It’s the early evening after the night before and there are so many random thoughts about the last few months that have flitted through my head on-stage , off-stage, mid-song and in the sleepless nights that have come with jumping time zones and keeping odd hours.
I don’t get time to introduce all the songs in any meaningful way, but if I could sit down with you and explain these are a few of these random thoughts: The line in ‘Queen of The New Year’ about being as ‘innocent as hell’ come from the title of a TV documentary about a Glasgow band in the mid 80s….. I wrote Walk in The Woods as a response to the end of the 2018 tour. On getting home we just wanted to get lost in our favourite park…….. Bethlehem Begins is my attempt to understand Yeats’s ‘Sailing To Byzantium’ – but I’m still no closer. …….I realised in NZ that any attempt to imitate a Hammond B3 is pointless – only the real thing, played by Jim will work……. When I sing the lines ‘Junk food the whole over’s as good as standing round’ in ‘Twist and Shout’ each night I think of Dougie and I going to Paris to look at studios and realising we’d given ourselves no time to eat and had to scoff a Mickey D’s in the capital of cuisine…… Homesick James was a discovery of a blues singer I discovered while rifling through a guy’s record collection on my first ever visit to New York in 1988. Oh I could go on…it’s these random thoughts that come and go over the two hours when the show just keeps going despite trying to control it.
Last night, our second night in Auckland, New Zealand, was our last show of the year. There’s been so much planning, scheduling and organisation that has gone into this tour it seems hard to find ourselves near the end with one more country to go.
As Lorraine and I walked down the hill from our hotel to join our band and crew for the final gathering of the year, our Christmas lunch, we met a member of last night’s audience who was at pains to tell us how much he’d enjoyed the show. It was humbling and hugely uplifting to realise how sincere his praise was as Lorraine remembered seeing him standing in front of her, eyes closed, taking in the whole set.
After the show I reflected to an old friend how grateful we are to have a listening audience. So much of a rock show is heat and noise but we’ve always been able to have still, silent moments even in a noisy place like the Power Station here in Auckland. Last night was no different as people lingered late in the evening to sing Warren Zevon’s ‘Keep Me In Your Heart’ with us one last time. It’s the closer that’s remained constant on the tour since we first discovered it on a random Spotify playlist on our summer holiday in France in August. We all sing and play it and it has become a song by us to the audience and in turn a hymn of love for the special bond between everyone in the venue. On a perfect night – and there have been a good few these last months – it melts away that fourth wall until there is only one group of people in the room. It’s what gigs need to become, to make them work.
Gratitude towards the audience has taken a long time to learn for me. When I was younger I conceitedly believed I knew better; and playing what people wanted was rather beneath me. How wrong I was. Learning to please people has brought joy to me as well as to the audience and in these mad moments of the breakdown towards the end of Real Gone Kid when all pretence is lost and we are all a sweaty, exhausted mess of musicians tumbling around the stage, the greatest joy comes from knowing everyone is going to be very happy if we just sing ‘woo, oo, oo, oo’ one more time.
I remember playing a support slot way back in 87 at the Town and Country or some such place in North London. I looked out to see banks of male faces squashed in from the stage to the mixing desk. I remember thinking how I didn’t want to play to an audience of blokes or equally an audience of only women and somehow, in some magical way our audience has, since that time, remained beautifully balanced. That balance makes for a caring, listening crowd who also bring an energy to each outing. So, thank you, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand. Thank you for your beautiful scenery, your great welcomes and your loving response. It’s made all our adventures feel so worthwhile.
As I’m writing this I’m looking over a beautiful view of the harbour in Auckland as little ships, yachts and ferries scuttle across the bay. It’s summer here and after a short break we return to a Scottish winter, warm fires and short days. I’m looking forward to that.
I hope you are in a place where you too can enjoy some Happy Holidays. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2024 when we gather next.
I know everyone in Deacon Blue joins me in sending our love and thanks for all your support.
