JJ Gilmour: Breaking The Silence
JJ Gilmour
Entry Requirements: Over 14's (under 18s must be accompanied by an adult)
A very special show as JJ Gilmour revisits the songs he sung with The Silencers.
The Silencers were a big part of JJ's story yet it is rare that JJ performs any of the songs he sung with the band in his live set... until now.
** Please note we have a no talking policy when acts are performing. Please show the artists performing and your fellow gig goers the proper respect and haud yer wheesht. If you can't manage that, don't buy a ticket **
JJ Gilmour is without a doubt one of the finest songwriters that Scotland has produced. He is also one of the finest vocalists we have produced, and his live performances are know for being able to have audience members in fits of laughter at the start of a song and floods of tears by the end of it.
He made his name as the the co-singer with the Scottish rock band The Silencers. The band were huge across Europe, especially in France, Spain & Germany, where they would sell-out arenas and stadiums, and top the charts.
JJ of course went on to have a successful solo career, and while he would sometimes add the songs I Can Feel it or Sylvie to his set, he has never sung any of the many Silencers tracks he sang on live since leaving the band.
This very special show sees JJ revisit these songs, performing them live again for the first time in over 20 years. Of course there will also be some fans favourites from his amazing solo work.
Line Up
Internationally acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter JJ Gilmour made his recording debut in 1989 with The Silencers, one of Scotland’s top bands who enjoyed huge success throughout Europe. A naturally gifted musician (in his youth (JJ came very close to a career in classical music as a tenor), he first joined the band as a backing vocalist though later in their career he progressed seamlessly to lead vocalist.
Seven action-packed years of gigging and recording ensued during which The Silencers had gold albums, sold over half a million records for BMG/RCA, headlined major rock festivals and were regulars on hit TV shows across Europe. However, all good things must come to an end and after this successful period with the band, JJ decided he needed to take on new challenges and embarked upon a solo career.
After an initial period of prolific song-writing in 2001 at his home in Jersey (Channel Islands), JJ left for New York to record his critically acclaimed debut solo album ‘sunnyside P.A.L’ Produced by Dan Wise (Scissor sisters) and mixed by Michael Brauer (Coldplay, John Meyer) the album was inspired by the memory of a childhood friend Paul Anthony Lennon and was released in February 2002. The album became the catalyst for establishing his now fiercely loyal fan base and gained wide spread acclaim from his peers as an ‘outstanding debut album’.
In between the release of his first solo album and the long awaited equally successful second album ‘The Boy Who Didn’t Fall’ (released in 2009), JJ’s desire to write a musical began to take shape in 2006. This was where he began to sow the early creative musical seeds and formulate ideas for the show ‘Dancing Shoes’, based upon the life of footballer George Best. After his dream was realised “Dancing Shoes” played to over 70,000 people. He has also written the songs for the musical play ‘The Titanic Boys’ which had its debut in August 2012 at Belfast’s Grand Opera House.
JJ was living in Scotland where he recorded his third album Slocomotion, before departing for Ireland. During his time here, he remastered and released ‘The Jersey Sessions’ & ‘Live at Cottiers’ albums and finished compiling a newly released songbook of his works as a solo artist. He has also now completed album number four which saw him go back to The Foundry Music Lab to work with Sandy Jones recording the album he always wanted to do - DiX is 10 songs of simply vocals, piano, strings and uilleann pipe, released in January 2017.
