Hugh’s home for a one-off show
ONE of Scotland’s most notorious bands is back for a one-off show in Glasgow’s South Side. Hugh Reed and the Velvet Underpants – lovingly described as the country’s greatest ‘undie’ band during their 1990s peak – are playing tonight at The Pandora bar.
And frontman Hugh is promising to put on his usual livewire performance with the help of his energetic band.
Hugh has been living in China for the last few years and, after deciding to settle there for good, he’s in Glasgow to sell his house before moving back to Beijing.
And while he’s in town, he thought he’d gather up his old pals for a one-off gig in his hometown.
Hugh said: “I met a Chinese woman in Glasgow and moved out there a few years ago.
“I love it there. Beijing is a massive city with a huge underground music scene.
“I have a band and teach English, but you could say I really teach Scottish.
“My students still can’t speak any English when they go abroad, but they can order a bottle of whisky no bother.”
Hugh became a well-known face in the 1990s thanks to the success of the band, which peaked with a 1993 support tour with Debbie Harry.
He even had a small part in Trainspotting – he was the guy who bought Diane a drink in the nightclub, only for her to down it before also nicking his. There was also a role in an Irn-Bru television advert and some extra work on Taggart.
He said: “There’s a bar in Beijing called Trainspotting after the movie, so it’s very popular over there.
“Some of the students I teach were studying movies, and one of the films was Trainspotting.
“When I explained that I was in the film, they were very impressed. I think it got a wee bit lost in translation and they thought I had a much bigger involvement than I actually did.
“But it certainly hasn’t done any harm to my reputation!
“I enjoyed being an extra in Taggart too, but I was disappointed not to play a dead body. That was always my biggest ambition.”
Full of mischief and jokes, Hugh’s onstage persona is an even more intense version of himself.
Using a massive array of props, he transforms himself from one character to the next throughout the show. And nobody in the audience is safe from his arsenal of smoke bombs, water pistols and Irn-Bru cans as impromptu missiles.
His acting ambition has not diminished either and he is set to appear in Jackie Chan’s upcoming adventure film Chinese Zodiac, about a man searching the world for 12 mystical artifacts.
But before that, expect the South Side to be under his spell tonight for one last time before he sets sail to his new home in China.
The show starts at around 9pm tonight at The Pandora, 349 Victoria Road. Entry is free.