Suzanne Vega @ Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow, 28 Jul

A man in a high-vis/poncho combo begrudgingly brushes an impressive puddle off the stage to a swelling soundtrack of thunder and lightning. Opener Amelia Coburn shuffles on stage with a knowing, wry smile. Her simple “Hello” is met with a chorus of laughter and she shoots straight into When the Tide Rolls In, plucking away effortlessly at its mystical vamp. The nasally quality of her voice (think Jessica Pratt) is utterly captivating, each word she sings crisp and resonant even as she floats around in the Celtic-influenced melody. Halfway through her next song, the power cuts. “Can you still hear me?!” she shouts through the storm, and without waiting for an answer she shrugs and finishes the song without amplification. The growing crowd cheer her on for her perseverance and, as she disappears backstage, Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now smugly pours out of the PA.

Returning after a painfully long technical intermission and to much applause, Coburn plonks out the Luther Perkins-esque intro to Sleepy Town – a love/hate letter to her hometown of Middlesbrough. There is a macabre throughline that characterises a lot of Coburn’s work, however she herself is a radiant beam of light.

An overenthusiastic American voice bellows from the speakers, “PLEASE WELCOME, FROM NEW YORK CITY, SUZANNE VEGA!” and the Mother of the MP3 swaggers onto the stage, followed by guitarist Gerry Leonard who almost immediately flies up into the air and lands flat on his back with a dull splash. A short burst of winces from the audience passes and he springs back up surprisingly quickly for a gentleman of 64. “Well, hello,” Vega says, taking the microphone with a sigh and that same knowing look we saw earlier from Coburn. “Are you okay?” she asks, searching Leonard’s embarrassed but optimistic face. “He says he’s okay, and he doesn’t lie.”

The duo compose themselves and start into the twangy groove of Marlene on the Wall. In spite of his prior – ahem – slip up, Leonard flawlessly rips out a hypnotic guitar solo, sprightly swaying around in his tartan school jacket. Vega tips her top hat and sets it down on a small table, gearing up for the bodacious strut of 99.9F°. The warbling tremolo guitar bounces off every surface and the clicks of Vega’s fingers cut through the mix like daggers as she stomps away at the shallow pool forming beneath her feet.

Cellist Stephanie Winters joins the troupe for The Queen and the Soldier, providing Vega’s poetic lyricism the orchestral edge it deserves. This track in particular is a standout example of Vega’s prowess as a storyteller, the audience like a nursery of children hung on her every word. She plays a few numbers from her latest album Flying with Angels – the most notable of which being Chambermaid, a song heavily inspired by Bob Dylan’s I Want You. She sings from the perspective of Dylan’s chambermaid, ruminating on the woman’s hopes and dreams, wondering if she was providing other services, fleshing out the gaps in her character left in the original song.

Towards the end of her set an impatient fan demands "PLAY IT!", like a Rocky Horror callout before a tender rendition of heartbreaking hit Luka. Closing with the timelessly cool Tom’s Diner, Vega saunters around her musicians half-whispering the signature melodic hook and emphasising the line ‘Oh, this rain, it will continue’. An encore of Rosemary, In Liverpool, and Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side make this night in the splash zone all worthwhile. As the band take their bows, everyone knocks back the dregs of their lager/rainwater cocktails to clamber for the exits.