‘Anybody here into sport?’ asks Ian Broudie after thirty minutes on stage. A cheer from the crowd leads to a rendition of Three Lions, the football anthem that he wrote with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel thirty years ago.
By Miles Salter
Venue crew at Scarborough Open Air Theatre bring our multiple large inflatable footballs which the crowd gleefully keep spinning and dancing above their heads, singing ‘football’s coming home’.
Broudie’s set includes crowd pleasing tracks like Lucky You and Life Of Riley. Broudie is from Liverpool and there are references to The Beatles. At one point he riffs on John Lennon’s Imagine. It’s nice to see his son, Riley Broudie, on stage playing guitar. It’s a relatively short show, possibly restricting Broudie’s onstage patter, but the crowd are warming up for Deacon Blue, another band with an impressive catalogue.
When Ricky Ross’s Scottish gang hit the stage, they open with Late ’88, complete with a look back at their successful past and clips from yesteryear. The band enjoyed immense success during a six-year run between 1987 and 1993 and play pretty much all the big songs tonight from that remarkable run.
Ross had a talent for strong lyrics and life-affirming melodies, even if some people misunderstood what he was up to. A man in the crowd met Ricky in Leeds and said Chocolate Girl was the song that he and his wife used at their wedding. Ross laughs at this; the song is about a man who cannot stay faithful and misunderstands his lover.
There’s a lot here that points to Bruce Springsteen – some of Ross’s moves, his check shirt, the way he dips into the Eric Church’s song Springsteen before singing Bethlehem’s Gate. Additionally, the band pay tribute to James Prime, their keyboard player who died last year at the age of 64. A video tribute reminds me of Bruce doing the same after saxophonist Clarence Clemons died.
I loved the way Ross wove classic songs into the set. The standout moment for this was pairing the Chi Lites 1971 pop-soul classic Have You Seen Her? with When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) from the debut Deacon Blue album Raintown in 1987. This was just brilliant – two great songs of longing and devotion meshed, with some stunning transitions. It was one of the best moments of the set.
It was followed by Loaded, a protest song of sorts against wealthy people having a lack of compassion for the less fortunate. Deacon Blue songs had a spiritual edge. Ross, a former teacher and youth worker, is a songwriter with something to say.
The band look genuinely happy to be there and give it their all. Lorraine McIntosh retains her girlish energy and sense of fun. Her and Ross have been devoted to each other for four decades and he calls her ‘the love of my life’ onstage. Original band member Dougie Vipond is great on drums. Gregor Philp on guitar looks delighted to be there and plays some great Telecaster and Stratocaster licks (he seems to love Fender, with amps also from the company). Lewis Gordon anchors things with the bass and Brian McAlpine fits in on keyboards.
The finale is a string of old hits, including the perennial Ship Called Dignity. I thought Ross looked momentarily bored here, but maybe I was imagining it. Fergus Sings The Blues is full of power but following it with the lesser known That’s What We Can Do was a mistake – the energy of the gig stalled. The final song was the Bacharach and David number I’ll Never Fall In Love Again. Great work, Ricky.
It was another excellent night at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, which has a great line-up this summer. Head over there some time.
The Lightning Seeds and Deacon Blue played at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Friday 10 July 2026.