The Proclaimers still covering new ground
Pop
The Proclaimers
O2 Shepherd’s Bush, W12
It’s a good time to be a Proclaimer. Last September, the band’s 1988 nationalist rallying cry Cap in
Hand reached the top of Amazon’s UK download chart, fuelled by the rush of feeling inspired by the Scottish independence referendum. It was an unexpected return to prominence for the Caledonian folk-rockers.
Despite a steady output of new albums, and a hefty world tour in 2012, the band hadn’t much troubled the charts since the Eighties. But on Thursday night, the Reid twins sounded relevant again.
In their button-down shirts, 53-year-old identical twins Craig and Charlie looked more like IT consultants than rock stars. They acted accordingly, unfazed by the cheering, boisterous crowd. During the climactic guitar solo of Sunshine
on Leith (the title track of their highest-charting album and their 2013 jukebox-musical film), Charlie slunk offstage while Craig leant against the back wall, sipping mineral water. They may have been backed by an efficient four-piece band, but this was less performance than karaoke.
Luckily, their back catalogue spoke for itself. Early singles like
Letter from America and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) sounded as good as ever, while the audience – a blend of middle-aged couples and twentysomething converts – greeted new and old material with equal giddy abandon. Lead singer Craig’s falsetto may have worn thin, but Charlie, the rhythm guitarist, always had the more technically accomplished voice. When he’s allowed to use it, as on their Celtic footstomper, Sean, it’s breathtaking.
Much like their contemporaries The Jesus and Mary Chain (also a pair of Scottish Reid brothers), The Proclaimers keep a warm heart under their bristly exterior. For each piece of scathing social commentary, there’s also a wide-eyed statement of love. Their set skewed towards the latter. Sharp-toothed hits like Throw the
RAway didn’t make the cut, leaving room for big, sincere ballads like Life
With You. It’s a decision that went down well; 1994’s Let’s Get Married, though teetering on the verge of sentimentality, received one of the warmest responses of the evening.
Surprisingly, the real highlights came from their new album, Let’s Hear It for the Dogs. Be With Me and What School? are as fresh and lyrically dextrous as anything they’ve written. After 28 years – and countless miles – Auchtermuchty’s favourite sons are still covering new ground.