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I first saw Craig and Charlie Reid on stage at the Barrowlands in Glasgow's East End back in 1987 when they were the support to the Housemartins. I was so struck by their geeky uniqueness that I rushed out the next day (spot the geek!) and bought their début album This Is The Story and have been a fan ever since. Winding forward 26 years the twins look less geeky but are no less unique despite the passage of time. I was in fact impressed with how toned and well they appeared and was struck for the first time at how different from each other they looked. Craig has let his hair grow a little on top and wore it brushed straight back whilst Charlie wore his slightly shorter with a side parting. They also wear different eye ware these days!
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Glasvegas |
On the night, and due to an oversight on my part, I missed the opening act Roddy Hart and The Lonesome Fire which was 'a real bummer' (as our American 'cousins' are wont to say) as I really like their eponymous album and was looking forward to hearing them live. However, I was in time to catch the second support act of the night - Glasvegas and I really enjoyed their vibrant, raucous, thumping set. However, I'm not sure what the rest of the middle aged patrons, who made up much of the audience, thought of them!
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Charlie Reid |
This was the last night of The Proclaimers 2013 tour and the last chance to see them live until 2015. Therefore, it was extra special to see them in the recently opened, state-of-the-art, 13,000 capacity Hydro which sits, spaceship-like, adjacent to the SECC, were they concluded their last tour on 13 November 2009! On that tour the lads showcased their Notes & Rhymes album, however, this time out was to be more of a greatest hits show, as they ran through the latest album The Very Best Of - 25 Years 1987 - 2012. However, there were a few 'new' songs including Not Cynical (the only new song from the current album) and a handful from the last studio album Like Comedy.
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Craig Reid |
So, at about 21:00 Matt Lucas, one of the band's 'biggest' fans, approached the front of the stage and euphorically introduced the Proclaimers who then appeared with their band to a rapturous reception. First out of the traps was Whatever You've Got, the first track from the 2012 studio album Like Comedy. This song set the tempo for much of the rest of the night with its pounding drum intro and heavy bass keyboard notes leading into the twin harmonies and a sprinkling of guitar solo mid way through. The whole song building to an irresistible, toe tapping, sing-a-long finale where the audience sang one of the chorus parts and the twins sang the rejoinder. This is exactly the kind of song that the Proclaimers write to perfection and that the appreciative audience have come to love. It is strange to think that after two cracking albums (This Is The Story - 1987 & Sunshine On Leith - 1988) the brothers hit a barren patch and suffered "writers' cramp" before releasing album number 3: Hit The Highway in 1994 - a six year hiatus..
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Zac Ware |
Zac Ware on electric and pedal steel guitars played some great stuff and his solos were an integral part of the overall sound. He fitted them around Craig and Charlie's vocal parts expertly and he blended extremely well with Charlie's acoustic guitar playing. The drumming was crisp and clear, perhaps partly due to the wonderful acoustics afforded by the new, purpose built venue, and Clive Jenner kept the beat flowing with great precision. Standing in front of Clive but behind the twins was Garry John Kane who pumped, plucked and persuaded some solid rhythm out of his bass guitar to fill out the bottom end to great sonorous effect. Then finally, off to the right of the stage sat Stevie Christie 'tickling the ivories' with tantalising consequences for the general sound. On occasion he also played fine accordion to boot! The whole musical impression was then brought to almost unique focus by the singing of Craig and Charlie. Their harmonies are as much a trademark as their East Coast of Scotland accents, which gladly they refused to submerge in mid-Atlantic-ism way back when they set out. They were advised to drop the accent if they wanted to succeed, but instead they wrote Throw The 'R' Away and placed it track one, side one on album number one! Welcome to the Proclaimers!
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Garry John Kane |
Born in Leith in 1962, Craig and Charlie grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty (a royal burgh until 1975 and also home to Sir Jimmy Shand!) in Fife. Growing up, they listened to country greats like Merle Haggard & Hank Williams and early rock and roll such as Jerry Lee Lewis and these influences are evident in their music today.
Their harmonies are also very reminiscent of the Everly Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. In addition to their vocal talents the Proclaimers have written some great lyrics too and on the night I particularly enjoyed The Light from 1988's Hit The Highway album which includes the following:
Their harmonies are also very reminiscent of the Everly Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. In addition to their vocal talents the Proclaimers have written some great lyrics too and on the night I particularly enjoyed The Light from 1988's Hit The Highway album which includes the following:
And if I'm found wanting when my case is heard,
it will be by the author not some interpreter of his word
Then a little later in the show they performed perhaps one of their best songs in my opinion, lyrically speaking with Erica Nockalls (a member of the Wonderstuff) on violin. It comes from their 2001 album Persevere and is called Scotland's Story. The song tells of the magnificent mix that makes up the Scottish people and, by definition, makes Scotland such a wonderful, exciting, inclusive place. It encapsulates the meaning of the saying "We're a' Jock Tamson's Bairns" (The east coast village of Fife's Fishing History suggests the small fishing town of Buckhaven may have been one source for this saying. Of 160 families living in the village in 1833, over 70 were Thomsons!). Whatever the origins, the meaning is essentially that we are all the same under the skin and the final verse of the song goes as follows:
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Clive Jenner |
All through the story the immigrants came
The Gael and the Pict, the Angle and Dane
From Pakistan, England and from the Ukraine
We're all Scotland's story and we're all worth the same
Your Scotland's story is worth just the same
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Erica Nockalls |
This was followed by another of the lads landmark songs, the title track from their second album, Sunshine On Leith. Again to assist with the haunting violin sections in the song Erica played the part beautifully. Resplendent in her cropped, white hair and puffed out white dress she played and swayed to perfection and was awarded a resounding ovation as she left the stage.
There was also a moment which illustrated why these lads are held in such affection when they read out the names of a few folk in the audience who were about to 'get hitched' just before dedicating Let's Get Married to them. Also, along the way we were treated to some joyous sing-a-long songs which kept the vocal cords loosened. These included songs such as I'm On My Way, Letter From America, Sunshine On Leith and the seminal 500 Miles which brought the show to a rollicking, rousing and rambunctious end. From where I was standing on the floor of the arena it looked as though everyone was on their feet, even away up there 'in the gods', metaphorically marching those five hundred miles!
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Stevie Christie |
The band returned for a three song encore starting with a very personally poignant Life With You which began with a slow hand clapping beat and built to a wonderful crescendo, helped along by horn sounds coaxed by Stevie Christie from the keyboards! Up next was the Proclaimers' version of Roger Miller's wonderful 1964 song King Of The Road, and as before, we all bellowed along to every word. Then, after one hour and twenty minutes of pulsating, perfectly performed, pure-dead-brilliant party music which brought the punters to their feet, the show and the tour came to an end with Joyful Kilmarnock Blues. Given that this was the last track on their début album it seemed a fitting finale and the audience left the Hydro with a joyful feeling of time well spent in the company of friends.......
Whatever You've Got
Notes & Rhymes
Not Cynical
Shout Shout
Letter From America
Spinning Around in the Air
The Thought of You
Let's Get Married
The Light
Cap in Hand
After You’re Gone
Sean
I'm on My Way
Shadows Fall
Scotland’s Story
Sunshine on Leith
Sky Takes the Soul
What Makes You Cry?
I Met You
There's a Touch
500 Miles
Encore
Life With You
King of the Road
Joyful Kilmarnock Blues
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