Kris Drever Band Queen's Hall Edinburgh 5th June 2024 Review
Kris Drever band were at the Queen’s Hall Edinburgh tonight and the many fans of Kris Drever and his music, which spans several decades, were obviously not missing the opportunity to hear classic songs from the past and a some new ones too.
For anyone reading this review who is maybe not that familiar with Kris Drever and his diverse musical work, he is simply one of the best singer-songwriters/musicians to come out of Scotland in many years. Whether it be as vocalist and guitarist of the folk trio Lau, the frontman of the Scottish Indie collective Admiral Fallow or his musical collaborations with people like Roddy Woomble (Idlewild), fiddler John McCusker or singer-songwriter Boo Hewerdine, there is always that touch of originality and quality to his work, whether that be adding his own touch to traditional songs or creating new ones.
It was with a traditional song that Kris opened this evening’s set list, “The Isle of France”. A grim song about the penal colony on Mauritius (originally named “The Isle of France”) may seem to some people to be an odd choice for an opening song, but somehow the immediate connection that Kris Drever has with his audience made it not only work, but paved the way for an evening of diverse and creative songs from one of Scotland’s best story tellers.
The last few years have been busy ones for Kris Drever with a “best of” album out in 2023, and new material being worked on for a new studio album. As you might expect then, this evening was a bit of the old and the new with songs like “Scapa Flow 1919” and “I Didn’t Try Hard Enough” flowing effortlessly into newer work like “Catterline”. One of my favourite lines of the whole evening came from “If Wishes Were Horses” and its use of an old proverb from the 1600s - "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride".
Kris Drever is a gifted songwriter and the different musical styles and rhythms of many of tonight’s songs was impressive, but equally matching that diversity was the fluidity of Kris as a guitarist. With an equally impressive repertoire of guitar playing skills at his fingertips and many of these songs being played in different tunings, it was obvious all evening that here on stage was someone who had simply reached that point of being very comfortable with both his audience and his own musical abilities.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www,artsreviewsedinburgh.com
For anyone reading this review who is maybe not that familiar with Kris Drever and his diverse musical work, he is simply one of the best singer-songwriters/musicians to come out of Scotland in many years. Whether it be as vocalist and guitarist of the folk trio Lau, the frontman of the Scottish Indie collective Admiral Fallow or his musical collaborations with people like Roddy Woomble (Idlewild), fiddler John McCusker or singer-songwriter Boo Hewerdine, there is always that touch of originality and quality to his work, whether that be adding his own touch to traditional songs or creating new ones.
It was with a traditional song that Kris opened this evening’s set list, “The Isle of France”. A grim song about the penal colony on Mauritius (originally named “The Isle of France”) may seem to some people to be an odd choice for an opening song, but somehow the immediate connection that Kris Drever has with his audience made it not only work, but paved the way for an evening of diverse and creative songs from one of Scotland’s best story tellers.
The last few years have been busy ones for Kris Drever with a “best of” album out in 2023, and new material being worked on for a new studio album. As you might expect then, this evening was a bit of the old and the new with songs like “Scapa Flow 1919” and “I Didn’t Try Hard Enough” flowing effortlessly into newer work like “Catterline”. One of my favourite lines of the whole evening came from “If Wishes Were Horses” and its use of an old proverb from the 1600s - "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride".
Kris Drever is a gifted songwriter and the different musical styles and rhythms of many of tonight’s songs was impressive, but equally matching that diversity was the fluidity of Kris as a guitarist. With an equally impressive repertoire of guitar playing skills at his fingertips and many of these songs being played in different tunings, it was obvious all evening that here on stage was someone who had simply reached that point of being very comfortable with both his audience and his own musical abilities.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www,artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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