Review - Midge Ure: Byre In The Botanics

But the weather could do nothing to dampen the spirits of the near capacity crowd on Saturday; everyone of them grateful for the perspex structure to sit back and enjoy a night rummaging in Ure’s catalogue of great music.

This was the final night of his ‘Something From Everything’ tour in which he set out to play at least one song from every album since 1978.

He’s performed the songs countless times, and also in acoustic and solo formats as well as with a band.

For 2017, Ure opted for acoustic guitar, violin and mandolin with a smattering of keyboards, courtesy of Cole Stacey and Joseph O’Keefe his support act, who also performed as India Electric Company.

It meant some re-working of some well known songs, but it worked well – and the gig was another perfectly curated choice for the Byre’s summer festival.

He threw in If I Was early on, and then wandered through his back catalogue, mixing solo stuff with his Ultravox years, each introduced with an anecdote – Vienna had the audience out of his seats for the first time, as did Reap The Wild Wind, while Lament was haunting, and there was a rare old sing-a-long to Fade To Grey, the classic 80s song he produced for Visage.

And by the time he wrapped it up with Dancing With Tears In My eyes, the entire audience was on its feet; the warmth of the show, the joy of the music winning hands down against the dreich Scottish summer weather.