Fun, frenetic and only a little gauche: Declan McKenna, at the Edinburgh Playhouse, reviewed

Towards the end of Declan McKenna’s snappy, enjoyable 90-minute set at the Edinburgh International Festival, something quite powerful occurs. The English singer-songwriter returns alone to the stage for the encore and proceeds to play a version of ABBA’s ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ with only his electric guitar as accompaniment.

It becomes a strange, emotionally layered moment. A young musician singing from the perspective of a parent ruefully reflecting on their child growing up, away and beyond reach; a predominantly teenage crowd singing those words back to him; and the older members of the audience, many attending with their own kids, staring blurrily into the middle distance.

It’s odd, but it makes a kind of sense. At the somewhat stodgy all-seated Playhouse, the massed ranks of youths rise to their feet the instant McKenna and his four-piece band walk onstage and remain upright for the entire set.