Punk legend set for live Crieff gig return
Skids frontman Jobson recalls Hydro date in 1970s
Punk legend Richard Jobson brings his band back to Crieff this weekend – for the first time since they sparked a near riot 44 years ago.
The Skids frontman, who’ll be performing a song and story- filled acoustic set with bandmates Bruce and Jamie Watson at Strathearn Arts on Saturday, revealed one of his formative experiences with the Fife firebrands was a disastrous appearance at Crieff Hydro in early 1978 shortly before releasing their debut single Charles.
“There was a promoter from Edinburgh called George Duffin and he used to book The Skids in the early days – and he was a bit of a chancer,” said Jobson (61).
“I said to him we always play Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paisley and so on, can we not play up north somewhere like Inverness, and he said, ‘Sure, I’ll get you a date.’
“And he booked us into this lovely space at the Hydro and we turned up and it was clear straight away that this was not a gig – this was a wedding.
“I remember the woman who was being married, she was actually very beautiful, and she had her white gown and everything, and there was all these scabby wee punks from Dunfermline there.
“It proceeded to go very badly wrong for us because there was big old farmers. In all honesty I think we got chased out of town and told never to come back to Crieff or we would be killed,” he laughed.
The songsmith, who has also written and directed a string of acclaimed films – including New Town Killers and 16 Years Of Alcohol – said the band managed to flee before the incident escalated.
“It was hilarious, but it wasn’t funny at the time – it was terrifying,” admitted Richard, who was a member of the notorious Dunfermline gang AV Toi in his youth.
“The thing that I remember most is the poor bride’s face. They expected a tartan-clad violin and fiddle band, and lo and behold these scabby, spotty, ugly, toothless little punks from central Fife turn up.
“They were not amused, put it that way. They’d expected Kenneth McKellar and they got Richard Jobson. . They were actually going to kick the living s*** out of us – and we never got paid.
“I think we got to the soundcheck and we knew we were in trouble. We only played one song, and we didn’t finish it before the punches were thrown.”
Formed in Dunfermline in 1977, The Skids scored big hits with the singles Into The Valley, Masquerade and Working For The Yankee Dollar prior to lead guitarist Stuart Adamson quitting the band in 1981 and forming Big Country.
Jobson put a new version of The Skids together in 2007 after rock giants U2 and Green Day had scored a global hit with a charity cover of the band’s track The Saints Are Coming, with a comeback album, Burning Cities, eventually following in 2018.
The frontman staged an acoustic show at Strathearn Arts with Goodbye Mr Mackenzie’s Martin Metcalfe last October and says he was keen to return.
“When I played the venue in Crieff with Martin I genuinely thought nobody would be there and it was quite full,” added Richard.
“Also I sold more books there than I sold at any other venue in the UK. Almost everybody who came bought a Skids book. I don’t think we had any left by the end.
“It was a lovely evening so I’m really pleased they’ve got us coming back there. It’s a great venue.”
Fans can look forward to hearing hit singles in Crieff, plus reworked versions of tracks from the third Skids album The Absolute Game.
“After the multitude of cancellations I’ve really missed the intimacy of the acoustic stuff,” Jobson declared.
“It’s more about telling stories than playing music and people take the p*** out of me but they realise you’re not some pompous p**** who thinks he’s a bit special.
“It’s just about being as honest as you can, but also engaging with people. I do a bit of name-dropping but it’s built into the stories and that seems to work. It seems to fit the times we’re in.”
• Tickets for Saturday’s gig, priced £18, are available from Strathearn Arts’ box office in Comrie Street or www. strathearnarts.org.