Review: 10cc, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
Here’s a question. How many members of an original band have to be part of the current incarnation of said band for it to still qualify as the band it was originally? Perhaps it depends on the band in question. The late Mark E Smith - a man known for sacking band members once a week or so it seemed - was probably correct when he suggested that “if it’s me and yer granny on bongos, it’s the Fall.”
But what about fellow Mancunians 10cc, who came together at the start of the 1970s and consisted of four talented songwriters in Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Graham Gouldman? The 2026 version of 10cc contains only Gouldman of the original line-up, though lead guitarist Rick Fenn has been part of the set-up since the mid-1970s. Conversely, drummer Ben Stone only joined the group last year. Meanwhile, Iain Hornal, who does much of the heavy lifting in terms of vocals in the current line-up, has been with the band for a decade and counting.
So, is Gouldman’s involvement enough? Or is 10c in 2026 really just a tribute band to their glorious past?
I found myself idly contemplating these questions during the first half of 10cc’s show in Glasgow on Tuesday night. Mostly, I think, during the band’s extensive take on the lengthy track Feel the Benefit, at 11 and a half minutes the band’s longest studio recording and here given what seemed a pretty full run-out (I forgot to set my stopwatch so I can’t be totally sure).
That’s when I wasn’t idly thinking this is why punk had to happen.
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In short, I can’t say I really enjoyed much of it (though this was probably a minority opinion in the room). This was music peerlessly played by consummate musicians who could switch instruments at the drop of a guitar pick and the harmonies were creamy and just so. But it was also a little, whisper it, dull. Partly, I think, this was down to the band playing hard; hard enough to make them sound even a little Sabbath or Maiden at times. The result was bracing, but it did mean that their take on something as light and airy as The Dean and I was rather bludgeoning.
But it’s also possible that it all comes down to the fact that the 10cc I love - the arch pop pasticheurs - is only one aspect of the band and Gouldman is perfectly within his rights to remind us of the fact that they were also a 1970s rock band who could rock out too. It did mean, though, that when the band returned to play an acoustic version of Gouldman’s Bus Stop - the tune he wrote as a teenager for The Hollies back in the 1960s and a reminder of just how talented, prolific and long-standing a pop songwriter he is - it felt like a joyous burst of light. Maybe the Princes Street backdrop helped too.
The second half of the show felt more fun and included the promised hits, though not until Kevin Godley had made an appearance on screen singing - rather affectingly - Somewhere in Hollywood from the band’s Sheet Music album.
I’m Mandy Fly Me and I’m Not in Love brought out the best in the current line-up in their reconstruction of the complex, layered musicality of the original recordings - the point where Steely Dan meet the Beach Boys in a Salford chippie. Donna - 10cc’s first hit and a loving parody of doo wop - was saved for the encore and was performed a capella. It was largely a delight though the more it went on the more the band took it as a chance to perform a comic skit. Rubber Bullets bashed out with glee then rounded things up.
Gouldman - who is, as his bandmate Rick Fenn noted is “infuriatingly well preserved” for a man approaching his ninth decade on the planet - is back in Glasgow in October performing tracks from his long and distinguished career. He clearly still loves playing live.
Tonight, I fear, he enjoyed it more than I did. Still, there’s a pleasure in seeing someone good at what they do take so much pleasure in their job. And to be fair on reflection that also seems an apt summation of 10cc at their peak. Not a tribute act after all then.
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