Party at the Palace

Ah, festival season. Time was when T in the Park was the must-go destination for music-loving revellers – or for the adventurous, Glastonbury. Now it seems, every town has its own event going on. Even music-starved Linlithgow, until now solely served by the folk and jazz communities (and the odd Penguins Kill Polar Bears hometown show).

For such a suburban audience, however, an indie-schmindie gig isn’t really going to do the required business. Thus, the Royal Burgh welcomes a raft of big names, with only the openers – Fifers Jamie & Shoony – bona fide unknowns, save for those who voted for them in a Central FM Battle of the Bands contest. Charged with getting the crowd going, they do just that – they’re granted four songs and in return deliver a lively set. Anyone expecting a couple of rappers shouting along to backing tapes would have been pleasantly surprised – a full band expertly rocking a rapidly-filling arena.

Remember Runrig? Donnie Munro does, but the Highland rockers’ former frontman is now carving out a solo career. However, that doesn’t stop him trawling his former band’s back catalogue for an acoustic set (abetted by producer Eric Cloughley) including ‘Dance Called America’. “We’ve just come down from the Isle of Skye,” he jokes, and launches into ‘The Cutter’, an emotionally-charged song about the Clearances. However, despite the historic setting – the Palace once home to Mary Queen of Scots – he avoids any indyref questions, although the one-time Labour supporter may be discomfited by the number of Yes badges and Saltires sported by his audience.
Lacking the bombast of the band, his best effort is probably a cover of Michael Marra’s ‘Mother Glasgow’ (odder still, Hue and Cry will later drop this from their set, presumably having lost a coin toss with Munro).

In the intervening time we attempt to make another kind of history with the word’s biggest beer queue, before we get three songs from Nicholas McDonald, a karaoke / X Factor contestant from Motherwell, who delights the younger end of Party at the Palace’s demographic with a One Dimension (sic) cover before a version of Jason Mraz’s ‘I Won’t Give Up’ (sadly missing the chance to dedicate it to those brave souls still in the line for drinks).

To be fair / generous, we could say that this reflects the diversity of the lineup and the catering for parents, children, and doubtless grannies present who love wee Nick too. James Grant, however, is less keen – praising the wee fella’s voice, the love-in ends when Grant states that he “hates X Factor and everything it stands for” to massive cheers. ‘Jennifer’s Shoes’ is dedicated to the “the foot fetishists out there” (I’m not sure we have those in Linlithgow) while ‘Jocelyn Square’ goes out to all that remember him from Love and Money. Much of the set is trawled from his impressive back catalogue, though it may come as no surprise that he avoids self-confessed “albatross” ‘Candybar Express’, instead closing a lively, fun set with a ‘Hallelujah Man’ that has even his most ‘seasoned’ fans up and jigging in the sun.

Next up on a bill which looks like Rewind post-Independence are The Bluebells. Despite a ploddy opener, the soon hit the ground running – ‘I’m Falling’, is the day’s first proper singalong, while Ken McCluskey whipping out the moothie heralds ‘Cath’. It’s largely the ‘classic’ lineup, with Bobby Bluebell back on guitar, but with Orange Juice’s James ‘T’ Kirk on guitar duties. However, it’s the accordion on ‘Young At Heart’ which tells this band’s story more than anything, the celebrated legal case based around the missing fiddle riff from their number one hit – though McCluskey instead opts for a entertaining ramble about Hillman Imps and the Volkswagens which the tune advertised in the ’90s. The singalongs give way to full-on jigging around the arena.

With the running order now on a par with Catch 22 or the Bible in the great works of fiction category, some of the billed filler acts are squeezed in for a run of short sets. Thus, Jade Richards – a reality TV singer for Fife – makes a decent fist of a Paolo Nutini cover, while Carrie Mack performs something unrecognisable to these ears (perhaps an original, though this seems unlikely). Lastly, The Libations, a locally-based band with a single to plug – a cover of ‘Caledonia’ which serves as a food bank benefit (!), and as such is as perhaps the ultimate crowd-pleaser (so far).

Now as much a political pundit as a musician, Pat Kane returns to his former day job with the announcement that 80s chartsters Hue and Cry will perform songs from ‘Remote’, to understandable cheers (there’s no bigger festival buzzkill than the phrase “new material”). Joshing with the “teenagers” in the audience, the full band quickly and effortlessly bring the funk – one reveller stating that “they’ve not changed since I saw them 30 years ago”. Among the hired hands in the Kane brothers’ setup are three (or more?) renowned jazzers on brass and percussion as well as one-off chart star Tippi on backing vocals.
With Kane still in fine voice, ‘Looking for Linda’ is among the late night grooves served up at 7pm as the sun is just starting to fade. ‘Strength To Strength’ closes a highly-danceable set which has even the over-20s up on their feet.

Attic Lights announce themselves as the “bastard offspring of the Beach Boys and the Ramones”, thus removing the need for journalist quotes I suppose. They’re certainly the youngest act on the latter part of the bill, having formed a mere nine years ago, even if their sounds are rooted in a more bygone era. A guitar-heavy cover of ‘Bright Eyes’ is perhaps aimed at today’s audience demographic, but high points are ‘God’ and the rousing ‘Let You Down’ which closes their set, to a decent reception in the feeding time slot.

And so to the headliners – Deacon Blue. Like most of those before them, the Dundonian ensemble are in a crowd-pleasing mood, quickly getting what a festival of this kind is all about. Of course, they have the hits to back them up – ‘Fergus Sings The Blues’ and ‘King of The New Year’ are wheeled out early, while ‘Chocolate Girl’ morphs into ‘My Girl’ as we get “sunshine on a cloudy day”. In fact, it’s been bright for the past eight hours, as the lights shine out across the loch. And the future for this festival seems bright. Despite what is a fairly safe choice of acts for the debut of the Palace as a music venue, Ricky and co. are the ideal party band.