Gig review: The Skids

Published on Sunday 7 March 2010 21:59

ABC, GLASGOW ****

MANY bands approach the nostalgia ticket with caution, particularly the first wave of punk bands who initially formed to sweep away the old guard and, in choosing to reform, must now reconcile themselves to facing a roomful of balding men of a certain age.

But Scotland's premier punk warhorses The Skids have come back with such passionate, vigorous, infectious spirit and rousing material that the ironies of being an old-age punk have ceased to be an issue and all that mattered was rallying with frontman Richard Jobson in his stated aim to "sing quite out of tune, dance badly and have a blast".

In the course of his reminiscences, Jobson revealed that he became The Skids' singer by intimidating founder members Stuart Adamson and Bill Simpson into giving him the job. These days he is more of a cuddly raconteur, sincerely putting each of the songs plucked from their back catalogue into context.

The entire gig also functioned as an act of remembrance for the late Adamson, whose distinctive guitar sound – as played by his Big Country sideman Bruce Watson in this line-up – has helped to preserve the kick of such muscular chants as The Saints Are Coming, Into The Valley, Masquerade and the prescient Working For The Yankee Dollar.

The set list reached beyond the hits to encompass debut single Charles and requested fan favourites such as The Olympian, while maintaining a balance between what the band wanted to play – including an acoustic encore and the rarely performed single Fields – and what the boisterous audience wanted to hear (the thrashy rant of TV Stars).

This final track was evidently not one of Jobson's proudest musical achievements but the fact that the band played it with such headlong energy anyway is one good reason why this is such a fondly-regarded and raucously received reunion.