I have to admit to not having heard of Ben Caplan before tonight. I was up in Glasgow for a Podiatry conference and instead of talking feet over dinner, decided to drag a few Pods to King Tuts to see who ever was on – if the band was pants at least we’d’ve been to one of the UK’s best known venues for a beer or 2. As it happens, Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers are not pants…..far from it……far from average……..quite a find in fact!

The gig was great fun with lots of banter between songs to an appreciative crowd. Ben Caplan reminded me of Tom Waits (angry sounding growling vocals with wild eyes – you wouldn’t want to meet him at the end of a dark alley) and his backing band had shades of Gogol Bordello (raggedy eastern folk-like music), not a bad combination. Most songs seemed melancholy with a haunting undertone, which suited me just fine. For a big guy, he has some sweet guitar licks amongst the full on guitar rage.