Gig of the issue: 4 stars

Performing their first live shows together for close to 20 years, The Delgados prove to Fiona Shepherd and a busy Barrowland that the quartet’s brand of chamber indie pop remains a moreish and potent brew

The Delgados split while they were ahead in 2005, when the competing pressures of being in a band while running the esteemed Chemikal Underground Records and their Chem19 studio threatened to boil over. Label and studio endure for the general betterment of the music scene in Scotland and beyond, but something had to give: that meant the band.

The Delgados were early adopters of chamber indie pop and now they have the string section to prove it, though support act Andrew Wasylyk stole a march on them with an evocative opening set of instrumentals.

His glistening keyboards were embellished by a full band of Scottish indie stalwarts including Sarah Hayes on flute, Pete Harvey on cello and Joe Rattray on bass. Away from his day job as Idlewild bassist, Wasylyk’s compositions range from mellow and melancholic, like a bittersweet theme from a Bill Forsyth film, to the satisfying yacht-rock chords of ‘The Confluence’, towards a spiritual jazz-funk sound with Wasylyk quietly skatting along.

The Delgados, meanwhile, have always given good boy/girl vocal interplay, with nominal lead parts assigned, featuring an easy balancing chemistry between Pollock’s rich alto and Woodward’s reedier tones. A two-hour set ranged generously across their five albums, with only debut Domestiques somewhat underrepresented. Its opening track ‘Under Canvas Under Wraps’ crash-landed mid-set like an unexpected party guest, its headlong indie scramble all the more energising for following a plaintive Burns Night burst of ‘Such A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation’.

The set was frontloaded with several selections from second album Peloton, showcasing the roots of their widescreen sound. Swirling strings and piercing flute were a seamless match for the garage groove of ‘The Arcane Model’ while dynamic highlights across the rest of the show included the Beatles-esque whimsy of ‘Aye Today’, indie waltz ‘American Trilogy’, and the grunged-up bubblegum of ‘Everybody Come Down’. A floating, rapturous ‘The Light Before We Land’ billowed through the venue; just as potent was the wry, catchy ‘All You Need Is Hate’.

Returning for an easily earned encore, Pollock shared memories of taking delivery of the band’s first single ‘Monica Webster’, a tuneful thrash, from the bowels of the 13th Note basement. This contrasted with the indie sophistication of ‘Coming In From The Cold’, mature pop of ‘No Danger’, and melodramatic flurry of ‘13 Gliding Principles’.

Reviewed at Barrowland, Glasgow.