Thank you, I am from Airdrie now living in Perth got the pleasure 4 years ago and this year, thank for the great music, videos and the joy of hearing the songs I grew up with, from this 66 year old and my wife and sons I introduced to Deacon Blue. Thank You
What a lovely, reflective post Ricky. It must be quite the thing going through a myriad of thoughts, moving from place to place around the world, seeing the reaction to your songs and how they play out with the people who come to listen. I was lucky enough to be in the Royal Albert Hall for you earlier in the year for what’s probably somewhere around the fortieth time for you and the various iterations of your touring guises. My anticipation for each never wanes and the wash of positivity from a Deacon Blue / Ricky Ross / McIntosh Ross gig never stops being spiritually uplifting. I’ve moved house recently (A New House, no less), and had the chance to finally get my vinyl, tapes and CDs sorted so I can play anything I have. I’ve recently been going back through the many radio recordings and gigs I have from Deacon Blue mainly from the pre-1994 days. It brings a lot back, you having been there for me in my formative years, and still here now. Brilliant! Have a great Christmas in Scotland, and hope to see you again soon.
I first discovered the band on a visit to Scotland in 1990. You were a 12” vinyl if great songs, but I knew nothing of the band. Fast forward 30 years, I’m a Scottish born long time resident of New York reconnecting with Glasgow family and my heritage. I discover Dougie on his tv program and your radio program and learn about the people behind the music. I’ve pulled out the old 12” and added “The Old 45’s” and came within a whisper of seeing you all perform in Glasgow. Your music gives me joy, rekindles that wee West End boy, and makes me thankful for all those connections. Best wishes for the New Year! And thanks.
Ricky, what a beautiful and fitting letter following such a successful tour. It is indeed amazing how you can silence the crowd by singing a song that merits the silence, such as Cover from the sky, you could have heard a pin drop or even the teardrop from my eye!
It was an honour and privilege to be a guest at your Glasgow Show and an absolute pleasure to meet you all.
Hope you get your feet up now and enjoy your break. Wishing you, Lorraine & family all the very very best for Xmas & New year.
Lots of love,
Moira xxxx
Ricky, your reflective words mirror the band, the songs, the performances and the ‘all’ you’ve put into them. I’ve been a DB fan since 87 and this year’s gig in Dublin had such a connection with the audience, it was fantastic. Best Dublin gig to date.
Best wishes to you, the band and your family. Rest up and we’ll see you next year.
Wonderful words, Ricky, but not unexpected. You just have that natural ability to communicate in words and music.
You all appreciate your fans, you get back what you give out – never be surprised about that.
Thank you for coming to Australia again, we very much enjoyed you being here.
Merry Christmas to all and to all, Happy Hogmanay.
This sounds like another classic album is due in 2024/25 & it’ll be every bit as good as the first one,Lovely reflective insight and very reminiscent of Dignity.
Thanks to DB for two awesome gigs at Liverpool and Glasgow.
All the best in 2024 ♥️⛵️♥️
I’m 53 and came to DB very late, stumbling across Raintown on YouTube Music. I fell in love. Best of all, listening to Live in Barrowlands, I didn’t know which were old songs and which were new. I loved them all. I listened to Walking Back Home in preparation for the gig and only added more meaning to the songs. Thank you for coming to Sydney – you gave me the best show ever with the sweat, guts and love. Have a great Christmas Ricky, Lorraine and the band.
Ricky
Wow, this is just oh so lovely and has brought a tear to my eye.
You write so beautifully and I can hear your voice -I’m reading it in a Scottish accent!
Loved you guys since I was 17 ,I’m now 53 , your gigs make me feel 17 again, seen you many MANY times and hope there will be many more.
Wishing you all a safe journey home , a beautiful Christmas and a fabulous New Year
Jo xxx
Fab words – that’s why you are an amazing songwriter – from Cardiff ice rink 30 years ago to the anniversary concert this year it’s been a wonderful journey of songs – this year at Cardiff the people in the row behind decided to talk through the whole opening piece so the incredible performance of songs stripped back was ruined for me but I live in hope that you will create an album in this vein as I think it would be incredible! Keep writing and performing as you touch so many people with your music old and new xx
What a great letter Ricky. My family and I saw you in The Valley in Brisbane last week. It was outstanding . You were all outstanding . My 20 year old son loved it and rather than the stadium gigs he is used to , he got to experience an intimate gig with a band at the top of their game . My wife and I loved it because it reminded us of the gigs of our youth . Thankyou so much for helping create new family memories .
It was lovely to read your thoughts and the reasons behind some of the lyrics.
It must have been 1989 or 1990 and I had seen you play at the Birmingham NEC Arena (as it was called then. I remember ‘The Kick Horns’ formed part of the backing band). I would have been 17 or 18 and after the show I walked around the outside of the arena and saw your tour bus. Just as I arrived, you all walked out to board it and Lorraine saw me, came over to chat and then took my tour show brochure and got everyone on the bus to sign it!! You can imagine how brilliant I felt at that point after the amazing show. I’m 51 now and still enjoy your music now as much as I did then! Thank you!
