Simple Kid and Pinky live at The Village, Dublin

Pinky aren’t the most confident band in the world, shuffling onstage with mumbled introductions, but then they belt out half an hour of vice-tight songs that take an overdone genre (acoustic rock) and add such a twist they almost wring it dry. Hugely enjoyable, and a fitting opener for tonight’s main event – which isn’t the Champions League Final, judging by the throngs that have turned up.
Simple Kid, aka Ciaran McFeely, effortlessly produces the kind of Beck-like sound that stoned hippies, stuck in their musty bedrooms with an acoustic guitar and an ounce, think they’re making.
To drive that point home, the London-based Cork man has adopted a new look that’s missing only the accessory of a dirty McDonalds cup full of change. Kicking off with ‘Lil King Kong’, it’s clear that, as is customary with Simple Kid homecomings, it’s a house party-in-a-venue more than a gig. Though he’s the one with the mic, it doesn’t stop anyone else from trying to out-sing him (especially come the refrain of ‘The Ballad Of Elton John’: “Celebrities go home, go home to yo mama”. Genius.)
What’s particularly novel is that though the set’s planned out to a tee – McFeely’s laptop is pre-programmed with the songs he’s going to play in order – so relaxed is the atmosphere that all that fine-tuning seems irrelevant after the first two minutes. Fully aware of this, the Kid is bold enough to project the laptop onto a screen for all to see, the cheeky scamp.
The projector also comes in handy for some interesting visuals – he goes through his favourite worst album covers, indulges in a bit of karaoke fun and parodies airplane safety cards to show cause and effect on ‘Self Help Book’. But the highlight is his ‘duet’ with Kermit The Frog on ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’, played as if it was a video link-up. Again, genius.
Singer-songwriters: this is the one to beat.