ShareDeacon Blue performing their The Great Western Road Trip Tour at The Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Sunday 28th September 2025.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Deacon Blue were back in Nottingham on Sunday night but stepping up from the Royal Concert Hall to take the stage at the Motorpoint Arena to deliver a night of songs from their latest album The Great Western Road which were intermingled with all of their classics that went down a storm.
This seasoned Scottish pop rock band have generally been overlooked as they were squeezed in the middle of the rise of acid house and Madchester at one extreme and Stock Aitken and Waterman at the other, but they were both huge and inescapable and went on to deliver hit after hit.
Starting with Turn Up Your Radio! front man Ricky Ross alongside Lorraine McIntosh serenaded the crowd as they have been doing at the heart of the band for forty years. They followed up with Up Hope and Raintown before the first crowd favourite of the night, Fergus Sings The Blues cranked things up a notch or two.
The whole crowd were soon on their feet dancing and Ross, as he does, regularly interacted with the audience. There was an emotional tribute paid to keyboard player, James Prime, who died from cancer in June as photos of the much loved band member adorned the big screens.
There were also some politics as you would expect as images of Trump, Farage and Putin fill the screens as Ross lamented the lack of compassion, love and tenderness in the world. And whilst most of the crowd agree, it was their hits that they had come to hear such as Chocolate Girl, When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) and main set closer the brilliant Dignity which prompted a mass sing along before an encore featuring People Come First and a beautiful acoustic version of Keep Me In Your Heart.
Ross and McIntosh seem intent on growing old with their fans as they remain as poignant and potent as they did in the 80’s. They showed no sign of slowing down any time soon and that has to be a good thing.
