Thursday the 14th of April saw the arrival of Kassidy on the Scottish leg of their tour.
As is the fashion these days the main support was an acoustic set in the form of Pearl and the Puppets, or to be precise Puppet. Although the the plan was to keep the full set, for the tour with Peter Lawrie in May at Hootananny (for a preview see here), this was a barnstorming acoustic set from the duo. Starting with the unmistakable Mango Tree, this acoustic guitar and keyboard set complimented Katie’s distinctive vocal and to add a little variance Kisses deployed a ukulele to as opposed to guitar, and a shortened but memorable set was rounded off with the rather playful Make Me. Pearl and the Puppets I do Like You!
The news the day before, that Kassidy’s first performance in the area, since their Bogbain gig last year, had sold out reiterated the on-going hype for the band especially since their performance at Belladrum last year.
Kassidy strode onto the stage like 4 gunslingers and un-holstered their guitars and set about giving one of the most complete performances seen in the Ironworks, more incredibly from a band who have only just released their first album, Hope Street. Now with the aforementioned album under their belts, they’ve hit the road and are pounding out quite a set. In certain respects this wasn’t really a gig, but one almighty party. A good old foot stompin’ party, where they gave Adele more than a run for her money with their tremendous cover of Rolling in the Deep. Quite simply, from The Lost at the beginning to Stray Cat which rounded off their encore, Kassidy held the audience in the palm of their hand. Many a more established act has struggled to gain such audience appreciation, but tonight a crowd stood and witnessed what could be the next big band to come out of Scotland. Kassidy possess harmonies most boy bands would be envious off, but yet have a maturity to delve into genres such as folk and country in pursuit of their sound.
A sound more akin to whiskey from the southern states than a Speyside malt, the hirsute Kassidy give out a healthy slice of Americana to wash down the bourbon. Kassidy are the phenomenon that Scotland has been waiting for. In a year’s time the queues from the Ironworks around the town will not be for Mumford and Sons, but for Kassidy.
Mark my words, Kassidy have arrived.
Frankie Boy
Ps If you missed them or want to see them again please see here
