THE PROCLAIMERS AT THE BIG TOP TENT // LEITH LINKS, EDINBURGH
THE PROCLAIMERS PLAY TWO LEGENDARY SHOWS AT THE BIG TOP TENT AT LEITH LINKS IN EDINBURGH.
★★★★☆ (4/5)
THE PROCLAIMERS PERFORMING AT THE BIG TOP TENT AT LEITH LINKS IN EDINBURGH
PHOTOCREDIT: STUART STOTT
Normally, if I go to see legendary acts with more than 30 years of hits in their repertoire, it’s the classics from yesteryear that I’m most eagerly anticipating. However, I very much enjoyed the brothers’ ‘Dentures Out’, (about Britain’s apparent obsession with nostalgia) featuring (like many of their songs) a jaunty melody and entertaining lyrics that kicked off the proceedings on this beautiful sunny evening in Leith links. (The true home of golf despite what a Fifer might tell you)
Craig and Charlie Reid continued to lead their merry band through the hits and well-loved tracks spanning 11 albums, including last year’s most recent offering Dentures Out.
It was all pretty slick and accomplished, with very little room to pause before the next offering started up. There were definitely highs and lows, light and shade and changes of both tempo and mood through a carefully constructed set, with slower songs such as Draw Another Line and the reflective Shadows Fall balancing out up-tempo numbers Then I Met You and Life With You.
Never ones to engage in lengthy speeches or tirades, Craig and Charlie seemed to prefer to let their music do the talking - and what amazing music they have given us these last 35 years. It’s very true that there’s so much more to them than just ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ and ‘Letter from America’, and this was once again proved with ‘Drop Dead Destiny’ (another great song from Dentures Out) and ‘Cap in Hand’, their ‘Scottish independence’ song.
The melodic ‘Let’s Get Married’ got the crowd clapping and singing along. The Proclaimers are hard to classify – clearly there are influences from rock, country and folk, but also punk, as displayed in the cutting acerbic lyrics disguised by catchy tunes. Make no mistake, there are definitely pointed and political statements here, as displayed in the cynicism of ‘In Recognition’ and ‘Classy’. But there’s a shed-load of romance, too – the lament for lost love ‘What Makes You Cry’, the plea “Please don’t go rushing by/ Stay and Make My Heart Fly”.
The audience were kept waiting until the twelfth number for a full-on opportunity to show their voice with valiant singing to ‘Letter From America’, with an enthusiastic attempt to keep up with the familiar and intentional litany of Scottish place names and, of course, the melancholy masterpiece and stand out crowd favourite of the night the emotive Hibernian football anthem, ‘Sunshine on Leith', which came complete with some gorgeous pedal steel guitar.
It’s a song dripping with love and gratitude: “My heart was broken/ You saw it, you claimed it/ You touched it, you saved it” which has clearly come to mean a lot to a lot of people since its 1988 release as the title track of The Proclaimers’ biggest album.
The main set concluded with two of the twins’ best-known uptempo songs: ‘I’m on My Way’ (memorably used in Shrek) and the inevitable ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’.
There wasn’t an awful lot of song intro, interaction or commentary through the night but as the crowd that were definitely skewed toward the more mature of us similar in age perhaps to the 61 year old duo were there for a party and a sing-a-long not a conversation so all was good.
The night finished with upbeat ‘Kilmarnock’, lots of clapping, flags flying and people dancing reels – one benefit of having room in a huge big top tent.
After a huge, pounding, extended instrumental finish, with lights, Doors-inspired guitars and keyboards, drums and pretty much the whole shebang, the audience departed, satisfied and smiling. They definitely got their money’s worth and like The Proclaimers themselves, will no doubt be back again.