Review: Garry Tallent, Oran Mor

Garry W Tallent, bass player with Bruce Springsteen, on stage at Oran Mor, Glasgow (Pic: Cath Ruane)

But when your name is on the ticket and you’ve put the band together, then the spotlight finally beckons.

Garry Tallent may have spent four decades on E Street with Bruce Springsteen - he has never missed a show with The Boss - but he’s also a producer and songwriter in his own right, and he’s on the road to promote his debut album.

The Break Time tour is Tallent returning to his roots with some timeless 50s infused rock ‘n’ roll, and playing live in the sort of small venues he and Springsteen rolled up at all those decades ago.

And he’s having a ball.

This is the music he grew up with.

At a hot and busy Oran Mor on Saturday, Tallent and his band squeezed on to the stage and delivered the whole of the album in a set that had its musical roots in that 50s rockabilly sound that remains timeless.

The covers dovetailed neatly too - Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Southside Johnny, Carl Perkins, and a rare Levon Helm track, Move To Japan, to wrap it all up before the curfew kicked in - as, save for a song written for Clarence Clemons’ second album, there were no E Street references at all.

There were anecdotes to go with some of the tracks, underlining the sheer scope of Tallent’s work away from E Street, and the whole night was simply a blast; music played for the sheer, genuine joy of it.

His Scottish sojourn which started in Ettrickbridge concludes in Kinross tonight (Monday) - a rare opportunity to meet an E Street legend on your doorstep.