Roddy Woomble - Cluny 2 - 02/04/11 (Gig)

Roddy Woomble looks and sounds pretty weather-beaten these days. Perhaps it’s down to those rough Scottish winters (or maybe even Scottish summers, come to think of it), but it means he can play the part of fully-fledged grizzly folkster pretty convincingly now. If latter day Idlewild felt a little forced and cumbersome, then it seems like the freedom of going solo has done him good, because tonight he is relaxed and amiable, and his homespun folk songs come across as entirely authentic, giving us a heartwarming insight into his love affair with Scotland. The lovely enveloping cosiness of a full Cluny 2 helps augment this feeling of warmth and goodwill to all men, providing an intimacy which is lacking only a campfire. He works beautifully with his backing trio, weaving through his two solo records, with highlights including the unashamed MOR bounce of ‘Roll Along’ and the unfussy elegance of ‘I Came in From the Mountain’. So strong is the set that I’d almost forgotten about Idlewild by the time ‘You Held the World in Your Arms’ is dropped into the encore, but it’s a nice surprise, and speaks volumes about a man completely at ease with both his past and present.