⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Horse “The Same Sky 35th Anniversary Tour” was at the Queen’s Hall Edinburgh tonight. The title of the tour says it all really. It is now 35 years since this debut album from Horse and this show was a straight run through of these songs in the order that they originally appeared on that release.
This album was often classified as Techno-Pop, an all-encompassing marketing term used to describe much of the music that was coming out at the time by new voices in pop music. Like any time period’s music, much of this music was disposable, destined not to stand the test of time, but Horse, her music, and the songs from this album were something very different. Not only have they stood that test of time (as was so obvious tonight), but people have over the years taken these songs into their lives and into their hearts. Something very special, almost magical has happened here.
One of the biggest reasons for these songs lasting so long and being so special is simply that they were so good to start with. These songs, created by Horse and former band member/songwriting partner (mostly as a team), Angela McAlinden simply stood out from the pack 35 years ago, and they still do. For me, Angela McAlinden is one of the most overlooked songwriters of our times, and it was good to hear Horse giving her this much due credit tonight. Horse needs credit here too for being a very special talent as a songwriter, and together they were a perfect creative match.
The show started with the first song from the album, “And She Smiled”, and from the opening bars of this song it was clear that Horse was on stage tonight in fine vocal form and full of that warmth and instant connection with her audience that always makes any Horse show such a feel-good place to be. Here everybody is, in Horse’s own words, “her family”, and these songs are like “her children”.
“The Same Sky”, and the follow up album from 1993, “God’s Home Movie” are both special. There are simply no weak songs, no album fillers in there. Every song is a carefully crafted piece of music with its own story, often its own little self-contained world.
There are so many special songs on “The Same Sky”, and they all mean something special to someone, but a few, including “Speed of the Beat of My Heart”, “Sweet Thing” and of course “Careful” always stand out for me, and the arrangements of these and every other song performed tonight allowed Horse and the band (including a string trio) to bring out the very best in them all. As always, Horse has a lot to say about her songs, and a lot of other things too, but being on that journey with her of where these stories are going to is always a fun part of any show, and yes Horse, you were right, “Never Not Going To” should have been a single from this album.
For most of us, life can be a bit like opening Pandora’s Box. It may not be all the evils in the world that get out, but often there will be difficult moments and unexpected heartaches in there. These songs like Pandora’s Box are full of hope, and that is maybe in part why so many people have taken strength from them in the difficult times that they have faced in their lives.
Horse has had the pleasure of not only seeing these songs survive through the years, but also witnessing first hand from the many stories that people have told her, just how much these songs have meant to them, and understands that with that goes a huge responsibility on how they are performed on-stage. Yes these are Horse (and Angela McAlinden) songs, but they are now everybody in the audience’s songs too, and over the years their healing and restorative powers have been a two way exchange for everyone.
There were more than just “The Same Sky” songs on this set list tonight, including “God’s Home Movie” and songs from the last Horse album, “The Road Less Travelled” and some 1960s covers – “Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell) and “I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten” (Dusty Springfield). It was most fitting that two great songwriters, Jimmy Webb and Clive Westlake (respectively) should be on this set list too.
The band on-stage with Horse are always a team of talented musicians in their own right, and collectively there is always that sense of everyone just having fun together playing these songs. A big part of that is always down to that special relationship on-stage between Horse and Lorna Thomas on bass. Together they can be a comedy duo when the opportunity arises, but as musicians they both know exactly where they need to be at any given time to fully support one another. As always, Lorna Thomas made the often complex look and sound so effortless on bass.
Opening this show tonight for Horse were two musicians still in the early years of their musical careers - Liv Dawn and Katya Mansell. They are two very different songwriters, almost a light and a dark approach to songwriting, but both with something interesting to say. Music venues like the Queen’s Hall need our support to survive and new musicians need places like this to perform in. Without our support we risk losing not only the venues, but the future of music too.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com