Ricky Ross and friends at FRETS

Ricky Ross & friends
FRETS at the Strathaven Hotel in aid of Simon Community Scotland

On Saturday 10th May I got to mix my passion for charity with my deep rooted love of music as Ricky Ross, alongside his great friends Gregor Philp from Deacon Blue and David Scott from The Pearlfishers, played an intimate show in the wonderful setting of the Strathaven Hotel.

Ricky and his wife Lorraine are fantastic supporters of Simon Community Scotland, the charity I work for, and have visited a number of our services across Glasgow over the years. 

Simon Community Scotland provide safe places, support and hope to hundreds of people experiencing homelessness every single week. We do this through our street teams, our hubs, 24-hour helplines, supported accommodation services, outreach support and our own SCS Homes. In 2024, we helped over 10,000 people.

The need for our support and experience is increasing every year. Ricky was determined to do something to help and very kindly, with the help of his friend Douglas MacIntyre who runs the excellent FRETS nights in Strathaven, arranged to play a show.

It was a scorching day and the Strathaven Hotel was looking absolutely stunning under the blue skies, with dozens of people basking in the beautiful beer garden when I arrived. 

Inside, the FRETS team had everything set up perfectly, soundcheck had gone well, and there was time to chat with Wesley who arranges production and Steve who has been doing sound for Ricky since the mid-80's. Two great guys.

Showtime came around quickly. Guests were super friendly and extremely generous, buying strips of raffle tickets for some wonderful prizes that included guests passes and a meet and greet with Deacon Blue at one of their Hydro shows this October.

Ricky came onstage at 8.30pm sharp, settled down at his piano and was straight into it. What a voice! Beautifully rich and soulful. Meanwhile, his fingers effortlessly danced across the piano. It was a real treat to sit mere feet from a master at work.

I've found myself going through Ricky's extensive back catalogue in the days since the show. Here are a few of my favourite moments from the set.

• The opening few songs with Ricky at his piano. Cavalry was lovely.
• Back Here In Beano Land - the mix of humour and grim reality - all things are real
• Ricky, Gregor and David all on seats with guitars playing the trilogy of Walls, She Gets Me Inside and Pale Rider. The harmonies on the latter were just gorgeous.
• A sublime stripped back Wages Day. 
• The story behind the song and the performance of London Comes Alive.
• Good Evening Philadelphia was possibly my favourite song of the night. Taken from Ricky's 1996 album What You Are, the trio played it with real zip and relish. A 3 chord gem, I immediately fell for the tumbling melody and the hook. I found out, I realise, I need you, More than you need me
• The closing cover of Magnetic Fields The Book Of Love

Thanks to everyone who made Saturday night a very special one. Over £8,000 was raised to help Simon Community Scotland provide safe places, support and hope for people experiencing homelessness.