Deacon Blue at Scarborough Open Air Theatre – review

This summer, they are taking the tour out again for a run of open-air dates, the second of which was in Scarborough on Friday (June 21).

Happily, the weather played ball again and it turned out to be a balmy summer evening at the Open Air Theatre - and a perfect setting for an outdoor gig.

Singers Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh are the most prominent of the group (Image: Dave Lawrence)

Since the release of their debut album Raintown 37 years ago the Celtic rocker’s gritty, blue-collar songs have resonated with their audience and they retain a loyal following evidenced by selling out the 8,000 capacity Scarborough venue.

The North Yorkshire audience were treated to a trawl through the bands career as they delivered a set of crowd-pleasing tunes that opened with City of Love, the stand-out title track from their excellent 2020 album.

The second song, Queen of the New Year was back to its original format after a spell being performed a capella on the previous tour.

Fergus Sings the Blues was followed by Bethlehem’s Gate and a delicious acoustic performance of Chocolate Girl.

Singers Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh are the most prominent of the group but the band retain two other original members in keyboardist Jim Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond – the latter also a respected TV presenter north of the border.

Guitarist Gregor Philp and bass player Lewis Gordon completed the line-up.

The band sounded terrific (as did the support, more of which later) and the voices of husband-and-wife duo Ross and McIntosh complemented each other so well.

The band sounded terrific and treated the audience to a set filled with crowd-pleasing tunes (Image: Dave Lawrence)

McIntosh is so much more than just a backing vocalist – she was never still all evening, enthusing the crowd as she danced around the stage punching the air with her tambourine.

A couple of oldies, Your Swaying Arms and Loaded preceded the country-ish Cover from the Sky before the band raised their game further with The Hipsters and old favourite Twist and Shout.

Real Gone Kid was my personal highlight of the evening although When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) ran it a close second.

The band usually find time to slot in their cover of Bacharach and David’s ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’ and the Scarborough show was no exception.

The evening closed with two of the band’s most loved songs, Dignity and Wages Day.

The Scarborough promoters have a record of putting on quality support bands before the headliners and this was no exception.

Lottery Winners are always great value and frontman Tom Rylance was his usual entertaining self as the four-piece provided a boisterous set that included singles Worry, Letter to Myself and finishing with Burning House and bassist Katie Lloyd on vocals which had the audience bouncing.

The band return to the area as part of the support bill for York band Shed Seven’s 30th Anniversary Homecoming Shows in Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20 and will undoubtedly help make both evenings memorable ones.