"THIS one's for you, comrade". With these words Calvin Harris – Edinburgh's first live act of 2008 – paid tongue-in-cheek tribute to Leon Jackson, the Scots X Factor winner whose set at the city's Hogmanay concert was cancelled due to a bout of tonsi
llitis.
We could all afford a smile at this, given that Jackson's call-off was the only one of the evening. Two adverse weather-assisted cancellations of Edinburgh's Street Party this decade have left the event feeling like a lottery, although only a fine rainy mist was in evidence here.
On the Waverley Stage, Fife's King Creosote took opening billing from Jackson, while Idlewild kicked off the main stage for those who had tickets to the Concert in the Gardens at the Ross Bandstand. Both were greeted with warmth from crowds of their personal fans, although most of the broad-ranging audience might have considered them a bit esoteric – a lot of people here, lest we forget, might have actually been getting excited at the prospect of Leon showing face.
Immediately preceding the bells on the main stage, Leicester lad-rockers Kasabian proved the most unifying act of the night, although the smartly black-attired electro-rock droogs offer not so much a musical celebration as a rowdy call to arms. Amidst Tom Meighan's swaggering declarations that he loves "you jocks", songs like Shoot the Runner, Empire, Cutt Off and Processed Beats provided raw power to keep the crowd moving against the cold.
What began as a reflection of the noisy hedonism which most here would probably indulge in all night developed into a real one-off three songs from the end, however, as Meighan introduced Noel Gallagher on stage. The Oasis guitarist – a friend of the band whose girlfriend is from Edinburgh – strummed along until the end and cheerfully saluted the crowd, though he stayed uncharacteristically quiet, acknowledging that he wasn't host for the evening.
Following the traditionally extravagant firework display and an exchange of New Year greetings, Harris and his band provided a kind of clubby afterparty to the gig which had gone before – no mean feat outdoors during Scottish winter. Filled with enthusiasm and sparkling electro-house good cheer, he managed to retain the bulk of the crowd after the bells.
His big hit of the year The Girls inspired a flood of hedgesurfers vigorously attempting to make it into the central enclosure, while Leon Jackson was gone but not forgotten. After his initial dedication, Harris was careful to offer each and every song for the absentee, as 2008's irony levels reached an early boiling point.
The full article contains 438 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
