On Tuesday 21 March we had the pleasure of co-hosting ‘The Life and Lyrics of Denny Oliver’, with Easterhouse Thriving Places and Denny’s family. The event was a sell-out with the Platform auditorium packed with friends, family, fans, and lifelong supporters of the late local musician Denny and his band Scheme, attending the event.
The evening began with the renaming of the Platform recording studio by Councillor Burke in Denny’s honour. Cllr Burke, who spoke about Denny, unveiled the new name as the ‘Denny Oliver Recording Studio’. With speeches from Denny’s daughter Suzanne, and Platform’s Artistic Director Matt, it was a touching tribute and a moving start to the night.
The fantastic Easterhouse Ensemble then kicked off the show with some jazzy reimagining’s of Denny’s best-loved songs which were interspersed with stories and anecdotes from friends and colleagues who had known him. The stage was then handed over to his friends, who performed some of the band’s music with all the bold, exciting energy of the man himself.
It was fantastic to see and hear the audience singing along – and evening chiming in with some stories of their own!
Following a wee intermission to refresh our drinks at the Platform Café Bar, we closed the night with a screening of Channel 4’s Innocent as Hell, a documentary from 1986 about Denny’s band Scheme at the height of their fame.
Platform are honoured to house the newly renamed ‘Denny Oliver Recording Studio’, so why not pop in and see it for yourself?
