{"id":901610,"date":"2026-04-26T02:48:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T07:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/live-report-richard-ashcroft-ovo-hydro-glasgow\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T02:48:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T07:48:38","slug":"live-report-richard-ashcroft-ovo-hydro-glasgow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/live-report-richard-ashcroft-ovo-hydro-glasgow\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Report: Richard Ashcroft \u2013 OVO Hydro, Glasgow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Richard Ashcroft<\/strong> stood in front of a sold-out OVO Hydro<\/strong> this week and reflected on cutting his teeth with The Verve<\/strong>, recalling early gigs at the Barrowlands and the importance of being accepted by a Glasgow crowd \u2013 something he noted never came easy.<\/p>\n

Back in Glasgow at the tail end of a massive UK arena tour, Ashcroft returns a near-mythic figure in British music: a songwriter whose work has endured beyond its era and looks set to take a new generation by storm.<\/p>\n

Ashcroft began the gig with Verve hits\u00a0\u2018Weeping Willow\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0\u2018Space And Time\u2019\u00a0from the modern classic\u00a0\u2018Urban Hymns\u2019. A measured start where Ashcroft\u2019s backing band got to demonstrate their musicianship \u2013 let\u2019s just say these guys have made it here for a reason. Whilst many of us would dream to hear these songs performed by the original Verve lineup in their prime, it must be said that guitarist Steve Wyreman brought something special to the performance, drifting through rhythm and lead parts with the flair that only the best players can.<\/p>\n

Ashcroft then moved through his solo hits, including\u00a0\u2018Music Is Power\u2019,\u00a0\u2018A Song For The Lovers\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0\u2018Break The Night With Colour\u2019. For the latter, he performed an extended version typical of his live shows, building to a crescendo which transformed the Hydro into a cauldron of noise.<\/p>\n

Continuing through a setlist packed with both solo and Verve hits, it was soon time for my personal favourite Verve song,\u00a0\u2018The Drugs Don\u2019t Work\u2019. I\u2019m not always the biggest fan of solo acoustic takes on classics, especially in front of a massive crowd. But when Ashcroft stepped forward alone with his acoustic guitar and played \u2018The Drugs Don\u2019t Work\u2019, the term\u00a0\u2018Urban Hymns\u2019\u00a0made more sense than ever. Ashcroft delivered a vocal performance both raw and rugged whilst effortless and controlled, a style befitting of the track\u2019s authentic emotion.<\/p>\n

Pretty soon I was snapped out of my melancholic state with an encore of uplifting anthems:\u00a0\u2018History\u2019,\u00a0\u2018Sonnet\u2019, and, of course, the tune that always delivers, the iconic\u00a0\u2018Bitter Sweet Symphony\u2019.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the gig, what struck me most was the age of the crowd. The train from the city centre to the OVO Hydro was brimming with teenagers, excitement spilling over as they chanted the Verve\u2019s greatest hits. When Ashcroft was announced as the support act for the Oasis<\/strong> reunion tour last year, some rolled their eyes, hoping Noel and Liam might use this opportunity to pass the torch to a new generation. But on this recent tour, Ashcroft is in his prime and better than ever \u2013 and who are we to deny a new generation the chance to be introduced to one of rock and roll\u2019s greats\u2026?<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Words: Lloyd Jackson<\/strong>
Photo Credit: Dean Chalkley<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

ClashMusic
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Ashcroft stood in front of a sold-out OVO Hydro this week and reflected on cutting his teeth with The Verve, recalling early gigs at the Barrowlands and the importance of being accepted by a Glasgow crowd \u2013 something he noted never came easy. Back in Glasgow at the tail end of a massive UK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":901611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[193,670],"tags":[6378,8519],"class_list":{"0":"post-901610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-report","8":"category-richard","9":"tag-report","10":"tag-richard"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}