Vetiver with The OK Kids opening
Music is Love presents… Vetiver (opening act: The OK Kids) – Venue 1, Students’ Union St Andrews, 2nd December 2011
Advertised as ‘Solid Gold Escapism’ by the lovely people from the ‘Music is Love’ committee, last night’s event ensured that each and every member of the audience would be spotting a huge grin for at least a couple of days. Or, in any case, I know I will. If their last antic (This is the Kit, Rozi Plain and Jamie Harrison) was condensed happiness in a Barron, psych-folk veterans Vetiver magically transformed Venue 1 into a faraway warm beach during an enchantingly delightful twilight. You just had to have the heart to see it.
To set the real scene in a frosty and half-empty Venue 1, and to kick the night off at a shockingly early 8pm, The OK Kids promptly jumped on stage. The name itself condemns them to an anonymous mediocrity. They’re not The Fabulous Kids, The Stunning Kids, The ‘Oh my God they’re so good I need to get my hands on their album within the next 5 minutes’ Kids, but just The OK Kids. And they were simply that: OK. If you’re hoping for a cross between The Cold War Kids and ‘OK Computer’, you’ve got another thing coming. Kings of Leon-ish both in style and sound, they’re a decent band to get an evening started with a concoction of sing-along-ish tunes about life and relationships. Nothing new here. Maybe they do deserve some praise for solving the epic mystery of ‘how to get wallet out of extra-skinny jeans’.
It’s unusual for the mellow band to be the headliner. But Vetiver didn’t just headline, they shined, importing a San Franciscan summertime straight into gloomy Scotland. In the meanwhile, Venue 1 had been filled by your usual crowd of smiley hippies (and the odd Stormtrooper every now and then), now sitting in front of the scene, waiting patiently for the freak-folk kick off. And did we get what we had bargained for: over an hour of soft, heart-warming, old-school tunes, incorporating the purest of folk, seasoned consistently with country, and with a little added hint of jazz. Maybe even a pinch of ragtime. And a lot of general sunny feel-good vibe. Bandleader and frontman Andy Cabic was cutely mesmerizing, parading a wicked hat, as the superb soundtrack of an idyllic cloudless afternoon engulfed St Andrews. ‘The Errant Charm’ indeed.
All in all, it’s no small feat to make Venue 1 vibrate to the sounds of folks twisting, feet swinging, people smiling, laughing, and enjoying a vintage night out, with a band that doesn’t manically abuse guitars, but let their chords simmer gently in the sunlit sky. And Vetiver did that. It doesn’t have to be loud to be good, and it doesn’t have to be frantic to enchant. Hats off and kudos.
