Edinburgh bands

When Elsie went to FAB

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The last day of May, it’s been an interesting month; first two thirds spent crossing Europe by train, gigs galore when I got back to Blighty, then bats aplenty this final week. Oh, and two great films in the cinema, but this post is about one, well, two things, the Logan’s Close gigs last week, down in the back of beyond at the bottom of Leith Links. Nah, not too far really, but when you don’t know where a place is, you know.

Thursday night I got the bus down, watching on Google maps when to jump off. From there it was just a stroll across the links, that’s when I wondered if it really knew where I wanted to go, didn’t look like there was much of anything around. Hmm, there was an old low, long wooden building, looked like a park storage place?! Nope, that was it, Leith FAB Cricket Club, or to use it’s full title Leith Franklin Academicals Beige Cricket Club (sounds like a name the Tuck would dream up), apparently it was formed in 1852!! A proper old cricket club it was, just think of all the happenings in there over the years, bet there’s a few good stories to tell, just add the nights Logan’s Close played to sell out crowds to the anthology.

We had been warned via social media that it would be cash only, no problem for us older ones; I noticed there was a card reader on the second evening, was it too confusing for the youngsters to deal with actual cash? Bless. Just hanging around before the support band came on, it was obvious the room would reach oven roasting temperatures and beyond (not helped by the still warm evening outside). When the support came on, the volume was waaay up, so between that and wanting to stay cool as long as possible, I exited a while. Note to self, remember my earplugs next time. A number of folk were chilling outside, plenty recognisable faces, soon everyone started heading in, the bar first then get a spot. Final adjustments, everybody ready and they were off.

Hey, hey! Ready when you are!

There was a preamble to the first song kicking in, it was then I heard the extra percussion from the side of the stage behind the speaker, peering into the gloom there was a keyboard too, but the keyboard was at the other end?! Aha, why get one Raeburn brother in when you can get two? Two keyboards, extra percussion and the occasional extra guitar as the evening went by; oh, Sandy and Murray just slotted in perfectly (and they’re lovely guys from speaking to them afterwards). Curious Terrain was a bloody magnificent start, oh yes.

Songs from Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi bookended the set with some brand new songs and the previously heard Giddy Up, Baby! and Costume Changes in the middle. Hot Blondes followed by Babestation had the crowd bouncing and in full voice, time for a change of pace, a newie, Cuck Chair written by Scott, quite a spacey beginning with synths and Scott swapped on to acoustic guitar, nice. No guitar for the start of the sparse, punchy Giddy Up, Baby! but once again a cowboy hat was soon passed up to the stage (on Friday night too, is it the same person same hat, or?!)

He wears it well, don’tcha think?!

Oh, Scotty was on magnificent form, his velvety tones so eloquently delivering his vivid narratives to the crowd, long stretches against the low ceiling (it’s easy not to realise how tall he is, obviously perfectly proportioned); really in his element, such a presence about him on stage. The new songs are a vibe moved on from the Jacuzzi tunes, but which will make it on to the second album? Fun and Games stood out for me yeah, couldn’t really say why, it just felt really good; and Groundhog Night with Carl on vocals, about the midnight slot at Whistlebinkies, I’m totally expecting to hear a pared back version in there at some point soon!

By now the fans know plenty of the words to Costume Changes, especially those who go see the Scat Rats as it often pops up in their sets; and Heart-shaped Jacuzzi, oh, what a blast!! It was brilliant on the Thursday night, but on the Friday, absolute chills, such a beautiful moment the room all singing it to the band, the love was palpable. It was the, ahem, final song, yeah right, the guys weren’t going to bother with the pretence of going offstage. Gouching provided another powerful singalong, ending with the baroque brilliance of Mock Marble Linoleum. Totally wrung out bodies and souls left the room, oh, there was more music after but like, everyone needed to catch their breath, take a moment or two, discuss what they just witnessed, and hugs. I floated off into the night to get a bus back to town.

