Originally published by L.S. Media. June 11th 2011.

For their legendary fans, The Bay City Rollers were a phenomenon without equal, their unique tartan look and boyish appeal made them every teenage girl’s favourite band and scenes of them at gigs have long stayed in the memory of those either lucky enough to get tickets to their concerts or to the multitude that waited long after the final note just to see them and revel for a moment in their passion and glory.

Nowadays vocalist Les McKeown tours under the moniker of Les McKeown’s Legendary Bay City Rollers and whilst the name may have changed slightly, none of the star like quality and willingness to entertain his legion of fans has diminished as Les and his band, bass player Si Mulvey, guitarist Michael Koch, drummer Alex Toff and keyboard player Alex Southgate played as if life itself was just too good to ever stop being fantastic for them. Never once did the smiles and grins on the guys collected faces ever show signs of being replaced by a grimace or a touch of artists pique.

The band opened the night with Summer Love Sensation, I Only Want to be with You and the sensational Remember (Sha-La-La), for some members of the crowd, it was all a bit much to bear as they started dancing and singing along ecstatically in a manner that would bring back youthful memories to slightly more mature heads.

Edinburgh born Les has lost none of ability to charm the women in the audience but seemed quite taken aback by the amount of sentiment and cheering from the excitable and non-stop dancing crowd. Every pause within the set called for more and more encouragement from every corner of the room, for which Les fought a superb battle to retain control over a room of people transported back to the heady days of the original band’s success.

Les McKeown and his band finished off a set with songs that summed up the evening’s entertainment wonderfully. With tracks as the boisterous Shang-A-Lang, a cover of the Dave Clark Five’s Glad All Over and the number one hit record Bye Bye Baby in the finale, it seemed as if everyone was happy with the end result, a night for fans to savour and reminisent of when times were easier and their heroes accessible.

Ian D. Hall