KC on the Green, a pretty mouth-watering prospect. Given the Commonwealth Games madness (you’d better believe it, although by day 10 it has become “normal” to see the streets completely thronged with people, the trains and buses completely overcrowded, how’s it gonnae feel when we are back to cold grey nichts and moaning crabbitness again?). Betty thought this could be a huge event, giving Creosote the huge crowd he deserves.
Betty as a long time fan of King Creosote, was on site at the Green very early for this live play-along of the ‘From Scotland With Love’ collection of archive footage of Scotland at work and play, urban and rural, which was in fact on TV a few weeks ago and was released as an elpee (33 and CD, Betty likes the new Fopp moniker, Vinyl is Killing Downloads, ya bass) recently, complete with retro photos and lyrics (all credit to the film-makers, Director Virginia Heath and producer Grant Keir, who appeared on stage to introduce the film – check it out at www.fromscotlandwithlovethefilm.com).
Betty was expecting the usual “airport” security on the Green (the dogs didn’t like her last time, must’ve been that sausage kebab supper), the scanners (played havoc with the implants and the hip replacement) but due to the deterioration in the weather and possibly the fact it was Kenny Anderson and not Jedward or Michelle McManus, very few people bothered to turn up, so was through in five minutes.
With decreasing sunlight and threatening clouds the setup was ideal (dramatic anyway), a big stage plus a decent size screen and a fairly small crowd meant that Betty and her brood could get into the front of the crowd, a mixture of KC groupies and random onlookers – shame really because what followed (although predictable in content given that it was the soundtrack of the film) was a real treat.
Having heard the album a few times, Betty would say this was among the best work KC has done (recorded at Chem 19 in Blantyre, nice Commonwealth shoutout there, Livingstone colonialist reference, with help from among others Paul “checkmate” Savage and a large cast of musicians, women and girl backing vocalists), and there’s a pretty big range of choices here for other good KC albums.
The sequence of songs on the album and the film are not quite the same (I think) but the songs played tonight were perfectly aligned with the images of everything from kids playing in the Glasgae slums to fishermen, the dancing, medical breakthroughs, the remote hills, farming, the lot – the images (the filmmakers introduced and ended the event but Betty doesn’t do films since that incident with Richard Gere in 1985, the cheeky B, and don’t get me started on Richard Burton) (potential libel from Gere or Burton’s estate, to be removed on advice of lawyers if you’re still awake Stuart)
It was a bit of a shame that it started pishing with rain after about five minutes and Betty had to take turns supervising moaning progeny in the TV tent (very sophisticated Games, no neds or terrorists were admitted to this event although Betty has heard there is a planned missile attack on Sydney Devine from the Gorbals High Flats tomorrow, they’d hoped to shut him into Red Road during the opening ceremony).
It was thus not KC and the Sunshine Band and Betty’s hair extensions were completely f—ing ruined, however it was completely sublime. KC just did the job, it is cliched to say his voice is lilting, it is but it’s just one of the most expressive and sublime that you can hear in this year of 2014, and combined with the lyrics (will deal with that in a minute) and subtle backing from the other musicians and vocalists, and (another conjuction, sorry journalism purists you can feck off) playing off the images (the higher tempo numbers sequenced with dancing, the more sober numbers sequenced with Island Funerals and some quite sombre emotions, there was the whole gamut of Scottish experiences).
There were no comments or backchat from the stage, and no sign either of Kenny’s favourite fan (no not Betty, am moderating my words very heavily here, editors and others please take note and refer to helpline numbers).
Betty said she’d speak about the lyrics but in fact she’s not going to (just buy the record and do the work), there are a couple of KC songs recycled, one from the Hopkins almost- Mercury-winning album, but the range of themes, the eccentricity and the emotion, from high tempo numbers like ‘Largs’ (what a title!) to some fairly heavy themes – Betty loved the last few KC EP lyrics but these are even better and with the arrangements on the record and live at this gig, it’s probably the best – “rise above the gutter you are inside”.
Betty has come on KC a few times (no, not that, you filthy-minded maggots), most recently in Fife when he was sporting a stookie on his leg last summer – I just said hi, unusually Betty was tongue-tied, there’s very few musicians Betty is genuinely in awe of, but this Gig on the Green was just one more occasion where KC confirmed that, (hammy end to this one, sorry readers) KC, Rules OK.