And we did it all again the next night, just in a slightly different order and with an edge more exuberance with it being a Friday night (I say we, plenty of folk were there for both gigs). Half and Half made the set this time. I didn’t spot a setlist to snaffle at the end and I was having way too much fun to take any notes, I just have a few videos to spot the differences. Main one was that Hot Blondes In Your Area Tonight was moved from second to the final, really final, song, a fine call, the place went bonkers. Blissed out, sweaty blobs the lot of us by the end, but what epic fun 💛

Two fabulous evenings that hopefully put plenty of money in the coffers for the second album. If not, another gig or two? Another gig or two, anyway, please. I’ve still to put a few videos of these gigs on Instagram, but they will appear soon, promise. Now it’s very late, time for bed, goodnight and sweet dreams!

On a rainy night in Graz

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Hello you! I know, it’s been a while since my last post but I do have an excuse for May and hey, five posts in April up to that point, a blooming record for me outside of Fringe! The excuse? I’ll get back to that, for now a quick trawl through the last third of April…

I hinted at the end of my last post that Louis Crosland may play guitar alongside blues harmonica player Giles Robson again sometime; it’s definitely happening, folks! That’s through August (and into September, I think), so fairly extensive through the UK. Hmmm, if it ends anywhere northish I may have to go, that should, will, be pretty damned awesome. That’s if the tour does go through to September, I have priorities, you know.

He may not be around Edinburgh in August, but July sees Louis’s debut at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival where his Trio will be playing as one of three bands at a Blues Afternoon in the George Square Spiegeltent. Yes, a whole afternoon of blues (I think they have them each weekend of the Festival), you can catch the Louis Crosland Trio on Sunday 19th July. [Quick edit, there’s also a gig 12th June at Pilgrim in Newcastle]

That will probably (or possibly, you can never quite tell with musicians) the last time the Trio as it is, play together. Louis is planning on taking stock of things, a good time to, what with being away awhile with Robson. It will fun speculating what the new autumn season outfit will be. The final Whistlebinkies gig was great, a very lively crowd, cracking tunes and I love that of late Rob Henderson‘s bass line has been up in the mix, Max was on fine form on drums too. A decent finale for Binkies.

I said final gig, so was surprised when it was on Instagram that Louis was playing Binkies, huh?! Definitely wasn’t scheduled (mind, it was Binkies), ah, a last minute call up. Last minute, so it was a trio but for all the combinations I’ve seen, this was new. It may have been, who the hell is available now? The universal forces played ball, and how, it worked well, better than well, for a first time? it was ridiculously fine; and they weren’t done after Binkies, immediately packing up double quick to play at the Jazz Bar straight afterwards! Of course I went along! Already, just a second time round things were gelling nicely. Will this be a one night only (both musicians are usually very busy), certainly the three played together and Louis was clearly enjoying himself. It will certainly have added another dollop to the mulling mix; this cake could be sublime.

I could finish this post here, but as I’ve just poured myself another glass of a rather nice grüner veitliner, I shall continue…

Last post Carl Marah was about to take part in the semi-final of Mam Talent! this time taking a band with him. He didn’t make it through to the final, but no matter, it was a great experience and will have definitely opened up new avenues for him; and he used the opportunity to play his newly released single (just the day before, nicely done) You’re Always Right. The video is also out with Carl not only wearing his love for the Beatles on his sleeve, it’s more like an arm tattoo (done with such charm and gentle grace, tis a wonderful thing).

The Edinburgh launch of the new EP had been announced before, but now all the dates for the EP tour have been announced, which is how I came to be tapping this out on my phone in Austria. The first gig is Tuesday 19th at The Finsbury in London, aha. I’ve been meaning to get round to using an Interrail Pass that I bought end of last August when there was a discount, meaning to, but never quite succeeding; Carl’s London gig gave me an anchor point, yay. I’ll be on a Eurostar back to London on the Monday afternoon, Carl on Tuesday evening, next day a train back to Edinburgh in nice time for two Logan’s Close gigs, how excellent is that?!!

