by ScantRegard
King Tut’s when it is sold out is a funny place – an L-shaped venue that forces people to crowd into the a small balcony behind the sound desk, get crushed at the entrance, or stand in relative comfort at the far end of the stage, albeit with no hope of escape for refreshments or a pee. On this summer night, it’s also hotter than Lucifer’s slippers. In other words, it’s a bloody magic little venue.
These few hundred people have crammed in on a hot June night to sweat along with Malcolm Middleton, ably supported by the Pictish Trail, aka Fence records co-founder Johnny Lynch who starts the evening off beautifully with a half hour set of songs from his first album “Secret Soundz vol 1″.
If you like your folk with an edge – some keyboard, a bit heavy bass – then this is the man for you. Showing off the amazing voice that just can’t quite be done justice on record, he gives a pared down, easy and natural performance of songs including “Winter Home Disco”, “You Covered the Earth With Your Thumb”, and the sumptuous “Words Fail Me Now”. It’s clear that a large portion of the crowd have been tempted along as much by him as by the main act, and he deservedly recieves a much warmer reception than most supports do at tuts, with plenty of banter batting back and forth.
Much of Malcolm Middleton’s new album was recorded with the Fence boys, and Johnny appears on 9 of the record’s tracks, so it’s no surprise to see him troop out with Malcolm and the band to start the main show. The set zips by despite the ungodly temperature in the room. As well as older songs, like “We’re All Going to Die”, “Loneliness Shines”, “Speed on the M9″ and the excellent “Blue Plastic Bags”, a fair amount of the new album, Waxing Gibbous, gets an airing, and it stands up beautifully against the more familiar tracks. Stand out song “Carry Me” is a lament to the realisation that childhood dreams don’t come true, and is bittersweet and knowing, showing more of the complex character that has been rather predictably been labelled “miserablist” by some.
There are a few fuck ups along the way, with forgotten lyrics, and, as he admits himself, the first encore is the first time he and band mate Jen have made it to the end since the tour started. As if to reward himself for the success, the final song of the night is a very faithful cover of Bryan Adam’s “Run to You”, which he admits half way through is something he’s wanted to do since he was 12. And as he bangs it out on his beautiful Gretsch, you can see why.
On paper this wasn’t what you would call an uplifting summer gig, but the energy, wit and obvious enthusiasm from the crowd and the band all came together to prove that you don’t need to sing happy pop tunes to be a crowd pleaser, and whilst Falkirk may be Middleton’s original stomping ground, no-one gets him better than a Glasgow audience.
Filed under: gigs Tagged: | aidan moffatt, arab strab, fence collective, Gigs in Glasgow, glasgow live reviews, johnny lynch, king creosote, live reviews britain, Malcolm Middleton, pictish trail
