Gerry Cinnamon takes to the stage in an entirely sold out King Tut’s on a miserable rainy Saturday night.
He invites them in to the warmth of his music, starting the show with ‘Lullaby’, a powerful acoustic number, which already has the crowd rocking back and forth.
After an incredible applause, whistling and cheering, the crowd begin to sing “Ger-ry-Cinn-a-mon” to the sound of KC & The Sunshine Band’s ‘Baby Give It Up’ and as he laughs modestly he begins playing ‘Hope Over Fear’.
This song recently propelled Cinnamon into the spotlight, as it’s derived from the recent Scottish referendum and Cinnamon performed it several times during the campaign, most notably at George Square.
The song’s lyrics and Cinnamon’s enthusiasm show how passionate and caring he is to the cause and as the crowd sing every lyric back to him, it is easy to see how he has become Glasgow’s, if not Scotland’s new folk hero.
Armed with a harmonica round his neck, it is easy to make comparisons to Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie in times gone by, Cinnamon has an old fashioned appeal in a modern day, singing about today’s issues and problems we face in the world, but his performance is like no other, you forget he is a one man band, with simple loop pedals to bring in a fuller sound at the right moments, harmonising with himself and rapping over guitar parts.
Cinnamon seems more relaxed at this point in the set and invites, support, Calum Frame on stage to help sing single ‘Fickle McSelfish’, which continues to please the crowd and Cinnamon walks away from the mic, letting Frame do the rest and moves towards the endearing crowd who cheer as his acoustic guitar grazes their heads.
“Do you want to dance?” Gerry asks the crowd, to which there can only be one answer, he bends down and pushing a button a pulsating drum beat starts the crowd clapping in time, Cinnamon then begins to play a medley of happy hardcore, which on the acoustic guitar, seems to work wonders with the crowd, he definitely enjoys making the crowd happy, interaction seems to be one of his priorities.
New single, ‘Kampfire Vampire’, an eerie harmonica driven track, to be released next January is next and the crowd sing along to every word as Cinnamon seems more and more energised as this set wears on.
Cinnamon walks off the stage to an explosion of cheers as Tut’s is visibly shaking, an encore of three songs ends just about an hour’s set, which include his famous cover of Flo Rida’s ‘Good Feeling’, where he seems to loop more than any other time during the set.
‘Erratic Cinematic’, which has a spooky cowboy feel to it where Gerry whistles along to his guitar follows ‘Sometimes’, a passionate older track, that still gets the hairs on your neck standing on end.
It is easy to see why Cinnamon is being touted for big things in the future, he is a rare breed, a passionate singer-songwriter, who shares his life experiences through his wonderfully crafted songs, with creativity and innovation.
Words: Chris Flockhart
Photos: Bill Gray