My glass is just about empty, time to sleep. Next time, probably a postcard or two.

Auf wiedersehen, meine Freunde!

It’s gonna be a fine weekend

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It’s been a while, I know, miss me? I was down in the old country (Yorkshireland) for a while, to catch up with family, seeing how I stayed in Edinburgh for Christmas. Like most of the country just now, it was very wet and very cold, but it was lovely to see everyone. After a very dry summer the weather changed with a vengeance, as illustrated below…

So low for so long the banks became like meadows
Back to it’s darkest, dankest self

Anyhoo, this is merely a quick wave before I head out into the wet night. Carl Marah is playing at the Auld Hundred this evening and at midnight the Louis Crosland Trio are at Whistlebinkies, yay. It’s quite a weekend ahead, plenty good music and a Six Nations Rugby weekend too (the Scotland v England game, yikes). Louis is solo at the Canons’ Gait tomorrow evening, I may pop along, or save myself for Saturday…

There’s Chris Buckley in Binkies at two, he should be fairly buzzing as he’s got a new single out tomorrow. The Scotland v England game is late afternoon, watch at home, or in a pub? Hmmm. Seven o’clock Chris will be down at Stramash with Louis and the rest of the Moanin’ Bones, wow, it’s been ages since they last played together, or it feels like it. Midnight it’ll be back up to Binkies and the Louis Crosland Trio, yes, twice in one week!

Sunday may be quite a lazy day, get myself recovered enough for the Scat Rats to round off the weekend in Binkies midnight slot. Oh, and they’ll be back in 48 hours later, it’s one of those Tuesdays.

I do intend to write more tomorrow, honest. Now where’s my brolly? Toodle pip!

It’s Tuesday again…

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It’s evening on 20th January 2026, that’s Tuesday, one of those Tuesdays, yay. Whistlebinkies calendar shows that next Tuesday is as well, two in a row? Indeed, confirmed by Mr Marah himself. Tonight will be the fourth time I’ve seen the Scat Rats this month, then there’s Stramash at 7pm this Saturday too, yays. The Louis Crosland Trio were on the late night slot a couple of weeks ago at Stramash, that was a lot of fun!

I hadn’t been out at that late at Stramash in a while, the LC3 hadn’t played that slot before, didn’t quite know what to expect, I told them, students, lots of them, I wasn’t far wrong. As students go, they were a good crowd, enthusiastic dancing going on, I include myself in that, I couldn’t resist, being a bystander really wasn’t an option. The final number 7 Nation Army was an awesome ending to the night. Since then they’ve played Binkies twice, and they’ll be back there again on Thursday at 9.30pm. Yes, I’m having a rather fine January!

Last Tuesday was cinema time, I took myself off to see Marty Supreme. It’s a long film but it keeps up such a frenetic pace, it didn’t feel as long as it might have. I enjoyed it, fascinated by the place of table tennis in 20th century cultural history; partly because my mother and her sibling were keen players when they were young, sadly, though I was briefly keen, my abilities were seriously lacking. It is based on a real table tennis player, one Marty Reisman, I have a good dive into the facts behind the fiction and having watched clips of Reisman, yeah, Timothée Chalamet’s character wasn’t far removed from the reality.

Other bits this month, hmmm. Oo, jam on crumpets, it works! Or, at least my bramble jam does. One lucky recipient of a jar, mentioned that he spread it on crumpets. This appalled me, being a buttered crumpet fan, but, I decided later that I should at least give it a try, just a dollop so not to waste a whole crumpet if it was awful. Reader, it wasn’t, not quite a green eggs and ham moment, but certainly much better than I’d anticipated. I may even try it again sometime!

Must dash, toodle pip!

