Skids
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
****

With five chart singles to their name including an enduring 18 carat classic in Into The Valley but unfathomably not the majestic The Saints Are Coming, it is easy to forget these post-punk pioneers are more than just one of this country's most influential bands.

The Dunfermline-formed combo were also more than adept at fashioning a killer tune.

And they were all present and correct as the new Skids line up tore up King Tut's in a ninety-minute frenzy of classic post-punk anthems and new tunes on the block.

Glasgow Times:

Reformed with front man Richard Jobson leading the line-up, the challenge is to present the band as more than just an integral part of the nostalgia-fest scene.

With a comeback fifth album about to be unleashed, 36 years after their last,  and a clutch of gigs to try out one or two new songs live, Jobson-and-co have no desire to be pigeon-holed as hasbeens yet.

So the 57-year-old Jobson continues to perform his eccentric on-stage theatrics which were a combination of his his famous swaying kick-dance or as he described, "s*** dancing" and other moves akin to an over-excited and very sweaty shadow boxer.

It is clear it was all done in a less flexible and at a slower pace than when he was lithely jumping around the Top of the Pops studio to Into The Valley at the tender age of 18.

He has to be fit nonetheless, because nobody in this 50-something-centric, packed-to-the-rafters King Tut's could keep up his pace for ten minutes let alone a whole hour-and-a-half set.

The place of the late co-founder and lead guitarist Stuart Adamson has been taken by fellow Big Country cohort Bruce Watson and son Jamie, whose axeman partnership has elevated the new Skids.

With the new album Burning Cities released on Friday, it was no surprise they opened with one of the highlights of their new collection, This Is Our World.

Glasgow Times:

But there is no questioning the appeal of the classics, and so the moshing really began when the first bars of Working For The Yankee Dollar rung out followed by a triumphant The Saints Are Coming.

A touching tribute to Adamson preceded a faithful run-through of Scared To Dance by which time we have discovered that Jobson thinks Jamie Watson looks like Ed Sheeran.

"Well, it could be worse," ventured Jobson.

"No it could not," shouted a good number of the crowd.

Glasgow Times:

Jobson is in fine form, chatting a lot between songs including providing insight at the horror of being introduced by Jimmy Savile for their Top of The Pops appearance to promote their hit song Charade.

We discover his favourite Skids song is Masquerade because of a feeling before the small matter of Into The Valley tears the roof off the place.

Jobson may declare that simple-is-genius TV Stars with its "Albert Tatlock" chant is the worst song they've done but it does not stop it from having pride of place as the final song of the night, even though it is on the setlist as Kaputt.

And off we went, having had confirmed, as if confirmation was needed, that the Skids were and still are quite simply brilliant.

Glasgow Times: