Frodige Jackie

The report “Frodige Jackie” (“Luxuriant Jackie”) in Firda (10 June 2003, in Nynorsk) covers Leven’s performance on Whit Sunday, 8 June, in the Storehagen room of the Sunnfjord Hotel at the Antonius Festival in Førde. Thanks are due to the doormen, it says, for letting Leven in: the “Scottish mountain of a long-haired, middle-aged man” turned up in a worn denim jacket barely holding together around his ample torso, shorts a size too small, wool-coloured knee socks and shoes resembling folk-costume shoes with silver buckles – “in sovereign contempt of etiquette”. But once “Jackie from the Kingdom of Fife” grabbed his Morgan guitar and sat down alone on the stage, any sneers had to be wiped away.

What followed, in the critic’s words, was “a concert experience of the rare kind”. Many regard Leven as at least as great a songwriter and singer as Van Morrison, and the parallels are there. With a simple acoustic guitar and a microphone-amplified floorboard he served songs from a long career. He attacked the guitar physically, hammering, drumming and rubbing; one tormented string held the bass line while plump fingers played over the others. His voice covered the whole register, from delicate moods to raw power. That only one musician stood on stage was at times hard to grasp, because Leven made a lot of noise – “sweaty, powerful” noise.

The songs mostly came from The Mystery Of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery Of Death, Forbidden Songs Of The Dying West and Shining Brother, Shining Sister. Between them Leven chatted with the audience, serving lush, forceful Scottish humour with anecdotes from his childhood and artist’s life. Afterwards the small crowd did not bother him: “Quality is better than quantity. And the audience today was of the former category.” Then he disappeared, still in his unorthodox outfit, into the Sunnfjord hall to catch Bertine Zetlitz’s concert. A side article reports that the festival organisers sold about 600 tickets for eight events – only half last year’s figure – and expect a deficit.