10CC, Usher Hall, Edinburgh: Life is still a minestrone ...

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The music of 10CC always stood out from the crowd even back in the 1970s - and it was  a crowded field back then.

Five decades on and their 2024 ultimate greatest hits tour is still packing them in. Little has changed from the set list they used in 2022, but no-one minded. They came for the hits and the memories.


The band’s mainstays are in their 70s now, and the audience likewise, prompting a few to shift from their cramped seats up in the Gods - “cartilage gone, need to stretch my knee” said the fella next to me as he relocated to the stalls. The climb up the uneven stairs to the very back rows almost saw staff summon some sherpas.


Still, they were (almost) all on their feet by the end of a 19-song set which not only gave them all the hits they wanted to hear, but they came from a band that clearly had fun on stage.


Graham Gouldman is the sole surviving original member, although guitarist Rick Fenn and drummer Paul Burgess have been with him since those very early days when the band carved out a niche with their distinctive songs.


The video introduction brought us all up to speed with 10CC’s story before the band kicked in with Son Of A Man and The Second Sitting for the Last Supper before finding their groove with Art For Art’s Sake,  Life Is A Minestrone, Good Morning Judge and The Dean And I. You forget just how good those songs are/were.


At the end of each, Gouldman gave a formal bow of thanks, left, right and centre - a throwback to the days of suited and booted pop bands. Introductions were warm, and solos properly acknowledged, but this was no stiff, dial-it-in show - 10CC threw in some simple but fun moves, and brought those 50-year old songs to life to the joy of the audience.


Kevin Godley appeared on a video for Somewhere in Hollywood which was a fitting acknowledgement of the role he, together with Lol Creme and Eric Stewart, played in the group’s huge success.


And the home run was 10CC’s finest moments. I’m Mandy Fly Me, the classic I’m Not In Love, and the quirky, Dreadlock Holiday before an encore of Donna - sung acapella and with huge fun - and a rocking rendition of Rubber Bullets.


That Gouldman and Co are still packing them in 50 years on is a tribute to quality of their music and their enduring love of being on stage, and looking and sounding better than ever. It'd be no surprise if they rolled back into town in 2026 ...

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