Martin Stephenson: gladsome, humour and warmth at Kings Live Lounge gig

Martin Stephenson attracted a full house to the Kings Live Lounge last Sunday, and delivered a gig that was, quite simply, wonderful.

It must be 35 years since I last saw him play live with The Daintees at the old Picturehouse in Lothian Road in Edinburgh - another great live venue wasted today as a Wetherspoons pub.

His albums of the late 1980s - Boat To Bolivia, and Gladsome Humour and Blue - were on heavy rotation on my turntable back in the day, and lockdown saw me take a deep dive into YouTube and catch up with his musical journey.

Stephenson is a fantastic songwriter, musician and story-teller, and on stage he chats away as if we are all old mates. He seemed genuinely thrilled at so many in the audience recognising his songs from decades back, and delivered a glorious set filled with tracks from those great albums and his excellent 1990 set, Salutation Road.

His stories and observations threw in numerous whimsical, offbeat references which you’re unlikely to gear at any other gig - “what’s this?” he asked demonstrating a feather floating downwards. “Ted Molt!” Think Everest double glazing ads from the ‘80s and you’ll get the joke.

He also spoke of his career, recalling touring with Aztec Camera and Roy Buchanan among many others, and of his trip to Glastonbury which was his port of call prior to coming straight to Kirkcaldy.

And it was poignant too, as he spoke of the privilege of cradling his mother’s head as she took her last breath, and explaining the story behind the beautiful ‘Crocodile Cryer’ - discovering the story behind the lyric “so sorry about yr friend,I heard he died the other day, and that a team of tall dark men, came and carried him away’ was simply breath taking.

You got the impression he would have played all day and into the evening, interspersing songs with stories, chat. Gladsome, humour and blue, indeed.

And the Kings Live Lounge was the perfect setting for his one-man show. It was fantastic to see it packed to the very back row.