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Nothing out of the Ordinary except a famous Big Brother
GARY FLOCKHART

HAD you mentioned the name Preston to your average Joe a few months back, odds are they would have thought your were referring to the city of that name in the north of England.

Thanks to reality TV, however, people these days are far more likely to think of the fiance of Celebrity Big Brother winner Chantelle Houghton - who herself has been dubbed by the press as "the poor man's Paris Hilton."

Certainly, Preston's stint as a housemate on the Channel 4 series, which spawned his much-publicised relationship with Chantelle, has done him and his band no harm at all.

Indeed, having been catapulted from mediocrity to gossip-magazine super stardom, not only is 24-year-old Preston one of the most famous faces around right now, but his band, who were going nowhere fast, have since seen their album and concert ticket sales soar. An astute move on Preston's part then, for not only have an average act gained far more column inches than they could've dreamed of, they've also found an audience which, again, all goes to show the power of prime time television.

Truth be told, there is nothing to particularly like nor dislike about The Ordinary Boys - save for the fact that, as the name suggests, the band are very ordinary indeed.

Be that as it may, to the average attendee at the Corn Exchange last night -who one presumes had never heard too much ska music prior to this gig - this must have sounded like something very out of the ordinary.

The Ordinary Boys by name, ordinary boys by nature, however . . . as Preston and his band proved to be a decidedly pedestrian act live.

Nevertheless, last night's show was nothing if not an energetic and punchy performance.

"It's great to be back in Scotland," said Preston, halfway into the band's set.

"This is one of our favourite cities and we remember playing a gig a few years ago at The Venue."

Of course, given the band's new-found fame, it's doubtful too many of those in attendance last night have memories stretching so long but, nevertheless, it was hard to find fault.

Indeed, their ska-punk workouts of Maybe Someday, Week in Week Out and, predictably, Boys Will Be Boys proved decent indeed.

Fourth wave ska in the noughties is all fine and well, of course, but, as anyone au fait with the genre (which originated with bands such as The Skatalites) will tell you, this type of thing has been done before - and so much better.

Fair play to Preston, though, for seizing the chance to catapult his band to megastardom, when they remain nothing at all out of the ordinary.

http://living.scotsman.com/music.cfm?id=626152006