Ricky
Having just read your biography I can assure you there was joy in the room in Auckland. I have seen a few artists three times in my life but only Deacon Blue three times in three months. I am a believer more now than ever before. Keep making music and writing great songs.
Happy holidays
All the best to DB and the crew too… I was lucky enough to be at RAH this year for yet another DB show…
Rather like you, I’m sure I am not alone with thoughts during and between songs at concerts (as well as between shows – however long that might be). Many of my thoughts take me back to where I was when I first heard a certain song, who I was with, what was significant in my life at that time.
Other thoughts are how does Dougie not age? Does he have a painting in his attic? Does he know he has a lovely singing voice?
Mostly though, as I get older, I find new meaning in the lyrics or music… thank you for leaning into giving the joy… sometimes we DO need an extra “woo”. So many bands/artists are pulling away from performing their biggest hits – by doing this they rob their audience of personal moments and treasures.
You might write the songs but we take them into us, our hearts and souls and sometimes we desperately need to hear them to cathartically sing them at the top of our lungs or just close our eyes and remember (I do a lot of closing of the eyes during a James Prime solo!).
Until next time…
Saw you guys many many years ago in London, then in Perth, WA, in 2019, then again a few weeks ago. Been thinking about that concert a lot recently. It was a room full of people who were all there for the same reason. To celebrate fantastic music, relive our youths a little and just experience utter happiness. No hidden agenda. You guys are so humble, no arrogance and just want to give the audience a good time. You delivered this in spades. Lorraine’s voice just gets better and better. Just incredible. I’ve been asking Alexa to play your music again and again and each time I smile as I dance around the kitchen cooking dinner…much to the embarrassment of my four teenagers. So thank you. Thank you. And please hurry back. Perth absolutely adores you and we need an encore. Happy Christmas and enjoy the break. You so deserve it xxxxx
Thank you for this. Been to many DB gigs since late 80s and the last one in Glasgow’s Ovo/Hydro, whatever they’re calling it, was as fresh and full of energy as the early days. Magical to come out onto the Clyde walkway on a beautiful night surrounded by happy DB folk still singing to each other as we walked along the riverside. Dignity has become a Scottish anthem. Enjoy the remainder of your tour. Woo oo oo oo! X
Great to read your blog. Loved the concert in Leeds as usual fabulous event. Hope you’re back soon. Please record Keep me in your heart your version is beautiful. Happy Christmas and and have an amazing 2024
Thank you Ricky for your further thoughts.
I agree Keep Me In Your Heart is a great way to end. Just like Forever Young was. In These Times by Joan Armatrading is another song that you might consider.
I was overjoyed and emotional to reconnect with my favourite band (live) in Birmingham a couple of months ago, after last seeing you perform at Reading Rivermead back when I was a “daft wee student” at university in 1994. There were tears on both occasions – but, overall, an overwhelming sense of community, sweet (sweet) musicality, and LOVE! Thank you: Ricky, Lorraine, Jim, Dougie – and EVERYBODY else who make Deacon Blue one of the all-time GREATS of Scottish music ❤️
Happy Holidays, from this big ‘ole Qween of the New Year x
Thanks for taking the time to write to everyone! We came to see you in Glasgow in October. We live between Hull and York so the Hull gig would have been nearer but we’d booked for Glasgow the year before when the pandemic got in the way. Also we were keen to see you at home and never need an excuse to come to Scotland -and the gig was fantastic! We also walked back along the river singing – well mostly ‘Dignity’ tbh.Now we’re looking forward to Scarborough next summer. Can’t wait!
I’ve just read this reflection on the tour and just love it. We saw you at Nottingham on this tour stood in the second row. We have seen you many times over the last couple of years and will be at Pier Head in Liverpool next year. I loved the energy you had as an individual but also as a band but more importantly from the 2nd row I could see just how much fun you were having collectively. Each time I listen to your music I take something new from the words. As Ricky you may know as I have messaged you directly that our particular personal situation means that Keep Me in Your Heart was especially poignant and my wife was in tears. Rest assured that throughout our personal tour of Australia and NZ your music has kept us entertained on those long drives. Peace Will Come has meant something special to me over this period as it expresses my sentiments that we hold on to the hope in all our lives that eventually peace will come. Please keep doing what you do individually and as a group. You bring us so much pleasure. God bless you all x
Just wanted to pop on and say thank you – I was lucky enough to see you here in Auckland for the last show and meet the band beforehand. Am still cringing by the story I shared re acting as interpreter in Cumbria- but hopefully will at least remember me!
