Wasn’t it great in ’08?

Jan 6 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL activities in Perth and Kinross may tend to be dominated by a certain summer festival, but there were plenty of happenings elsewhere on Music Scene turf in 2008 that warranted attention.

The transition of gigs from Glenfarg’s Famous Bein Inn to its near neighbour the Glenfarg Hotel in the early part of the year was always going to be interesting.

FBI had set a high standard with its outstanding concert room, but its successor quickly proved equally suited to intimate, atmospheric performances and enjoyed notable appearances from the sadly soon-to-split WAKING THE WITCH, OTWAY & BARRETT and JACKIE LEVEN.

For its part, Perth Concert Hall’s gig programme belatedly burst into life with a storming showing from the upwardly mobile AMY MACDONALD.

She was followed by Burnsong at Perth Theatre, the first of two multi-artist folk-rock-crossovers held in Perth last year, which showcased the talents of the likes of KARINE POLWART, EMMA POLLOCK and MC SOOM T.

Such events were clearly in vogue, and the subsequent Under One Sky saw Teenage Fanclub’s NORMAN BLAKE, Gaelic songbird JULIE FOWLIS and Idlewild frontman RODDY WOOMBLE among those blurring the boundaries of genre in the Concert Hall.

Perth’s Festival of the Arts saw acclaimed ex-Longpigs troubadour RICHARD HAWLEY, Dundee renegades LUVA ANNA, crusty veterans THE LEVELLERS and disco wunderkind CALVIN HARRIS all put in Perth appearances.

With T in the Park stretching to three days for the first time and taking in headline sets from REM, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and THE VERVE, July was always going to be a big month.

The arrival of rock royal ELTON JOHN at St Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park served to make it even more so, while two other long-standing favourites, DEACON BLUE and JOAN ARMATRADING helped ensure the summer sizzled, musically at least.

August saw the first in a spate of benefit concerts in Perth, the Rockin’ For Kids event at PCH headlined by those hoary metal veterans NAZARETH.

Further worthy gatherings followed at the Ice Factory (for the Tibet Foundation), Mucky Mulligans, which hosted the Book Yer Ane Fest in aid of the Safe-Tay charity, and at the AK Bell Library Theatre (Childline).

Music Scene ventured to the opening day of T in the Park’s ‘sister’ event Hydro Connect at Inveraray Castle, where AMY MACDONALD, MANIC STREET PREACHERS, FIGHT LIKE APES and KASABIAN served up some excellent fare.

The highlight of the year’s closing quarter was ex-Icicle Works singer IAN MCNABB’S totally unique Myspace gig in the unlikely setting of Perth’s Robert Burns Lounge, while the controversial BOY GEORGE put his troubles to one side to earn praise for his PCH show.

Among the Perthshire bands, hard-gigging troubadours SOUTHPAW, WANG DANG DELTA and THE WINDOWS all paid their dues in ‘08.

The ‘Paw released an EP but lost a frontman. Meanwhile, WDD put out a fine second album and The Windows completed work on their debut set.

Elsewhere, Perth accountant Sandy Fyfe masterminded the excellent Doing It For The Kids ‘08 compilation album.

The triple set, which raised funds for Yorkhill Children’s Foundation, included contributions from ED HARCOURT, CRASH MY MODEL CAR and Blairgowrie’s own ALEX LOWE.

Belle & Sebastian’s Perth-based drummer RICHARD COLBURN landed a plum job by securing a place on tour with the all-conquering Snow Patrol, while veteran US rock genius TODD RUNDGREN made a welcome return to the fold with his most ‘metal’ sound yet - and was delighted to tell Music Scene all about it.

After an earlier farce involving Euro muppets THE VENGA BOYS, the year ended on a suitably light-hearted note at Perth’s Ice Factory when pop dolls THE CHEEKY GIRLS provided some naughty festive cheer.