Dean Owens and the Whisky Hearts, Thomas Morton Hall

The Leith Theatre complex is a beautiful set of buildings dating back to the 1930s, including Leith Library and various performance spaces.  Sadly the main theatre itself has been unused for a quarter of a century and needs a lot of work doing to restore it to it's former self.  The Leith Theatre Trust has been set up to generate the funds required to bring the complex back to life and put the buildings back into the heart of the Leith community.

Tonight's gig was one element in their fundraising activities and featured Leith's finest musical export, Dean Owens, who was brought up just around the corner.  There was a big Leither crowd, and the bar provided a fine ale produced by the nearby Pilot microbrewery.

Support was provided by Caroline Gilmour, on guitar and lead vocals, backed up by Lorna Thomas on bass and backing vocals.  Gilmour has a powerful voice with great range, like a Scottish Joan Osborne.  An engaging performer, with some decent chat between songs, it was an enjoyable set.  But I couldn't help feeling that those superb vocals were let down by her material.  the songs are workmanlike, and there's a good variety of tempos and themes, but there were none with the kind of killer punch that really grabs an audience's attention.  How much better might she sound if she spent some time working with one of our best songwriters, perhaps the likes of Boo Hewerdine?

No such problem for Dean Owens, who has written some true classics in his time.  The likes of Raining in Glasgow and Valentine's Day in New York are songs that stay with the listener long after the evening is over.

There isn't much I can say about the man that I didn't already put into my review of his gig a few weeks ago.  This was more of the same, with the added benefit of a Leith crowd to cheer him on.  The first set ended with a few technical problems on stage (signalled by a very loud electrical bang!), but all was restored for the endgame.

Which Dean launched with a couple of solo numbers, and much emotion when he talked about the recent death of his sister.  He's a man with a lot of passion for life and that comes across fully in his music.  As do his rock and roll credentials and he finished off the night with a few blasters that had plenty of those Leithers up and dancing like they were at their nephew's wedding.  It was that kind of a night.