But most of all, thank you – your music really is the music of my life and different songs depict the times and every time I see you live, you sing with such passion it sweeps me away. Until next time…..big love
Thank you for coming to Wellington as part of your tour. I grew up listening to your music back home in Glasgow, and had never had the chance to see you guys live before. Hearing you blast out the hits on the other side of the world was such a surreal experience – you had me jumping one minute and blubbing the next 🙂 Have a safe return back home and thank you for a night that I’ll always remember. You smashed it!
Oh, Ricky.
How music is!
How music is.
We love you.
See you again next year.
Ángel.
Cheers Ricky. First time I had the chance to see you live this year (Bournemouth, for the record). I took my 70-something Dad to his first gig in years, certainly since he lost his wife and our lovely Mum a few years prior. He had given me the education of Raintown in the late 80’s as a young boy, and filled me with the stories of how my Uncle Malcolm had recommended you guys to him after working with you at Air Studios in London ’87(?) and had simply told him – ‘you should watch out for this lot’. Anyway I digress, the show was perfect and nostalgia filled both our airs that evening – but certainly not in a melancholy way. For a brief second, during Spencer Tracey I looked at him smiling and realised the power of music and the moment, and how it can connect to moments gone by. He loved it, I loved it, thanks and best to you and the band. Enjoy the break but don’t rush home from the beauty of New Zealand! Cheers, Simon
Rick!
Great to think and hear of you enjoying the sights of Australia and the Australians enjoying the sights of Deacon Blue!
What a ride!!
Andra x
I was in the audience at your second night in Auckland, and boy we loved each and every ‘woo, oo, oo, oo’! I’m new to Deacon Blue having booked tickets on the back of only knowing (and loving) Real Gone Kid. In the lead up to the concert I got to know many of your songs and I can proudly say I was one of the youngest in audience and was right up the front singing all the words with you. One of the best live bands I have ever seen. Enjoy the rest of your time in New Zealand.
Guys, thank you so much for coming to NZ. I’m a loon fae Inverurie and first saw you at the old Capital theatre in Aberdeen in 1988 – can’t remember what I had for breakfast but can remember that night like it was yesterday. Saw you a few times after but thought I would never see you again after emigrating to Christchurch 20 years (& 13 days ago) You guys were outstanding in Auckland & had the crowd in the palm of your hand. Thank you so much for making this old man rock like he was 18 years old again. Lots of happy tears. Haste you back xx
Guys thanks so much for the Brisbane gig.
I’m a scouser far from home and introduced my aussie wife to you guys last time round.
Was talking to my arts and cultural team when I got back to work on the Wednesday and summed the gig up by saying some nights the band are in the high places, some nights the audience get them there but last night both audience and band were there not just physically but emotionally.
There was a sense of pure joy form first to last chord .
Not ashamed to that Keep Me In Your Heart has always brought a lump to the throat but it didn’t stop me singing along.
What absolutely fantastic concerts and can say “fantastic” as a week on from Auckland and City of Love, Loaded, Real Gone Kid plus the others all still being played continuously. Apologies Ricky, but I’m thinking I may have sung Dignity more than you now. Feel blessed to have met all the band and picked up new friends in both Perth (Anita and Alan) and Auckland (Lisa and Eve). Twist and Shout was on constantly when my son was born 30 plus years ago so Deacon Blue please, please know how much your songs mean to us. Finally, thank you for being warm human beings – lucky again to do the meet and greet and was so nice that we could have a little chat.. we are waiting for you to come to Jersey!!
Just fantastic.. and chords of City of Love, Real Gone Kid still resound after a week after Auckland. Blessed to have been there and also Perth with the added bonus of gaining new friends (Alan and Anita, Lisa and Eve). Twist and Shout was played constantly when my son was born 30 plus years ago and hadn’t had the chance to see you live until now – so thank you for still being around on tour, you may never know what your music means to us but it’s huge. So fortunate to be at the meet and greets where I felt your warmth as genuine human beings. I live in Jersey (the one near France!) and we would love for you to come there.. so to you all, my new friends and all the concert goers, have a wonderful Christmas- Hope to see you in 24!