King Creosote & Kid Canaveral captivate

Let me start by saying that Music is Love did a great job organizing the King Creosote and Kid Canaveral gig last Sunday afternoon. There were no technical problems at all. The stage was nicely littered with flashing pumpkins, sitting on trunks and leaning against musical instruments, wrapped in fairy lights. There were areas to sit, which suited me as my hangover hadn’t yet faded. The small criticism to be leveled at the appearance of Venue One derived from some bizarred banners – apparently left over from some sort of Rock Soc party the night before.

Initially, the whole thing annoyed me. Kid Canaveral took 40 minutes to get on stage, which seemed impossible since it was such a small gig. Punctuality is important in any professional capacity, not to mention some of us have things to do in the evening – it’s just plain rude. So they saunter on, all smiles and jokes and start playing their first song, which sounded remarkably like Fleet Foxes. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach continued (N.B. this could have been the hangover). Thankfully, as their set continued their music improved and started sounding more original. ‘Smash Hits’ went down well as people started dancing.

Interesting fact – this band is from St Andrews and formed here.

Kenny Anderson, also known as King Creosote, joined in for several songs. Mr Anderson has a beautiful voice. Very Scottish (according to my Scottish friend) but also deep and velvety. If he’d been a tad taller, he could even have been deemed a ‘hottie’. Once again, there were more jokes and banter from those onstage, apart from the two female members of the Kid Canaveral who didn’t seem particularly interested in the audience. Fair cop. This combination seemed to work – as long as you like Scottish-pop-folk, which, it turns out, I do.

King Creosote’s own set was also fantastic. His songs range from dulcet, emotional, melodies to upbeat, energetic stompers.  Yet, remarkably, each song maintained an ambient acoustic sound, even those stompers. 

Considering these two acts were playing on a Sunday afternoon, the response they generated in the crowd was impressive. People were constantly swaying and bobbing their feet to the music. On one or two occasions a couple of daring youngsters even did some dancing.  But let’s be honest, this was never going to be a gig of mosh-pits and crazy drug-induced, sweaty raving.

Nonetheless, it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

King Creosote and Kid Canaveral

October 30, 2011 at 4pm 

Venue One, The Union

£6/£8 on door