UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE

Glen is in Norway for an Up Close and Personal acoustic tour and I went to check it out.

The concert was held at a small club in the east end of Oslo. It was much smaller than I’d expected, but I was told that they wanted to keep the gigs close and personal. Glen arrived early and spent some time mingling with his fans like they were old friends. His approach to the fans was quite endearing and his easygoing nature was self-evident.

The concert started at 9.30pm and it was a keen audience that waited for the icon ex Pistol to perform. Glen entered the stage to an enthusiastic audience. He started out with Somewhere, Somehow. His voice is powerful and clear as he goes straight on to A Different World followed by Burning Sounds. The fans sing the lyrics and clap and he lifts the audience into an appreciative frenzy with his unplugged version of God Save The Queen. The set was well crafted and tight and included many aspects of his career so far.

This tiny venue in Oslo is a far cry from the huge gigs a star of his calibre is used to playing, but he is personal and charismatic and gets the audience to join in with the singing and involved with doing backing for him. At one point a guitar string breaks and I couldn’t believe how fast he changed it and tuned it and went straight in to the next song.

The audience is mainly in their 40’s and 50’s but there are a few younger people here too who seem to appreciate what Glen is giving them. The performance is strong and inspirational and the fans show their appreciation and no one wants it to end. It’s refreshing when an artist can perform so well with just a mike and a guitar, but then that’s probably what makes Glen great. Definitely a concert worth the price of the ticket.