The Tubes @The Art School, Glasgow, 9 August

Live Review by Claire Francis | 12 Aug 2015

The first sign that something isn't quite right tonight is evidenced by a giant TV screen overhead which screens a continous slideshow of images from The Tubes' heyday. Sure, the San Franciscan theatre rock stalwarts are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, but it's a disconcertingly odd addition that could have been oh-so-meta if it didn't awkwardly highlight the contrasts between The Tubes then and now.

As the band ease in with a couple of oldies (and they are old  – we're talking Sinatra and Gene Pitney covers) the halcyon day homage continues, as if to rub salt into the wound. A group once renowned for their oddball performances and wild vaudevillian verve, this evening frontman Fee Waybill musters a shabby prison stripe costume and a cracked voice that hisses a leak on high notes. His trademark between-numbers, Zappa-esque persiflage continues unabated but there's no concealing the fact that there's not a lot of wind left in The Tubes sails.

At one point Waybill exits stage left for another dubious costume change, leaving guitarist Roger Steen to assume command with Up From The Deep, from the group's 1975 debut album. It's a sigh of respite that shows off Steen's deft musicianship and the band's tenacious rhythm section. What Do You Want From Life? boisterously follows and satiates the die-hard fans, and though the silver-haired faithful bring the group back for an encore, what many of us want from life, or at least from The Tubes, is not the lukewarm offering we're served tonight.

http://thetubes.com