Ayrshire was spoilt for choices tonight. Up in Glasgow Brown Bear and the Bandit were doing their utmost to blow the roof off King Tuts and by all early reports coming in it looks like they did just that.
Meanwhile here in Kilmarnock I went straight from a 12 hour shift at the coal face to Taylor Buntains charity night in Jollys where some acts were playing to raise funds for cancer support.
This night wasn't without its stresses for Taylor as some acts had dropped out at short notice and there was limited options of finding replacements, but as they say 'the show must go on' and it most certainly did.
When I arrived Taylor himself was easing into the closing stretches of his set with a newly written blues number that featured some nice idiosyncratic twists that sounded spot on.
I've criticized Taylors performances in the past and since then we have become quite friendly, but I never let a personal relationship with anyone skew my view - or take the edge off of airing an opinion - so when I say that this is exactly what I was waiting on seeing from him then it's an honest appraisal.
All the hints of promise were delivered on.
If I was to simply claim that his vocal delivery had improved it would be a gross understatement.
There's a full transformation in how he is promoting his music to an audience, and full credit has to go to him as an artists who has to an extent dismantled what he has previously done and rebuilt it all from the bottom up.
That takes a great deal of honest self appraisal and a desire to improve that few could claim to have.
If I was wearing a hat I'd have to take it off to him.
I didn't previously consider that he had the ability to be a front man and thought that the musicianship he displayed vastly overshadowed his singing. So in short a great band member yes, but a front man no, yet here he was proving me wrong, very wrong, and I'm happy to admit it.
He closed his set with a cover of Britney Spears that I've previously seen him do.
The last time it left me cold as I didn't think it worked, but this time it's a different take on it and just by upping the quality of the vocals and concentrating on the delivery he nailed it.
I guess it's that balance thing again.
It's a joke doing it as a cover, but it's also a familiar song that people can judge the quality on so it has to be of a certain standard with an obvious tongue in cheek element so that people actually get the joke, and this time it was all of that and more.
I could write about how fantastic Matt Scott was as the nights closing act, but I've mentioned often enough that he is a real star and I would just be repeating myself and in doing so detract from the praise that I'm offering Taylor.
So I'm not going to do that.
Everyone in Kilmarnock knows that matt is the dogs bollocks and I don't need to keep belabouring the point.
So go'an yersel Taylor, as we are apt to say up here. Belter of a set ma man.
Oh and Ross Crawford who I missed was getting plenty of praise for what appears to have been a sublime set.
I guess I better get up to speed with him.
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