Melanie C | The Garage, Glasgow
Schedule
Sat Feb 12 2022 at 07:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Location
The Garage | Glasgow, SC
**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SHOW HAS MOVED FROM SWG3 ON 22ND MAY 2021 TO THE GARAGE ON 12TH FEBRUARY 2022. ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID**Melanie C
14+ (under 16s with an adult)
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Melanie C was meant to spend 2020 criss-crossing the globe to promote her joyous, dance-packed, eponymously-titled eighth album. But just as its statement-making first single, Who I Am, became a radio staple, the world shut down. Most artists put their plans on hold. Melanie, as ever, went the other way.
Locked down in London, she (virtually) flung open her front door and invited fans inside. From frequent Q&As to filmed performances to a spectacular DJ set for Scott Mills on Radio 1 which saw her mix Spice Girls classics with Lizzo and Nirvana and sing along to Stormzy, the always down-to-earth artist had never felt more in touch with her fans.
“I exposed more of myself and my private life than I ever have in the past,” says Melanie. “Something about the shared situation, of us all in isolation, compelled me to reach out. The result was such a positive exchange of support. I loved being so open and letting people see the real me.”
Melanie finding the positives in a pandemic chimes with the message of her new music. Melanie C is her most life-affirming, attitude-packed album to date. Sonically inspired by spending several months last year touring Pride parades with the LGBTQ+ club collective Sink The Pink, it’s a celebration of self, an album of arms-aloft anthems of self-acceptance, a two fingers up to anyone trying to put you down.
“It’s only after I’ve finished a record that I can step back and see what I’ve written about,” says Melanie. “A lot of these songs are me looking back over my life, both personal and professional. We’re always so busy striving to achieve that we rarely take the time to reflect on what we’ve already done. I don’t just mean celebrating the successes, but also all of the shit we’ve overcome.
“The whole album has a theme of self-acceptance, of saying ‘this is who I am’, take or it or leave it. One of great things about getting older is that you gain the courage to care less. In the past perhaps I haven’t wanted to upset the apple cart. Now I’m up for kicking it over.”
In early summer, scorching second single Blame It On spent a month on Radio 2’s A-list. The station invited Melanie to perform the song remotely with members of the BBC Concert Orchestra and the stunning rearrangement took on a life of its own.
Its follow-up, the newly-released In And Out Of Love, is the album’s most frivolous track, a Donna Summer-meets-Robyn glitterball disco explosion about finding romance on the dancefloor. Its stylish video was shot in the former BBC studio at Alexandra Palace with social distancing.
Where is it happening?
The Garage, 490 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, United Kingdom