Adam Ant & The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Possé @ O2 ABC, Glasgow 27th November 2011

The ABC wasn't filled to capacity, maybe due to the fact Adam had played the Academy south of the river earlier this year or maybe due to the evil weather, no matter, there were still enough present to give the atmosphere a buzz.

Adam & his possé arrived onstage and ripped into "Plastic Surgery" to the delight of the crowd quickly followed by "Dog Eat Dog" (one of my favourites). "Beat My Guest" was next as Adam slowly warmed up. He was making some sharp angular shapes with a fair degree of intensity and grimacing at the crowd in quite a confrontational way as the well drilled Possé that were backing him churned out the quality material. ""Kick!", "Car Trouble" & "Zerox" followed before a malevolent "Ants Invasion" was launched at the Adam disciples. Adam seemed to be wrestling the sound out from his guitar as he strangled it with purpose and then we were treated to the "Lovely" contingent of his Possé as his two girl backing singers came out for "Deutscher Girls". They stayed for "Stand And Deliver" (a big crowd fave judging from the reaction - I guess that was to be expected though) and "Puss In Boots". These last two songs really showed that Adam's voice is still as good as ever, I was impressed!

The girls then left to change their outfits as Adam was really getting into his stride with "Kings Of The Wild Frontier", I could tell he really put his all into this one as he was gasping for breath after it. Then we got the acoustic tinged "Wonderful" followed by a distinctly James Bond riffed new song "Vince Taylor". While performing this one Adam brought out a little stutter shuffle type dance that actually fitted the song pefectly. I've got to say I really enjoyed the new one and will check out the new album when I can if that's a reasonable example of what to expect. Then Adam introduced "Whip In My Valise" as "a love song and my personal favourite" before the girls came back, one dressed as a French Maid and the other in an electric blue hotpants suit, "very nice" most of the chaps in the audience agreed. The girls were to stay for the rest of the main set with comprised of "Desperate But Not Serious", "Ant Music" where the twin drummers really earned their pay, "Cleopatra" which Adam wrote for Liz Taylor apparently, "Never Trust A Man (with Egg On His Face)", "Goody Two Shoes", "Vive Le Rock" and "Christian D'or" before rounding off the main set with "Lady" ("based on a true story as most of my songs are" Adam confesses) and the high energy "Fall In".

It was obvious to all that there would be encores, indeed I'd seen the set-list while photographing in the pit and was surprised at how many were lined up! True enough, he was coaxed back onstage, it would've been hard to stop him I reckon, and he was straight into "Red Scab". Oh, by the way, the girls had changed yet again, well, I say "changed" but "had removed more clothing" would be more accurate, again, no complaints from the male portion of the crowd. One member of security was totally mesmerised by the girls and watched open mouthed and drooling but I won't mention names here just to be fair to Davy! "Prince Charming" was next, the crowd loved it but I never particularly enjoyed it originally and tonight was the same. Then we got "Fat Fun" before a mini T-Rex medley of "Get It On" and "20th Century Boy" which, to be honest, were top-bloody-notch! And then we arrived at the last song "Physical (You're So)" where Adam slated Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails for ruining his song "this is how it's supposed to be played" he spat before starting the extended version of it. He then thanked the crowd and left the stage. Some people hung around a little longer just in case he came back to play even more but I reckon 2 hours plus is enough for anyone to play, I mean, virtually every base was covered and not many artists play longer than an hour and a half absolute tops so it was expecting a little much to be honest.

After all of his (very) highs and (extreme) lows throughout his career and the obvious problems his medical condition has posed I was wondering if he still "had it". Well, I can state, without fear of contradiction that Adam DOES still have it - in spades. A fantastic showman, an incredible voice (still) and a vast back catalogue that can't fail to win everyone who goes to see him these days over. For my Scottish pals who are fans but may have have missed out so far this year don't forget he's playing the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh on the 11th December - don't miss him again, go, have fun, you won't regret it and I may see you there (because I'm going again!).

Review by Fish