Review: Gun – PJ Molloys, Dunfermline

Almost a year to the day from when GUN played PJ Molloys in Dunfermline as part of their album launch tour for the new album ‘Hombres’, the guys are back in the Kingdom of Fife to celebrate the first anniversary of the album with a stripped-back, acoustic show to keep the songs from that album alive in the minds of their legions of fans.

As far as years go, 2024 was a blockbuster of a year for GUN. Gigs galore, including a successful Spanish tour and the traditional end-of-year party at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow. Always a roof-raising live act, the live environment is where GUN belongs. But perhaps the greatest achievement during 2024 was ‘Hombres’ landing in the number 10 slot in the National Album Charts – their highest-placing album since ‘Swagger’ back in 1994. Aside from Thunder, not many UK rock bands from the 90s will chart as highly as GUN did, and what makes it all the more impressive is just how strong an album ‘Hombres’ is.

After a stunning set from support act Mike Clerk (a cheery Scottish pottymouth who sings about depression, or as he puts it himself “…my particular brand of misery…”), a streamlined GUN are up next.

Alongside Jools & Dante Gizzi is young drummer Rory, who is standing in for regular drummer Paul McManus – and his beaming smile alone could power Fife for a week. Later in the tour, both bassist Andy Carr and guitarist Ruaraidh MacFarlane join the others for the Glasgow show, but tonight, Dante is on double-duties as he pulls on the bass guitar once again as he did in the formative years of the band.

GUN are obviously proud of ‘Hombres’ and rather than simply putting on a show of legacy hits, they opt to mix it 50-50 with tracks from ‘Hombres’ making up most of the early stages of the lengthy set; including album opener ‘All Fired Up’ which also opens the set.

It’s not the usual low-key acoustic set that is the norm these days. Nothing remotely guitars-around-the-campfire about this. No Kumbaya, My Lord is required. Instead, this is a raucous evening of tunes, audience participation, and good-natured piss-taking banter between the brothers. After performing the first few songs sitting down as playing bass and singing whilst standing up was a bit difficult for Dante, he stood up for the rest of the set. After making a mistake, Dante turns to his brother, Jools and says “…like to see you sing and play, ya dick…”. They could certainly teach Liam and Noel a thing or two.

‘Hombres’ is a strong album, and in this stripped-back environment, the crowd is treated to perhaps how the songs came to be during the early stages of putting the album together. A few songs especially stand out; ‘Falling’ is gorgeous and highlights how strong and full of character Dante’s voice still is, and then there is the pair of ‘Never Enough’ and ‘Take Me Back Home’, which sound incredible in this intimate format. It’s easy to see those 3 songs in particular loitering in the setlist for some time to come.

Ever the genial host, Dante is full of stories, mentioning “…thinking they’d made it when the went on Top of The Pops…” national TV show, before adding “…but that was shite.” And then there is the tale of how the band needed to hire security when they were filming a video in Glasgow, because people kept trying to steal the cameras. Some bands falter with the acoustic format and often treat it like a rehearsal rather than a performance. Not so with these guys. They know that they are here to entertain, and that’s what they do from start to finish.

The final stages of the set are banger after banger that give the crowd the chance to play their part. ‘Better Days’, ‘Inside Out’, Steal Your Fire’, and ‘Shame On You’, one after the other, all lifting the roof. Magical. Utterly magical. Find out how magical on one of the remaining dates: