Raising Kain


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Raising Kain
Glasgow Barfly
Alan McGee has somewhat magical powers when it comes to eyeing up new talent. Raising Kain, who have recently signed to McGee’s Poptones label, are no exception - they are certainly a magical find. Hailing from the city that spawned Franz Ferdniand, Raising Kain’s sound is more suited to Whitechapel in London than Glasgow. Although they have been called the “Glaswegian Libertines”, it’s a bit of an unfair analysis on the band - even though there are some elements of the band (RIP) in their sound. The ‘Glasgow Stones’ would be a fairer correlation.
Raising Kain (formerly ‘Kain’, but forced to change due to legal reasons) appear on stage dressed like uber-cool ‘scenesters’ – there is a somewhat uncanny resemblance to The Libertines but with a wasted Mick Jagger as the lead singer. Ian Crawford is the typical Alan McGee front man - he is cocky, arrogant, drunk and has the crowd in the palm of his hand.
The Glasgow 5- piece, open with 'Night & Day'. It’s a storming start that gets the drunk Glasgow crowd moving. By the 3rd song the crowd are quite literally going mental, the whole floor becomes a mosh pit – the older members of the audience flee to the bar at the back.
'Baby, Am Amazed' is a blusey Libertines-esque number that is potentially the best song of the night, as the crowd lap up every lyric crawling off the tongue of Ian.
Ian greets the next song as being a “new one, so like it”. As the band trash out the opening bars to ‘Safehouse’, Ian somewhat ejaculates with excitement – spraying a can of beer all over the front rows of the audience. Not many singers could get away with that in Glasgow. However, Ian brushes it off, cheekily saying, “I hope you all opened your mouths”. He had the audience where he wanted them, in perfect timing for the crowd-pleasing finale ‘Daddy Daddy’.
Raising Kain once said “2004 was for making people dance, 2005 is for making people go mental”. They are right it is difficult, almost verging on the impossible not to go mental at this wonder showzen.
(Jamie Crossan)