Okay, I felt a bit like a fish out of water, falling into neither of the two broad categories of audience members – a) those who knew virtually every lyric to every song, or b) those who had been (hopefully metaphorically) dragged along to this concert. Quite rightly, this wasn’t the kind of concert where I could sit and soak up the atmosphere as a casual observer, as the largely young audience (Declan McKenna is 25 at the time of writing) was on its feet from the first minute to the last. The lasting image in my mind is that of a young lady in the row at the front, taking videos and photos, phone in hand, transfixed by every song, while her stoic mother stood beside her with an expression that very strongly suggested she knew what was going on to some degree, but she was primarily the ‘driver’.
Security staff had their hands full at times keeping the aisles in the stalls clear, as patrons would gather there every now and then, sometimes to take photos of the guy they wanted to see, sometimes to enjoy the moment and dance along, with a little more space than the seating arrangement in a proscenium theater allows, sometimes both. Safety regulations aside, there was a reason to move people on, as McKenna, who performed with infectious enthusiasm, left the stage, albeit briefly, and bounced around the audience. Ultimately, this was a respectful crowd, and there was no danger of the lead actor being pulled or grabbed. A few people raised a hand in hopes of a high-five, but the whole thing with people trying to capture the moment on their camera phones has one major benefit—hands and arms are properly occupied.
McKenna’s opening act was London’s Soft Launch, a five-piece boy band with inoffensive (or, to put it another way, parent-friendly) lyrics – one of which was about putting your left foot in and out, although there was no mention of doing the hokey-cokey. Their musical style was quite similar to McKenna’s, as were their lyrics (such as “I can’t do this shit to you today / I’ll be at home sipping milkshakes”), a most fitting introduction to the main act.
Having described Edinburgh as “one” of his favourite cities in the UK (does he say that in every UK city he plays in?), McKenna largely lets his music speak for itself, saying only a little more when forced to, as a minor technical issue brought the event to a temporary halt. It was, as he said at least twice, “The end of an era” – Taylor Swift is apparently not the only singer-songwriter who speaks in “eras,” as this performance marked the final night of his “What Happened To The Beach?” album tour.
The Edinburgh Playhouse crowd was treated to a cover of Abba’s “Slipping Through My Fingers,” McKenna’s first live performance (a fan told me after the show that he had previously recorded the song for something called “Radio Sessions” on BBC Radio 1). The rest of the four-song encore was a bit like trying to decipher the verses of “Land of Hope and Glory” during the Last Night of the Proms – an increasingly impossible task, unless, of course, you already know all the words. Scotland, McKenna noted, was the only country in the world to give him a number one hit. There really is nothing like a live performance – and McKenna knows how to put on a show, jumping around the stage, singing at the top of his lungs and strumming his guitar with seemingly inexhaustible energy. A fascinating and eclectic experience.
Review by Chris Omaweng
British singer-songwriter Declan McKenna is celebrated for his mix of lo-fi pop and indie rock, peppered with thought-provoking and political lyrics.
McKenna has now released three albums, but his breakthrough came in 2015. After winning the young talent competition at the Glastonbury Festival, he self-published “Brazil”, a protest song against corruption during the FIFA World Cup. But his political involvement did not end there: he dealt with LGBTQ+ issues, the British government’s foreign policy and the climate emergency.
Spurred on by the “voice of a generation” label that was creeping closer to him, McKenna retaliated by moving away from seriousness. McKenna’s latest album – What happened to the beach? – sheds the overwhelming responsibility he felt to be the moral compass of Generation Z. Follow in McKenna’s footsteps and get lost in the surreal lyrics, synth bassoons and sonic dreamscape of this euphoric record.
DECLAN McKENNA
12 August 2024
Edinburgh Playhouse
