The Proclaimers

There is a club in Edinburgh, opposite Festival Square, that sold itself as’ The Ibiza Experience’. You know the type, hard house, ear bleeding trance and podium dancers. At 12:30am though, all this stopped and the throng went mental as the DJ played Craig & Charlie Reid’s ‘500 Miles’.

That The Proclaimers were hugely popular still in their native Scotland was not in doubt. However, after a 7 year hiatus from 1994, the release of Persevere in 2001 and 2003’s Born Innocent had largely slipped under the radar south of the border. But thanks to this year’s release of Restless Soul, and some well received Festival appearances, the ‘Sold Out’ signs are up at the Academy 2 tonight.

With nearly 20 years of performing under their belts the twins and their band are tight and confident – bold enough to perform the song that broke them, ‘Letter From America’, as early as the second number. It was the perfect warm up on a cold night and the first of many lusty sing-a-longs, complete with mock accents.

Their songs have always addressed the lives of their authors, sticking to the basics of relationships, good times and politics. Tonight we autobiographically hear about marriage proposals, bitter divorces, optimism for the future and their 1989 request for Scottish Independence, ‘Cap in Hand’, which is included despite the mess of a Parliament building delivered by the Scottish Assembly!

Of course, Craig and Charlie are the stars of the night, but guitarist Zac Ware does his best to steal some glory. Rarely given his head, when a song does throw him a guitar solo bone he shows he postures like a member of The Darkness, but looks more Smashie or Nicey, as he tries to ‘rawk’. The audience (and the band) is a bit too middle aged for that sort of thing but latches onto his enthusiasm nonetheless.

It’s not all lively though and ‘My Old Friend The Blues’ and ‘Sunshine on Leith’ are the night’s slowest tracks but two captivatingly beautiful songs and it’s a shame that the crowd can’t stay quiet while they are performed.

The night’s high spots are ‘500 Miles’, the song they sent to Mars and (thanks to American success) ensures that they are still recording, and ‘I’m On My Way’. During the latter a father and teenage son in the crowd sing every word with gusto, alternately throwing their heads at each other during the ‘a-ha’ chorus refrain, like demented delegates at an Alan Partridge convention. Closer inspection reveals the son to be wearing a Slipknot hoodie that proves, if there was any doubt, the appeal of a good tune and a good time is universal. The Proclaimers deliver that every time.

FUTURE GIGS

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