Kid Carpet is possibly the perfect example of, well, quite a few things. On the one hand he is a born entertainer possessing an inimitable imagination. On the other, the epitome of an everyman’s hero. Mingling happily with his fans before his set, Mr Carpet looks genuinely pleased to be here, playing the penultimate date in a mini tour which included stints at Nice n Sleazy’s in Glasgow, Montys in Dunfermline, and Dundee’s Doghouse.
Support band Juno! are a member down tonight but a dynamic combination of electro-laced Gossip-esque tunes and enthusiastic “woohoo”s from frontman James ensures that what they lack numbers, they make up for in pounding funkadelic beats. One slightly inebriated female fan decides to hijack the stage, wrap her leg around the microphone stand and indulge in a spot of what may only be described as grinding. Making off with James’s tambourine, she half-gallops, half-stumbles into the crowd and is promptly escorted out of the venue.
Kid Carpet takes to the stage brandishing his name across his chest (as if he needs any introduction!); the only hint of self-congratulation he will display. For Mr Carpet is by and large an artist tainted by endearing self-doubt, evident as he pauses mid-set to ask “was that alright?”
A blinding set including favourites ‘Make it Look Good’ ‘Can’t Stop the Pop’ and kitsch ‘Your Love’ incites a riot of funky moves on the beer-soaked floor. He launches into “The Europeans” with the delightful revelation that he intends to enter the legendary Eurovision Song Contest next year, and faith in humanity is restored just a little bit.
Wielding his now legendary assortment of Fisher Price accessories, Kid multi-tasks in a way no man has multi-tasked before. When he makes the seemingly bratty insistence “I don’t wanna go to work today”, it can only be assumed he’s being ironic – his perma-grin tells the story of a man deeply in love with his “job”.
Closing song ‘The Kid’s Back’ is KC’s version of ‘Boys are Back in Town’, a head-banging, triumphant gem of a track, over which he proclaims, “Fucking Greenside in the house! Best fucking night so far!” Passionately brandishing his foot long, plastic guitar high above his head, he projects all the gusto of Axl Rose amidst the final throes of a soaring cresendo, and well and truly pisses all over the clichéd idea of a one man band.
the entire Kid Carpet tour in pictures at the Two Thumbs flickr page.
Plus Kid Carpet & Juno!, and Kid Carpet & CB Radio , all from the Glasgow gig, as shot by Heidi Kuisma