunion element becomes somewhat uncomfortable as the band invite their manager onstage for their latest cover of Hot Chocolate’s Every1’s a Winner. Couple that with the kiss the singer gives every band member and person in the front row, along with the transition from Inside Out to a cover of The Police’s So Lonely, and there’s suddenly a laddish, karaoke night feel to the gig. The covers are really the best part of the set, and as GUN finish off they don’t forget to finish their pints and ask the crowd to buy the single, like one relative sponging off another.

Joseph Fraser
Photo: Kevin Nixon

For further information about GUN and future events visit here.

 

Watch the video for Every 1’s A Winner here: