Gerry Cinnamon

Liquid Room, Edinburgh

“THERE’S no way I was missin’ this one, even if I had to play outside,” said Glasgwegian musical phenomenon Gerry Cinnamon to a packed Sunday night Edinburgh audience who had fortunately seen the snow recede enough for them to get to this gig without too much trouble.

This may not have been on the scale of the two-night stand which he sold out at Barrowlands just before Christmas, but his fans have the sort of feverish loyalty which can be found in very few other audiences.

It’s the sort of response which an audience might only deliver if they feel they’re watching a kindred spirit and someone who shares their experience. It’s no surprise that his reworked cover of the Stone Roses’ I Wanna Be Adored sounds more credible from him than from most others.

Like a Glaswegian Ed Sheeran, he appears solo with just his guitar and the occasional spot of harmonica, whistling or effects, but his voice is raw in its joyful honesty, and his chorus es are examples of classic pop song writing, from the skipping beat of Sometimes to the free-associated oddness of Keasies (“keasies up / keasies down / magic circle all around”).

Yet his storytelling is also first-rate, from Fickle Mcselfish’s examination of how he behaves in relationships to Canter’s mulling over ambition versus laziness and Diamonds in the Mud’s reflection on appreciating what you have. It’s surely only a matter of time before he’s playing the Hydro.

DAVID POLLOCK