GIG REVIEW : KID CANAVERAL : CAFE GLAD, GLASGOW : SATURDAY 2 MARCH

The decision to take in my first gig of 2013 was a very late one, with me taking up Aldo's offer to go along only that morning.

I was keen to go along for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Cafe Glad was a new venue for me in terms of gigs.  It's not all that faraway from Villain Towers and while I'd previously been in the main bar area, I'd never yet been inclined to venture into the 110-capacity performance space.

Secondly, I'm actually quite fond of Kid Canaveral and I wanted to get a taste of their new material as the gig was one specially set-up to support the release of their second LP Now That You Are A Dancer which hits the shops today.

This was the second of two sell-out nights at Cafe Glad and the band took to the stage to a very warm and heartfelt reception and for 90 minutes, they regally entertained us with a 16-song set featuring what turned out be 9 of the 10 songs on the new record as well as a fair few much-loved old tunes.

For those of you who don't know, Kid Canaveral are a classic four-piece indie pop-band consisting of David McGregor (vocals and guitar), Kate Ladza (guitar, keys and vocals), Rose McConachie (bass and backing vocals) and Scott McMaster (drums and occasional guitar).  Most of their tunes are fast-paced and infectiously catchy, all of which transfer perfectly to a stage show leading to the band and audience having a good time in equal measures.

They have deservedly picked up a substantial following in their native land and hopefully the release of their latest record, on the much loved and critically acclaimed Fence Records will see them make great strides commercially.

The gig was a triumph from start to finish.  The new material for the most part sounds like a leap forward from the early singles and first LP.  The band have got better and better with each live performance that I've caught from them and this upward spiral continued with last Saturday night.

All this came as a very pleasant surprise.  Before going along, I'd only heard one of the new tracks - Low Winter Sun - which was released as a single a wee while back and was bitterly disappointed with it.  To my ears, it was indie-by-formula and a bit too close to the likes of latter-day Stereophonics.  I was fearful that all of the new material would be a bit of a letdown, although in retrospect I should have put my faith and trust in Mike from Manic Pop Thrills who have a big-thumbs up to the new LP when he was given an advance copy as you can see by clicking here.

Full set list:-

Breaking Up Is The New Getting Married
Who Would Want To Be Loved?
Good Morning
Without a Backing Track
Her Hair Hangs Down
The Wrench
Who's Looking At You, Anyway?
Left and Right
Smash Hits
Couldn't Dance
You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night
What We Don't Talk About
And Another Thing!!
Low Winter Sun
So Sad, So Young
A Compromise

Here's a highlight of the oldies:-

mp3 : Kid Canaveral - Couldn't Dance

And here's one of the newies


New album is available here.