Considering how last evening ended, I found myself feeling unexpectedly well this morning. I'm not sure if it was the fantastic breakfast supplied at The Waterfront or maybe the bracing sea breeze which whipped along the harbour, but any trace of a lingering hangover soon dissipated. I took advantage of a gap between the showers to head for the churchyard above the Dreel Burn from where I could survey Anstruther and read the papers - not least the enthusiastic reporting of the remarkable SNP election victory. As I read and surveyed, in the distance I could spy little huddles of bleary-eyed Homegamers beginning to appear, stumbling in twos and threes along the harbourfront in search of coffee, breakfast or paracetamol. If I was going to last the day, then I needed a gentle start to proceedings too. So I took a long, slow and circuitous walk to Cellardyke Town Hall for the early afternoon session which was curated by Heavenly Records. I've written before about the reinvention of this stalwart London label as a home for all kinds of new folk music, but the bill that they'd concocted for a lazy afternoon took in a wider sweep than just their own roster. Before I knew it I was nursing a fresh pint of ale and surveying the unlikely venue - a lofty, vaulted hall with all kinds of sailing and fishing memorabilia, a huge saltire prominent on the wall behind the stage. It was clearly going to be an interesting afternoon.
Proceedings started with Jack Joseph. Entirely unknown to me, I'm assuming that Jack was one of the two frighteningly young looking gents who took to the stage. One sang and played acoustic guitar, the other embellished the delicate songs with flicks of electric guitar. It was a low-key start, pleasant enough if a little unassuming. I didn't really find out much about Jack Joseph as a result of the performance, and strangely a search of the web afterwards didn't reveal much else beyond his association with Heavenly. As the brief but accomplished set ended the hall began to fill in earnest in preparation for Conquering Animal Sound. It would be utterly embarrassing should I begin to heap any more praise onto this Glasgow-based duo, but once again they coaxed remarkably dense and layered music from their complicated looking collection of technology. Anneke stomped shoeless around the stage, manipulating her own voice while Jamie tested out some rock star poses with his guitar. As ever, the sound was magical - haunting, tense and on a new composition tentatively entitled "Treehouses" strangely menacing too. It was always going to be hard to follow this, and the task fell to Carwyn Ellis of Colorama performing solo. I have to confess I just didn't really warm to these songs - and whilst they were technically impressive with some sparkling guitar playing thrown in there somewhere, the lyrics and the vocals just didn't grab me. Maybe somewhere else, having not had to occupy a stage just vacated by two of the most remarkable performers I'm currently aware of, this might have worked a little better? Heavenly's own Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou were next on stage, and seeing them preparing to play in front of the collection of nautical memorabilia it struck me how I seem to bump into them in the most unlikely of places - a tin church a few hundred yards from my house, and the sweaty dungeon of The Captain's Rest so far this year already, and we're barely half way through. Once again they huddled around a single microphone and raised the rafters with their strange two-voices-as-one trick. The set mostly consisted of material from their recently finished and soon to be released second album 'Quality First, Last and Forever' - with the trademark cover of Pete Greenwood's "The '88" thrown in for good measure. I'd been curious about how the Homegame audience would react to Trevor and Hannah-Lou's mix of traditional folk styles, but I didn't need to worry, the rapturous reaction to closing "Cheap Wine" confirmed that they'd pulled it off again. I just wonder where I'll end up seeing them next?
After going in search of food and a wander around town to stretch my strangely tired legs - and hopefully along the way to remember just what I'd done to make them ache like that - I headed for Anstruther Town Hall once again for the evening's entertainment. First up were Geese - another new name to me. Now, many years ago I had a stab at playing the violin. It was an ugly, regrettable incident and is sensibly forgotten. However, tonight Geese showed me I probably hadn't been far off the mark. By turns the duo of violinists sawed at, plucked, sang into and otherwise abused their violins in curious but inventive ways. Backed by a drummer who seemed intent on coaxing nothing short of thunder out of her instruments, the whole thing should have been a fairly taxing listen. But, oddly it wasn't - veering from woozy Cocteau Twins soundscapes to funereal Godspeed, You Black Emperor! marches within the space of just a few extended compositions, I have to confess I was hooked from the outset, and made mental notes to explore further. With my ears still ringing, the stage was set for Cate Le Bon. I'd done some cursory Homegame homework and heard some of Cate's output - what this hadn't prepared me for was the strutting rock queen which she had become as she paced the stage. Borrowing bits of Sweet Baboo to ensure that the Welsh contingent here was represented fully, she managed to grind out a startling range of moods - with her curious voice ranging from a whisper to a shout. I came away from this a little stunned and confused, but certain that I needed to find out more about Cate Le Bon - and I suppose that's part of the Homegame ethic - surely no-one comes away without new names to look up and new music to hunt down?
The last time I saw Kid Canaveral was in Bristol, to a paying audience of approximately three of us on a damp and chilly November evening. The band were true professionals that night, and played a proper set despite the disappointing turn out. Tonight was going to be very different indeed, as the hall filled again for their performance. With the addition of former Come On Gang! guitarist Mikey Kid Canaveral sounded huge, ripping into the songs from last year's "Shouting at Wildlife" album - soon to be re-released on Fence - with a new vigour. The audience clearly loved it as the floor of Anstruther Town Hall began to flex in time with the developing moshpit. Let no-one tell you that Homegame is solely about beard-stroking folkniks - not while these frenzied but carefully crafted pop hits are part of it. However, as if to bring us back to our roots, King Creosote himself joined the band in advance of his own performance. Having attended SXSW as his backing band, the fruits of their collaboration were pretty clear - firstly in an accordion drenched but still incendiary take on "Missionary", and then in a new composition with King Creosote on lead vocals which may or may not have been entitled "Home Run". If this performance is anything to go by, there is a ridiculously fine future ahead for Kid Canaveral and scope for more interesting collaboration perhaps? Having been lucky enough to attend one of the "Lancashire Bits of Strange" earlier in the year, I knew the format for the next and much anticipated performance. The Earlies, despite one or two apparent absences from their ranks were still a huge band and barely a corner of the stage of the Town Hall was unfilled. King Creosote entered to his second rapturous reception of the evening. After all, he was very likely the reason many of the people here first heard of Fence, of this place, and indeed of Homegame. Despite the quiet back seat he takes in terms of the organisation of the event, he's an ever present positive force around the place - popping up here and there, reminding us why we made the long trek up to the East Neuk. So as the "Fourteenth Bit of Strange in Fourteen Years" commenced, the full implications of him singing that "...it's only you lot that I'm interested in" were not lost. This collection of songs as interpreted by The Earlies are powerful, varied and easily some of King Creosote's best work to date. With the album played in full, as bonuses we were treated once again to the guitar-tapping version of "Twin Tub Twin" which culminated in a frenzied pogoing conclusion, along with a joyous take on "Bootprints".
As we politely filed out of the Town Hall into the mercifully cool evening, there was a sense of having just seen something people would talk about for some time - not least the triumphant performance by Kid Canaveral. The steps of the hall remained busy for some time with people chatting excitedly about this evening, where they were headed next and what was planned for tomorrow - while the Fisher and Donaldson folks packed up their mobile bakery to head for the next venue. For my own part I decided to conserve my energy - and nurse my aching joints. There was another day, packed with music tomorrow - and I intended to last the pace. As I stumbled wearily back to my digs, a bunch of local neds asked me "If I was with the weird bastards from Fence?". I was proud to say I was.
Kid Canaveral - You Only Went Out to Get Drunk Last Night
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
