Well well, you’re expecting something good is going to happen, and something else happens…
The opening event for Glasgow Refugee Week looked undersold, possibly promoted a bit late in the day, the “cabaret” tables and chairs laid out if and when there aren’t enough punters to justify a packed out standing gig – or was it always planned this way, don’t know…
Old Fruitmarket is a great venue but it left an ominous space at the front, more of later…
Betty and beau arrive a couple of songs into the set of Randolph’s Leap, and it didn’t look too promising I’m afraid to say. An eight-piece with two on brass and two on strings, Ricky Ross understudy of a singer – to be fair they don’t take themselves too seriously, self-referencing accusations of being “twee” in one song, then just being twee anyway in most popular song and ender ‘Crisps’. Hmm – signed to Fence for an album later in the year, wish them well but would have preferred Withered Hand, sorry…
Pictish Trail took the stage around 9pm with a rocking backup – bass, drums and lead guitar as well as his own acoustic, and spoke to an audience mainly sat on their arses in the cabaret seats. He played a very varied set, couple of oldies, a couple from the release due later this year and current release Of Course You Exist (the one with accompanying sweatshirt for sale, if you don’t like the song but like his face, as he said).
Always a man of surprises, he played a very good electronic number (no idea what the title was) in the middle of the set, full of effects from a lo-fi box of tricks he kept setting off, very atmospheric and the best song of the set in my humble opinion. He’s off to festivals now and may well cause some unexpected vibes and with the right audience it could be quite something.
The relatively muted gig went up a gear when the previously billed KC solo spot came on as a full band, Kenny Anderson (King Creosote, for you virgins) bringing another 7 (I think) personnel with him to bulk up the sound. There may have been a few reasons for this! (drowning out Bill for a start…)
They fairly got the toes tapping with some material from most recent EP ‘What I Learned From The Gaels’, including the passive-aggressivity of ‘Doubles Underneath’ (“disregard my early 80’s vinyl collection at your peril” – or something like that), a harkening back to possibly simpler record buying times, and, cos’ I have the scribbled setlist here in my sweaty hand (amazing what a flash of the thigh to a roadie will get you), and some other previously unaired songs, ‘At The Wall’ I think, not sure, but anyway the tunes were of high quality.
The band, introduced early on as going by various individual monikers, included hirsute of beard acoustic strummer Gummi Bako, the decorative and groovy backing singer (who may also have played a part in what happened later with her lovely dancing) was Bam Bam – anyway, they went on at a fair pace.
And of course there was Bill… now, Betty is not going to get into any trouble on this, Bill is my dad, no he’s not, he is a very enthusiastic guy who has (certainly at the Grand Ol’ Opry Anderson and Hopkins gig) sung along so badly that he was asked to leave, and then Kenny felt so bad he asked him back!
In this larger venue with more firepower, Bill was throwing shapes early on but did not really distract from things, and along with Bam Bam, may have “encouraged les autres” (Betty does do French lessons as well, see me after…) to move to the front, giving the general signal that dancing was permitted.
So we’d been aware for a couple of songs that there was a bit of a party going on up on the balcony, lots of whoops and dancing, bit of a contrast to the front of the venue, thanks to the “cabaret” seating, but Bam Bam and Bill were doing a fine job livening things up on and off stage – however at some point the party crowd decided that the big space at the front, occupied only by Bill, at this point, would be theirs.
I was probably too enthralled by the barrage of good songs, old and new (‘No Clue’, ‘Single Cheep’) to notice exactly when this happened but suddenly we had 100 or so grooving kids, like a TOTP audience, so enthusiastic it was completely OTT. I imagine most of them had got free tickets (via Refugee Week) due to the event being undersold, and some of them may have been refugee kids, SRW workers and volunteers, but they were determined to have a party and they were, with all due respect, better dancers than Bill…
Ironically, the next song to be played after this positive invasion, which the band took with good humour, was ‘John Taylor’, the fairly downbeat track off the Hopkins album, played with feeling and swayed along to by the teenagers like it was ‘Sailing’ by Rod Stewart – honestly, it was really sweet and touching.
Some old and new numbers followed, think ‘A Month of Firsts’ is an oldie (2005 – anal Ed) but with 40 albums and counting, this guy is a national treasure and I’ve really lost count.
Last track was from the recent EP, with Gummi Bako barking out ‘Little Man’s’ words while Kenny looked on in admiration, and surprise I think, in terms of how this gig had worked out.
Another triumph then for the Neukers, but please let’s have more promotion of Glasgow gigs, and notice for a venue like this – actually a fab one for KC to play – in future, promoting, let’s hope, a bigger album later this year?