Three stars
In a world of homogenised pop combos and die-cast singer-songwriter types, it is important to remember how thoroughly individual The Proclaimers are. Even more so than those other Reid brothers from East Kilbride, Craig and Charlie's existence as a Celtic soul Sam and Dave with a unique gift for combining social and political versifying with unsentimental love lyrics and melodic craft, taking the form of a couple of chunky specky guys from Leith, still seems a little remarkable. Their quartet of backing musicians may be the embodiment of professional skill (and there is nothing wrong in that), but you wouldn't cross the road to see them but for the twins doing their singular thing out front.
The difficulty is that you have to go to the bother of recalling that yourself, because The Proclaimers themselves are not going to help much. This Perth Festival debut for their 2015 live set, incorporating a handful of tracks from fine new album, Let's Hear It For The Dogs, is a frustrating combination of the revelatory and the routine, and that seems perversely intentional. Neither Reid speaks much - Charlie going out of his way to praise the venue, Craig running though a list of dedications for members of the audience from scraps of paper - as they hurtle through the catalogue in a well-paced hour-long set and a deflatory clutch of encores.
Early classics like This Is The Story and Letter From America have been and gone before we know it, and great new songs, You Build Me Up, Tuesday Afternoon, mod anthem Forever Young and Rainbows and Happy Regrets, receive no comment or introduction. The Proclaimers are still quite startling, yet they seem determined to appear formulaic.
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