Deacon Blue complete Edinburgh Castle hat-trick in style with greatest hits set in the sunshine
Third time lucky for Deacon Blue fans
Deacon Blue last night completed their Edinburgh Castle hat-trick with a greatest hits set, peppered with short covers of the band’s favourite songs, to delight fans in the evening sunshine.
Having previously played at the city landmark in 2017 and 2022, the Glasgow/ Dundee band stormed through a 90+ minute set packed with their most popular songs.
Fellow Scottish band Admiral Fallow warmed up the crowd perfectly with a faultless set of cheery folk rock, as the sun began to set behind the Castle.
Deacon Blue took to the stage to rapturous applause, beginning their set with a short clap-a-long cover of The Hues Corporation’s 1973 hit ‘Rock The Boat’ before launching into their first song of the evening.
Not hanging around, the band jumped straight into 1989 rockabilly single ‘Queen of the New Year’ to get the crowd going. They then took it up a notch with the much-loved ‘Wages Day’, with everyone on their feet for a dance.
The fans returned to their seats for more recent tracks including ‘Much Too Close To Love’ from their most recent album ‘The Great Western Road’, with Ricky Ross telling the crowd it was lovely to all be together in “the most beautiful place in Scotland”, as he promised fans a great night.
Big hit ‘Chocolate Girl’ followed, getting the sold-out crowd back on their feet. Cracking jokes throughout the set, during this track charismatic frontman Ricky Ross joked about the recent sunny weather, saying the Scottish attitude is “we'll pay for it”, while also making light of England's World Cup exit on Wednesday. A short cover of ‘I'm Stone in Love With You’ by The Stylistics was added by the band, before kicking back into their 1987 track.
A single from the same year, ‘Loaded’, kept the crowd dancing, with Ross inviting the audience to sing instead of him “as you have the best voices”. Moody rocker ‘Your Town’ was next, with everyone clapping along.
Ross then took to the piano for four more chilled songs, with some of the crowd taking the opportunity to nip to the toilet or grab a drink. Support act Admiral Fallow joined the band on stage as backing singers, with a cover of The Chi-Lites’ ‘Have You Seen Her’ thrown in for good measure.
Everyone was back in their seats for greatest hits ’Twist and Shout’ from 1991 and ‘Real Gone Kid’ from 1989, much to the delight of the now fully charged crowd who were in full Friday night party mood, with the ”woo woo woo” chorus of the latter smash hit sure to be heard echoing down to Princes Street.
Near the end of this track Ross stopped for a “hydration break” (cue boos) as he let the crowd take over the singing, before the group ended the hit in style.
Next up was 2016 track ‘The Believers’, before the band wowed the audience with signatures track and unofficial Scottish national anthem ’Dignity’, which of course prompted a huge sing-a-long.
With everyone at Edinburgh Castle now having the time of their lives, the band kicked straight into 1989 hit ‘Fergus Sings The Blues’ to keep the party going, with everyone dancing, clapping and singing along with full gusto.
Not stopping for an encore, ‘That's What We Can Do’ from 2012 was next, with Ross introducing all the band members, including his “love of my life” wife and singer Lorraine McIntosh - who entertained the crowd throughout the evening with more energy than a Duracell bunny.
This was followed by final track, a heartfelt cover of ‘Keep Me in Your Heart’ by Warren Zevon, accompanied by phone lights being waved in the crowd, as the flames burned on the castle ramparts and darkness fell.
And while you often hear “oh but they never played that song” as you leave a greatest hits set, the Scottish legends left nobody disappointed at Edinburgh Castle with an incredible snapshot of their long and successful career.
All in all, this was an incredible concert in an incredible setting, making for a fun Friday night, with Deacon Blue showing what 40 years in the business gives you - a polished performance with the crowd in the palm of their hands all evening.