Gig review: Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles IV, Edinburgh

“This is our Christmas song,” Edinburgh band Kid Canaveral’s lead singer David MacGregor explained, apparently getting into the seasonal spirit before countering himself.

Special headline guest Edwyn Collins. Picture: TSPL

Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles IV - Portobello Town Hall, Edinburgh

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“It’s not really a Christmas song. It’s about how s***e it is to be Scottish between the months of September and March.” The track was Low Winter Sun, and although his sentiments seemed appropriate on a Saturday night marked by such miserable weather, they didn’t reflect just how lovely his band’s fourth annual seasonal gathering of like-minded friends and admired fellow musicians was.

One-day festival Christmas Baubles’ move to Portobello’s Town Hall was an inspired one, with a much-increased capacity and an atmosphere which reminded of previous events by Kid Canaveral’s sometime label Fence in Anstruther and elsewhere – which, given it was held in conjunction with Fence offshoot Lost Map, wasn’t surprising. If the traditional choice of venue seemed familiar, so too was the presence of Fence regular Rozi Plain, boss of both labels Johnny Lynch and Kid Canaveral themselves on the bill.

Alongside them, highlights included the reformation gig of sometime Chemikal Underground-signed outfit De Rosa, and especially the very welcome inclusion of headline guest Edwyn Collins. It started in relatively subdued fashion with Falling and Laughing by his old band Orange Juice and ended in triumph amidst Rip It Up, A Girl Like You and Blue Boy, and the only hope is that our hosts do something similar in summer next year so we can all go to the seaside too.