Scala Triumph!

It was if they had just finished a world tour rather than their first gig in ages and also the first time they had played songs from the new album in public. They were tight and loving it and the fans at the Ultrasound / Dodgy Scala gig were loving it with them.

The traffic getting to the gig was solid and not moving so with a mile to go I leapt out of the car and legged it to the gig. I missed their opener Asylum and just got there in time for God's Gift, with it;s brilliant riff and time signature it had the fans punching the air in delight. No Man's Land followed and fans were already appreciating the tracks from the new album, Real Britannia, Tiny getting the audience to sing along at the song's playout.. Then the gig took off big time and the crowd were really jumping with Vanessa's first solo penned Ultrasound song, Soul Girl. Then came the beauty of Deux from their previous album Play for Today with the soaring harmonies of Tiny and Vanessa blending perfectly in the songs climactic chorus. Andrew Rutter, the film maker behind the brilliant video for the new single Kon-Tiki rightly got a name check before the band played a superb version of the song which grows and grows on you with every listen. Richard's haunting guitar solo seemed even better than on the record.-which is saying something.

Then we were transported back to 1998 and Same Band from Everything Picture. With the amazing lights this showed Ultrasound at their brilliant rocking best-it was breathtaking. So how do you follow that? With the incredibly beautifully crafted Sovereign which Tiny even took his shirt off for. The crowd hanging on every word as Tiny came to the songs one word spoken conclusion.

The crowd weren't settling for that and duly the band came back for a truly staggering version of Stay Young which started with Richard and Tiny's guitars echoing each other almost in a duelling banjos way. Tiny and Vanessa's harmonies in it have never sounded better and Vanessa ended the song in a style evoking her singing on Everything Picture.

Sadly there was no more and the hour and a quarter set had flashed by (although for me it was an hour and 5 minutes!). The question which everyone was asking after the set was when can we hear them again? The world needs Ultrasound. and after this triumph at Scala surely a world tour beckons. We can only hope.

The new album, Real Britannia, is out on Amazon and iTunes on December 2 with CD and vinyl available before Christmas