King Creosote at The Button Factory, Dublin, 19th May 2015

The last time King Creosote graced our shores was almost eight years ago, which seems strange considering the Scots are our nearest neighbours and kindred spirits. All the more so considering our erstwhile love for singer/songwriters. You feel King Creosote (aka Kenny Anderson) could have benefited from a bit more exposure on this side of the Irish Sea. Look what we did for David Gray! On that occasion, all those years ago, he was supporting Seasick Steve in the Spiegeltent, and there was no question who the boisterous crowd were there to see. Perhaps he felt under-appreciated.

Much has changed for King Creosote in the intervening period. Several albums and a mercury nomination for his 2011 collaboration with Jon Hopkins, ‘Diamond Mine’, have steadied the ship in some respects. He is on record as stating that he was at the point of giving up before that album was released to general acclaim. He has always been a critics’ darling, but this has not necessarily translated into commercial success.

In the Button Factory this is evidenced by the sparsely populated venue. There were maybe 100 or so in attendance. Considering the guy hasn’t played here in eight years this was surprising. The stage is also sparsely populated: the man himself, a djembe player and a cellist. He opens proceedings, strangely, by describing a really good chipper in an industrial estate outside of Falkirk. “Now that we’ve got the chips sorted out”, he says, “we can get on with it”. No break in music goes without some kind of witty banter with the crowd, which is sometimes at odds with his often mournful songs. Nevertheless he endears himself to the attendees immediately as he opens with Cargill and For One Night Only (a “Friday night drinking song”) from last year’s soundtrack album, ‘From Scotland With Love’. “This is us on day three of our three-day tour. Proper rock and roll!”, he exclaims. Days one and two were in Belfast and Cork.

As Anderson swaps his guitar for an accordion, his cellist manages to make his Cello sound like a double bass or a violin to fit the songs’ requirements. By way of introduction to Bubble from ‘Diamond Mine’ he remarks drily, “of my many hits and successes I have to give credit where credit’s due to Mr Jon Hopkins. Come out, John!” . Interestingly he opts for a dynamic mic placed in front of the guitar rather than a pick up, and as a result there is a feeling that some of the nuances of his finger picking may be lost.

Penny Drops is introduced as an Elvis rip-off but the Presley estate can probably rest easy. This is followed by a crowd-pleasing rendition of Bats In The Attic and How I Won My Stripes, a funny little ditty with a dark heart. As is becoming the norm these days, he makes a joking reference to the encore and states that they will merely hide on stage. True to his word, he lies down at the back of the stage and comes back to rapturous applause from a crowd who are well and truly besotted with this endearing Scot. He can do no wrong, even a cover of Come On Eileen sounds good, the first time anyone outside of a wedding band has attempted it in the history of live music. If you can pull that off you’re doing something right.