No Scottish person can deny the popularity of The Proclaimers, even if they have only heard of their anthemic song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” a cover of which was the Comic Relief song for 2007, which reached no1 in the UK charts.

Their visit to The Alhambra Theatre Dunfermline was going to be my first experience in seeing Craig and Charlie live, but before the main attraction we had half an hour of Tommy Reilly. This Scottish singer-songwriter from East Dunbartonshire was a winner of Channel 4’s TV show Orange unsigned act. He has since released his debut album ‘Words On The Floor’ in 2009 and has a second in the pipelines. This young man is very talented and gave the Alhambra crowd food for thought. From the reactions of those I heard the audience were split some loving him and others not so enamoured. I thought he was not too bad and look forward to seeing more in the future.

Now for the main act Craig and Charlie Reid born in Leith in 1962 these lads from Auchtermuchty formed The Proclaimers in 1983. Quietly building up a Scottish fan base until a tour in 1986 on which they were support act to The Housemartins, they were invited to appear on Channel 4’s ‘The Tube’ from which exposure helped “Letter From America” reach no 3 in the UK Singles Chart and the rest they say is history.

I must admit it is the older material I was aware of particularly the music from the albums “This Is The Story” and “Sunshine On Leith” and although all of my favourite tracks were played during the evening I was really enjoying those tracks that were not quite so familiar and also those I was enjoying for the first time. I was a little surprised that the audience did not go quite as wild as I had imagined with one or two exceptions. I am bad with names at the best of times, as Geoff will tell you, but think I might just have cracked it! I think Charlie stands on the right as you look at the stage and plays the guitar, whilst Craig stands on the left vocals, mouth-organ, tambourine and tin whistle. Whilst I am on a roll the band are: Zac Ware on Guitar, Stevie Christie on Keyboards, Garry John Kane on Bass and Clive Jenner on Drums. What a really fabulous bunch of musicians, they occasionally get the chance to display their talents during several instrumental breaks.    

The band and audience were not the only ones having fun during the gig Sound Technician Tom Oliver and Light operator Brian Livingstone were jigging about and singing along with the best. It was great fun to watch Brian in particular ’gein’ it laldy’.

Given the opportunity it will hopefully not be too long before I get to see the Proclaimers live again. In the meantime I look forward to finally going to see the musical based on their music “Sunshine on Leith” during its up and coming tour.

The Alhambra Theatre is still attracting top-notch acts, shows and events look at the website for details. www.alhambradunfermline.com