The Proclaimers - Cliffs Pavillion 29th October 2007
| Published: 18th November 2007 01:41 |
Mention The Proclaimers to most people and you're likely to get one of a few stock responses - "oh the Scottish twins with the glasses", "are they still going" or as likely as not, a syllable clipped rendition of "and I would walk 500 miles" in an accent that makes Rab C. Nesbitt sound like the queen.
All of which goes to prove that despite a career spanning 20 years, the release of seven studio albums and a chart-topping, "Best of" collection, not to mention their first on the bill performance at the 2005 Murrayfield Stadium leg of the Live 8 concerts, the Reid brothers somehow manage to remain one of the music industry's best kept secrets.
It was probably as early as the release of the band's third album, "Hit The Highway" in 1994, when I realised just what great songs they wrote and just how criminally underrated they were. But despite collecting each of their subsequent releases, it was not until the Cliffs Pavillion show that I had ever experienced them live.
The brothers' early shows as an acoustic duo have long since been replaced by an expanded line-up and when they finally strolled onto the stage at around 8.45pm they were accompanied by a 4-piece band.
With a quick greeting of "Are you alright Southend?" the band immediately launched into the brilliant "New Religon" off of their latest album, in which people with obsessive pastimes from football to Star Wars feel the sharp end of the Craig and Charlie's tongue. A couple of tracks off the latest offering "Life With You" and then their impressive back catalogue started to get an airing.
The band is quite casual in their delivery of the set and incredibly at ease as they offer up song after song plucked from all seven of their releases. The brothers' vocal performance is note perfect and the harmonies are to die for. Twenty years of experience has honed the performance to perfection, but with a stream of cracking songs belting out of the sound system these boys were always onto a winner.
Not surprisingly the obvious contenders incited the largest reactions on the night with "I'm Own My Way" from the Shrek soundtrack being the first offering to take the crowd to another level, closely followed by debut single, Letter From America. Sunshine On Leith was greeted with the same reverence as Angels at a Mr Williams concert, while "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) threatened to take the roof off of the place. (Mobile phones held aloft were numerous, as many captured the moment in video or photo format. Meanwhile just as many were letting friends and family elsewhere share the unadulterated joy of ...... well singing a full volume, syllable clipped rendition of "and I would walk 500 miles" in an accent that makes Rab C. Nesbitt sound like the queen.
Take my advice buy The Proclaimers' albums and then go and see them live, they won't disappoint.
