Well this was a night of surprises. The original opening act, and rising local hero, Matt Scott had been bumped from bottom of the bill to the top due to the amount of tickets that he had shifted.
A nice reward for the effort he had put in to promote his appearance, and one that if repeated elsewhere would maybe go some way towards counteracting the negative aspects of what is little more than a pay to play exercise.
However the newly appointed opening act 'The Sundancer' were taking the shuffle in their stride and played a bit of a blinder.
It's a simple set up of a single vocal being backed up with an acoustic guitar and djembe, but between the two members of the band they manage to give out a very rich and textured sound.
There's a definite hint of a sixties psychedelic vibe that threads its way through much of the material, but it's a far cry from sounding dated.
If Donovan was to write something that smacked of the present then it would probably sound like a track from The Sundancer, and based on this performance I'm going to have to see what I can pick up and take a little paisley patterned trip through their back catalogue.
The following act 'Rhiannon Garity' was an anticlimactic experience.
It was all looking good as they set up, but once they started all I could think of closing time at Butlins.
The single solitary singer in the spotlight, her fingers dancing over the keys, a backing band going through the motions and a disco ball casting little diamonds of light onto a virtually empty dance floor.
It actually made me feel a bit sad.
Rhiannon had a nice enough voice and the band were competent enough, but I wasn't getting anything apart from a healthy does of melancholy from it.
Others seemed to be enjoying themselves though
Once again it's down to the old adage 'horses for course' and I wasn't getting it so I retreated to the downstairs bar.
By the time I had returned Folks were on their penultimate song of the evening and I could have kicked myself as they were ticking all the right boxes.
They've got that Manc rock and roll attitude going on. The sort of 'Look at me not giving a fuck' coolness that Buzzcocks had and was registered as a trademark by Oasis.
I felt like I was watching the North of England's answer to Primal Scream.
They must be on the cusp of bigger and better things and the support slot to Noel Gallagher at the tail end of October may just be the catalyst that will enable them to jump into the wider public's consciousness.
Now what can be said about Matt Scott that wont sound like he is paying me to heap praise on him?
It's going to be difficult, but I Don't have a doubt that we have something petty special on our hands here.
In the seventies Scotland had the likes of Frankie Miller showing the rest of the world how bluesy rock music could be imbued with soul to the point that it was impossible to see where one style merged with the other.
It was akin to musical alchemy.
In the present you can hear it in some of the material that Paulo Nutini does, but while Paulo reaches into the past to pay homage to that style Matt Scott sounds like it's at his fingertips.
While one is creating a facsimile of it, the other is the living and breathing embodiment of it.
His original material sits comfortably next to a sublime cover of The Kings of Leons 'Trani', a track that is allegedly one of Bob Dylan's favourites, but while it is done with a great deal of passion the highlight of the covers is the Frankie Miller song 'Drunken Nights in the City'.
It's on this song that the past and present come crashing together and the path ahead for Matt is lit in neon.
This last minute headlining slot at King Tuts is a testament to his pulling power.
Friends and family can only take this so far, but when you have 60 plus people personally turning out to see an act that was originally on the bottom of the bill then that is telling venues and promoters something.
Matt Scott has that something that people want, and it wont be long before a higher profile slot will be offered and after that it is all in the lap of the gods.
The future could be very bright.
(Photograph provided by Ronnie Munro. All rights reserved)
