What promised to be an evening of biblical proportions for all things Scottish didn’t quite pan out as hoped, but the Proclaimers most definitely delivered on their half of the bargain.

Mooth!

It was warm in Warrington and apparently quite a few degrees warmer than Scotland, or so I was reliably informed from a few of the punters who had popped down the West Coast mainline for the evening. There was a definite whiff of optimism in the air – but the temperatures in Parr Hall were draining to the point that most of the audience remained firmly rooted to their seats until the second half of the set. Some of the younger members of the crowd were not so easily dissuaded and danced with a wonderful sense of freedom and joy from the off, proudly waving their saltires in defiance of the profoundly un-Scottish temperatures.

You May Offend

The setlist is extensive; 24 songs, with the newer material naturally stacked into the first half of the setlist. Their catchy and currently unreleased song Knock it Down gets the proceedings underway. The Proclaimers are on the road with a huge number of gigs throughout 2026 (many are already sold-out), which will include their September album release You May Offend, from which the aforementioned track is taken.

Some bands struggle to work in their new material, but the gents accomplish it with ease. Newer material is seamlessly mixed in amongst their extensive back catalogue from the past (nearly) 40 years. At one point they take a moment to reassure the audience that ‘the older stuff is coming’, but the audience do not need any reassurance, they knew that the evening would not disappoint.

lochaber, sutherland, lewis, skye

By the time we reach Letter from America, the audiences foot tapping and chair-dancing could be contained no longer. Bassist Garry John Kane gestures for the crowd to get up; they didn’t need much encouragement.

Letter from America is one of my all-time favourite songs, 4 minutes of solid, folk-rock perfection – and for me it is folk of the highest calibre, encompassing the fine tradition of singing about something deeply traumatic, while accompanying it with a catchy and cheery tune. If you’ve never studied the shameful Highland clearances, and the later forced deindustrialisation of the country, then maybe you’ll feel inclined to the next time this timeless belter pops up on the radio.

Only live music can deliver moments like these

The evening now on the final straight, absolutely no-holds barred, the audience would not sit down again – for me the moment of the night was Sunshine on Leith. An emotional tour-de-force, but the audience participation made this something else, one of those transcendental moments that only can only come from live music – maybe it was symptomatic of the fragmented times that we live in, maybe it was the football, maybe it was even the heatstroke kicking in – but the deafening noise and passion from the massed ranks of the audience chorus made this a spine-tingling moment to remember.

Da-da da

The evening drew to a close with I’m On My Way and the euphoric I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), before an encore of the beautifully fitting and tender Make My Heart Fly, and the perfect final song for the football setting – The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues.

Let’s not discuss what happened after the gig, a minor glitch on the footballing road to World Cup glory – it’s not like Scotland now need a result against Brazil or anything…oh hang on..

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