ABC, Inspiral Carpets

Clearly the way to Clint Boon's heart is through his stomach.

A handful of songs into his band's set, Inspiral Carpets' leader was effusive in his praise of the grub served up at Rockore – and rightly so.

The Fife festival has won a place in music fans' hearts in recent years by injecting homespun values into an event that has grown into a legitimate rival to many of the corporate-backed outdoor offerings that spring up across a Scottish summer.

Organised by the volunteer-led Benarty Events Group, the value-for-money extravaganza pegs food and drink prices at affordable levels and ploughs its profits back into a range of grassroots organisations on its patch.

Seventh on out of nine acts performing on Rockore's main stage, Inspiral Carpets showed they remain a vital force four decades on from their formation.

The Oldham outfit's sixth studio album Burn Like The Sun – their first in 12 years – is due out in January, and its title track fittingly raised the temperature as their set opener.

The five-piece kept the crowd onside with an all-in take on their 1990 hit She Comes In The Fall, with the pace continuing to crack along as they unleashed Weakness from the same period, before the eternally joyful Move injected a more easygoing "Madchester" vibe into the proceedings.

It was at this point that keyboard wiz Boon offered up his praise for the backstage sandwiches, stressing that everything about their day in the sun at Lochore Meadows had been "lovely", and that never in his puff had he played a festival that does its bit for local residents like Rockore.

"We've even got a jar of those hotdog sausages," he added. "We've had a great time and we'll definitely be doing this one again."

The Farfisa maestro's gastronomic tangent certainly rang true with anyone who'd made it into the hospitality tent, where stalwart catering volunteers once again put in a superhuman shift.

Returning to musical matters, there followed a huge singalong in the shape of This Is How It Feels before audience participation successfully continued on the new song Drag The Bag.

Memories of appearing on Top of the Pops with the late Fall maverick Mark E Smith were revived ahead of a raucous I Want You, with Clint insisting, tongue firmly in cheek, that the younger onlookers would be nonplussed by his cultural references.

Ironically, his own son Oscar, who's still in his early 20s, was playing a crucial role in the Carpets' line-up, taking on lead guitar duties stage right alongside bassist Martyn Walsh.

Boon snr urged the onlookers to go and buy the band's new album and "make some old men happy", and after hearing their catchy Wolf At The Door – featuring a shimmering Clint solo and some delightful interplay with his riffing offspring – and the spacey yet propulsive There's A Better Way, that seems like a highly likely prospect.

Scottish singer Dionne Hickey, tributes Deacon Blues and the Freddie and Queen Experience had provided the sounds in the earlier part of the day, with Benarty-based Instant Credit, impressive bagpipe rockers Drums N' Roses and retro covers outfit Ska Face all going down a storm with the revellers ahead of the Carpets' arrival.

Another biggie for Rockore was an appearance on the decks from Scots DJ George Bowie, whose absolutely banging selection of club classics sparked mass euphoria.

The highlight of his GB Experience set was a unexpected special guest turn from crossover country star Cammy Barnes. The local lad who's made in big in recent years stepped up for a furious take on his anthem Whiskey Roll, which saw him combine vocals with his phenomenal piping skills.

Getting a band of the stature of ABC in as headliners, meanwhile, was another ambitious move from an event that's seen the likes of Wet Wet Wet, Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure previously bring the curtain down on the Fife fun.

The Sheffield veterans can boast an eight-strong live line-up these days, but it was a disappointingly sludgy When Smokey Sings that was their opening salvo.

Perhaps it was a mixing desk issue because, thankfully, Martin Fry and co quickly put things to rights with their glam-dram torchsong Poison Arrow, an altogether much more satisfying affair.

Singer Not The Song from ABC's most recent album, 2016's The Lexicon Of Love II, was an unexpected but inspired choice, and nestled comfortably alongside their smoothest '80s material.

Less subtle, but no less enjoyable, was the bombastic How To Be A Millionaire – something of a diversion with its slightly out of place electro stylings.

Besuited in a typically eye-catching mint and lemon combo, frontman Fry was able to really open up his vocals on the sweeping Viva Love, which segued beautifully into the unjustly modest 1985 hit Be Near Me with its jazz café vibes.

Ever chatty, the 68-year-old gave a few fans near the front a wave, and made a point of joking that unlike Justin Bieber he doesn't normally do a lot of waving.

"I do a lot of pointing, pointing is a big part of my act – me and Jarvis Cocker," he quipped as he launched into a sublime King Without A Crown.

Throughout, the band's very own percussion section and twin keyboard players provided the solid backbone to the lush orchestration.

The icing on the top of the cake was backing singer Tracy Graham, surely the perfect vocal foil for Fry, along with guitarist Pete Rinaldi who displayed a lightness of touch that did justice to ABC's pure pop elegance.

Sax player Rob Hughes' contribution was equally impressive, and he really came into his own in the set's second half, providing cool-as-a-cucumber solos on the punchy That Was Then But This Is Now, on a mid-paced, funked-up The Night You Murdered Love and on Many Happy Returns, which was elevated to a higher place by his interventions.

Huge anthems are what cements the good feelings all around at a gathering like Rockore, and when they're done with the elan that ABC bring to All Of My Heart, it's no wonder delirium was starting to break out among the totally up for it punters.

Just for good measure the headliners backed that winner up with a couple of delicious closing morsals in the shape of Tears Are Not Enough and The Look Of Love, and it's safe to say Rockore had sated even the hungriest of appetites once again.


Photo credit: Steve Gunn of Shotbyagunn Photography