Marianne Gunn's verdict: three stars

Querying the target demographic for the Ryder Cup Gala Concert, it was quite disconcerting to find the mid 30s age group may just qualify.

With Danny Wilson, Midge Ure and Eddi Reader, the Hydro 'spaceship' took on a time travel quality as hits such as Mary's Prayer, If I Was and Patience of Angels set the scene for a nostalgic evening.

In the first half, Twin Atlantic and Nina Nesbitt tended to more youthful tastes, while Scottish Opera's Andrew McTaggart gave an atmospheric performance of Dark Island; all of which added to the eclectic mix of the evening (initially held together by the Gorbals glue that is comedian Des Clarke).

After a lengthy interval catering to the corporate hospitality element, second half hosts Edith Bowman and James Nesbitt then made the evening a game of two halves, highlighting the almost parochial (but more enjoyable) feel of the first half.

Fred MacAulay introduced the international golfing stars (and, by tradition, their wives) on to the stage, before Team Europe Captain Paul McGinley invited the fans to be as loud as possible at Gleneagles this weekend.

The on-form RSNO accompanied Amy Macdonald in a memorably welcoming Team America anthem (Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark) before Jake Bugg, Texas and Chic (featuring Nile Rodgers) closed the show.

Additional short features from the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet gave the second half of the concert a showcase feel in the tradition of a Eurovision Song Contest host.

Although not wholly successful as a concert (Midge Ure's majestic Vienna with the RSNO notwithstanding) the gala evening certainly tried to showcase the very best of Scotland's cultural talent while celebrating golf's homecoming; it just failed to make the proceedings consistently fun.