This evening, they delight and enchant the crowd with their twin xylophonic assault ... Oh yes, if you're the sort of person that finds Belle & Sebastian a bit too twee, you might find Aberfeldy that one step too far. It's an accusation they're well aware of though and they knowingly play up to it. "If you thought that was twee, wait til you hear the next one...” jokes Riley, before launching into ‘Summer's Gone' with it's cheery hook, reminiscent of a tune from the innocent days of 80's kids TV, when all programmes had to be presented by Brian Cant and Chloe Ashcroft.

Live, they impress. Their sound being so close to the quality of their recorded output that it's almost indistinguishable, Riley's crystal clear, and at times, angelic vocals ably complimented by the "oohs" and "aahs" of Ruth and Sarah. Watching them, you're overcome with the uncontrollable urge to stand there with a huge grin on your face. They also get one or two toes tapping, not least those belonging to David Kitt who's in the thick of the moshpit(!) for the entirety of their set. This consists of 7 or 8 tracks from their underrated 'Young Forever' album, including forthcoming single 'Love Is An Arrow' (predictably set for release on Valentine's Day). They close with the infectiously catchy alien abduction themed single 'Heliopolis By Night', and leave to warm applause and cheers, clearly having gained many new admirers.

After the whimsy of Aberfeldy, it's the turn of the engaging Irishman David Kitt. To be honest, I'd not really known what to expect from Kitt's live show, being only vaguely familiar with his recorded output. Debut album 'The Big Romance', with it's perfect blend of the acoustic with the electronic and Kitt's deep, laid-back vocal delivery, gets the occasional play but I'd never got round to checking out the unashamedly slushy follow-up 'Square One'. His recent 'Black & Red Notebook' album, made up largely of covers is a return to the sounds of his debut.

In addition to Kitt and his variety of guitars, he's supported by a full band of excellent musicians. The on-stage drumkit, however, remains unattended for all but a few of the songs from his 90 minute set, preferring instead to rely on the programmed drumtracks to accurately recreate the atmospherics of his recordings. It's a sound that translates surprisingly well to the stage.

Kitt is a captivating performer and his between song banter ensures a rapport with the crowd. On hearing a train rumbling overhead a few songs into his set, he remarks that he knew he should have checked the timetable as the noise would have sounded perfect over the intro to set opener 'House With Trains'. Later, he's forced to restart his new single - a cover of Thin Lizzy's 'Dancing In The Moonlight'. He bursts into fits of giggles, explaining that a pun in this weeks’ NME review of the single was amusing him. A comment about the dire general state of the NME predictably raises a cheer.

During the four song acoustic section, which features the aforementioned new single, the crowd is deathly quiet; each and every person focused on performer and acoustic guitar. This is a fact not lost on Kitt and he plays one extra acoustic song, thanking the audience for being so attentive. The section draws to a close with the beautiful 'Saturdays' from Square One before he takes things up a gear or two.

The change in pace is noticeable and the two new songs he plays suggest that third album proper will be a much more rocky affair. The first of these songs kicks off with some garbled electronic noise, straight out of an early 90’s rave anthem, and is much louder and more upbeat than anything I’ve ever heard from him. While it’s not quite a transformation into Graham Coxon, the comparison is not that wide of the mark and it will only serve to steer him further away from that dodgy ground known as ‘David Gray territory’. Set closer, ‘Headphones’ from his debut mini album, features an extended guitar solo wig-out of I Am The Resurrection proportions and the other new song he plays for an encore sounds like three perfect minutes of indie rock heaven. To say the crowd approves would be a massive understatement.

Steve Vickers

www.davidkitt.com
www.aberfeldys.com