King Creosote, St Andrews
Last night, despite being absolutely shattered from the previous evening's shenanigans (drunken Risk until 5am, not recommended), I headed along to the Students' Association here in St Andrews to see the erstwhile leader of the Fence Collective, King Creosote. I can count on one hand (well, maybe that's an exagerration) the number of major acts I've seen in the Union here; but given that two of them are local kids KT Tunstall (formerly of Fence), and KC, well, I'm not that bothered.
Support came from The Flying Matchstick Men ('synthtastic', as my friend said), and some student band. TFMM were clearly off their tits, but that didn't stop them from having a great time, nor did it prevent the audience from enjoying their infectious brand of 80s synth-pop. I kind of thought a mixture of the Killers and the Go! Team, although TFMM had a charm all of their own and a wicked sense of humour; (before launching into a particularly groovetastic number: 'This is a song about paedophiles and how to avoid them'). Second up were a group of students, who's name I never caught, and I don't really care. They played an interminable acoustic set in which every song sounded the same ('here's an instrumental love song'). Nice voices, competent playing, no fun whatsoever, and they did a pretty good job of leaching away the energy that the Flying Matchstick Men had just enthused the room with. I mean, one bongos player is unforgivable enough, but two? That's just taking the piss!
Not so King Creosote (probably best described as eclectic folkie), who began with a solo acoustic version of Not One Bit Ashamed, one of the standout tracks from KC Rules OK!; before being joined onstage by the Pictish Trail and the rest of a band made up of Fence stalwarts. Showing off a fuller, and more polished sound than I've heard from the king before at venues like the Scout Hut and local bar Aikan's, KC put together a set that meandered from folk-inflected to full-on rawk-outs. In this, he seems to be following the trajectory of the last LP, which eschewed the lo-fi production of earlier work. Indeed, it was the first time that I've really felt that you could dance to the King's music. Tremendous stuff; predominantly guitar led, KC and the group also had an eclectic use of a good variety of electronic instruments, too. But what really makes KC stand out is his vocals and lyrics; although during the quieter parts of his set, he did have to tell the drunken neds to stop talking (I've never understood why people pay to see music and then chat all the way through it!) But the rest of the crowd were enthralled, and I was too.
Long live the King!
Have a listen to Not One Bit Ashamed, from KC Rules OK!
King Creosote on myspace
The Flying Matchstick Men on myspace
*No photos yet, I'll have to see if I can nobble some from someone.
Support came from The Flying Matchstick Men ('synthtastic', as my friend said), and some student band. TFMM were clearly off their tits, but that didn't stop them from having a great time, nor did it prevent the audience from enjoying their infectious brand of 80s synth-pop. I kind of thought a mixture of the Killers and the Go! Team, although TFMM had a charm all of their own and a wicked sense of humour; (before launching into a particularly groovetastic number: 'This is a song about paedophiles and how to avoid them'). Second up were a group of students, who's name I never caught, and I don't really care. They played an interminable acoustic set in which every song sounded the same ('here's an instrumental love song'). Nice voices, competent playing, no fun whatsoever, and they did a pretty good job of leaching away the energy that the Flying Matchstick Men had just enthused the room with. I mean, one bongos player is unforgivable enough, but two? That's just taking the piss!
Not so King Creosote (probably best described as eclectic folkie), who began with a solo acoustic version of Not One Bit Ashamed, one of the standout tracks from KC Rules OK!; before being joined onstage by the Pictish Trail and the rest of a band made up of Fence stalwarts. Showing off a fuller, and more polished sound than I've heard from the king before at venues like the Scout Hut and local bar Aikan's, KC put together a set that meandered from folk-inflected to full-on rawk-outs. In this, he seems to be following the trajectory of the last LP, which eschewed the lo-fi production of earlier work. Indeed, it was the first time that I've really felt that you could dance to the King's music. Tremendous stuff; predominantly guitar led, KC and the group also had an eclectic use of a good variety of electronic instruments, too. But what really makes KC stand out is his vocals and lyrics; although during the quieter parts of his set, he did have to tell the drunken neds to stop talking (I've never understood why people pay to see music and then chat all the way through it!) But the rest of the crowd were enthralled, and I was too.
Long live the King!
Have a listen to Not One Bit Ashamed, from KC Rules OK!
King Creosote on myspace
The Flying Matchstick Men on myspace
*No photos yet, I'll have to see if I can nobble some from someone.
Labels: king creosote, the flying matchstick men
posted by skye | 5:01 AM
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