The Proclaimers - Whitehall Theatre, Dundee 1994

 

I found this article typewritten. In fact there was more than one - original and photocopies. I think I submitted it to a couple of papers but it was never published. Until now.

As part of a touring schedule that reaches the venues and towns few rock acts reach the Proclaimers show comes to Dundee. More specifically the Whitehall Theatre usually home to the likes of Daniel O'Donnell and Sydney Devine. Indeed the smiling visage of Scotland's very own rhinestone cowboy grins from posters in the foyer.

Entering the auditorium the sense of anticipation is thicker than the fug of cigarette smoke rising to the rafters. 

Opening the show the Proclaimers stamp their authority on the night with loud confident readings of 'Hit the Highway' and 'Guess Who Won't Beg'. By the time they pitch into 'I'm on My Way' the audience are on their feet, stamping, clapping and hollering along. 

A Proclaimers concert is now an adrenaline charged distillation of American music producing a release of emotion akin to a soul revue or an evangelist revival. The audience is caught in euphoric rapture as the songs hit home.

The set comes to a close with 'Don't Turn Out Like Your Mother' the band reaching higher and higher towards the finale. Taking a short breather on the encore of 'King of the Road' they finish the night with a yelping 'Oh Jean' with Charlie speaking in tongues like a man possessed. Transcendence is reached and its time for home assured in the knowledge that nothing like this has been seen in the Whitehall Theatre, ever. 

1994

 I've seen the Proclaimers countless times from their beginnings playing in hip clubs and 'hairdresser' bars of Edinburgh. I'm due to see them this summer in a big top on Leith Links. It's been a long gap since I saw them last at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange in the early 2000s.

Tuesday night gig: Charlotte Cornfield with support from Lorkin O'Reilly, The Orange Trees

 Small venue gigs are the ones for me really. It's the intimacy with the act you've gone to see nothing beats it really. That and the wonder and surprise of discovering wonderful support acts who you might not have discovered otherwise. Those damn streaming algorithms don't always come up with the goods. Music is from the heart not numbers after all.

 It was Tuesday night at Sneaky Pete's and there were three acts to see. I bought my ticket to see the headliner Charlotte Cornfield and knew nothing of the support acts Lorkin O'Reilly and The Orange Trees. 

The latter were first up, a duo with a bossa nova influenced set of pop songs with a darker tinge but that jazzy lightness that transported me back to the early 80s when there were similar sounding bands popping up with engaging bittersweet lyrics. That's what we had tonight and yes, I fell for that light jazzy style and the lyrics with a twist. 

Lorkin O'Reilly I have to admit I'd never heard of before seeing the bill. Originally from Leith now living in New York he was a revelation. well picked guitar and a gritty world-weary voice told tales anti-social neighbours, dysfunctional relationships with a unique poetic take on these vignettes of frustrated lives. The lyrics like pins startling you with their sharpness. Echoes of Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley but this was something altogether different and captivating. I could have listened to him forever. He was joined on stage by Melanie MacLaren for an unscheduled duet (she'd flown in from NY) on 'Clearance Aisle'. I'll be listening to a lot of Lorkin O'Reilly from now on. 

I always like it when those singer songwriters from afar who I've found on streaming services (the algorithms sometimes work) play a gig in my hometown. It makes this big world seem much more of a village. It brings us closer; the troubadour is in town. Charlotte Cornfield hails from Toronto and here she is with a drummer and bass player on a small stage in Edinburgh playing songs from her album 'Highs in the Minuses'. They've been touring for a year, and this was the last night of that long tour, so the band dynamic was tight as they've lived inside these songs for so long. There were so many standouts on the night and here's some 'Skateboarding by the Lake' (or skate, kick thing...listen to it!), 'Headlines', '21', 'Drunk for You'. These are well drawn lyrics, and they are matched with melodies and tunes that dig into your psyche. And you wake up next morning with them embedded in your head. If you haven't heard Charlotte Cornfield, then you should. Better still catch her live.

All too soon it was over, and I was out into the night mulling over what I'd just seen. Small gigs, small gigs. They are the best.