King Creosote and Kid Canaveral
Music Is Love, King Creosote and Kid Canaveral, Venue 1, Students’ Union, St Andrews.
Fife resident Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote recently took to the stage of Venue 1 alongside St Andrews graduates Kid Canaveral to promote their collaborative single ‘Homerun & A Vow/Nowhere Near Half Done’. With King Kenny’s already sound reputation bolstered by his 2011 Mercury-nominated album ‘Diamond Mine’, the room was filled with a crowd almost large enough to make the dancing that would later take place acceptable. Although perhaps this was encouraged by the primary school disco-style pumpkin decorations left over from Halloween.
Kid Canaveral returned to St Andrews after a busy summer of festivals including performances at ‘T in the Park’ and ‘Belladrum’. Their indie-pop style and catchy melodies got the afternoon off to a lively start. Thanks to a tight rhythm section and front man David MacGregor’s guitar playing, the songs really drove along and before long the crowd were up on their feet. Also impressive was David’s wide vocal range on a number of songs, despite complaining of a sore throat following a lively gig the night before at Inverness venue ‘The Ironworks’. Highlights from their set were upbeat singles ‘And Another Thing!’, ‘Couldn’t Dance and ‘You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night’’.
Kid Canaveral were then joined onstage by King Creosote in order to form “(KC)2”. This resulted in a slightly more laid back style, with Kenny’s gentler lead vocals slotting in perfectly. As well as playing the surprisingly disco beat ‘Homerun & A Vow’, Kenny and the Kids gave a mesmerizing performance of the ‘Diamond Mine’ gem ‘Bats In The Attic’.
After a brief interval, Kenny reappeared on stage sporting a 6-piece band comprising of musicians from the local area. This was the highlight of the afternoon and Kenny and the band went through an impressive number of songs from the vast King Creosote back catalogue. Aware of this fact and eager to engage in some banter with the crowd after a refreshing pint of Tennent’s, Kenny threatened not to leave the stage until they had played through all forty plus of his albums. Tempting though this sounded, it was an idle threat and the afternoon eventually came to a close with a rip-roaring rendition of the King Creosote classic ‘Not One Bit Ashamed’.
Judging by the crowd’s reaction, the gig was thoroughly enjoyed by all and both bands ought to have accrued some new fans. King Creosote certainly lived up to his reputation and Kid Canaveral showed a great deal of potential, which they will hopefully continue to build on in coming months.
Verdict: KC Rule(s) OK.
Hector Waudby-West