A pint and a hug, please

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Happy New Year! Oh, the ninth day of 2026 has just begun as I finally get round to writing something. So, circling back round to 22nd December 2025 as promised last post, I went over west to see Logan’s Close at The Hug and Pint in Glasgow for their usual Christmas gig. There were plenty of familiar faces in the bar by the time I arrived, grabbed a pint, a few hugs and headed downstairs to the venue where the crowd were enjoying the Raeburn Brothers, also over from Edinburgh (yes, I quite enjoyed them too). It turned out that one of them was on a double shift, as keyboard player (and occasional percussion!) for Logan’s Close. I wonder, did the guys get the gig then LC went oo, actually, while you’re there, could you, or did they get the gig with that already in mind? Anyhoo, a fine choice, the Raeburn Brothers had the crowd nicely warmed up for LC taking to the stage; I say stage, it wasn’t much higher, more a performance area.

The lads opened with a brand new song Crystal Ball, Scott and Stu looking sharp in suits, Carl had already lost his jacket (it was definitely going to get hot), Gavin was way back in the gloom (shame), while the keyboard guy took the prize for coolest shirt (sadly I didn’t get a pic of it). From there, straight into Babestation, the first of seven songs from Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi; newish songs Chillz and Costume Changes were there, both of which occasionally pop up in Scat Rats setlists, so well-known to some.

The brand new song I presumed to be called Giddy Up, Baby at Leith Arches was there and it is; a stark, sparse song, Scott put down his guitar, picked up his drink and donned a cowboy hat, plenty keyboards in the mix on this one (I have to say it was the LC sound is better with keyboards rather than Carl juggling between instruments). After some outstanding singing from the gathered, along to more Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi numbers (a grand sound!), we were treated to another brand new bouncing baby of a song, Not Love (the prospect of another album is starting to get exciting).

Carl, Scott and Stu in harmony

The guys didn’t bother to leave the stage between the “last” number and the first encore, which was, yay, Lonely This Christmas by Mud. This is one of my favourite christmas songs and have previously loved the Rats doing it, but the full LC treatment, and the crowd all singing, oh, my heartses! Only something big with grandiose could follow it, so that would be Mock Marble Linoleum then. Love that bass riff and Carl gets to have fun with his theremin to emblemish Scott’s tale of a sad loser. A class ending to the evening, well, mine. I know there were plans for where folk would continue drinking after the gig but I headed back to the subway into the centre, happily fuzzed up.

I had hoped to hear Lonely This Christmas once more by the Scat Rats the following evening in Stramash but, well, it was a solo Carl Marah instead! I’m saying nothing. Except that the crowd loved him, Carl was in fine voice (the overall sound was excellent, beautifully rich, well done, whoever was on the buttons). From where I was sitting, I could see a number of folk going over to check the poster of the month’s listing to see who he was. His penultimate song for the evening was the full version of American Pie, well, it’s been so long since I’ve heard it, I had to make that my final advent calendar clip.

It’s now very late, or early?! Time I toddled off to bed. I’ll share this on Instagram tomorrow along with videos of LC in action. I did put one up shortly after the gig but it seems the sound has gone, if it was ever there, I’m sure it was!

Goodnight, sweet dreams!

A wee catch-up … and more

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It’s the Sunday evening before Christmas, thought I’d tap out a quick update before I head off to see Fackham Hall, and joys, the Louis Crosland Trio are playing Whistlebinkies at midnight (one can never too sure too soon). My Christmas week starts tonight!

A bit of a departure on my advent calendar today, I reposted a montage of ice creams from Thistle & Churn, well, the track with it was Ice Cream Man by Tom Waits, a classic in my book, and so are their ice creams. Oh, and I have three precious tubs from T&C in my freezer! Two of Caledonia Cream and one of Clootie Dumpling, they should see me into the new year, yeah, should.

It was my first time back in the reopened Filmhouse to see Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mind, I’m still a little confused about the scene that was meant to explain what happened in the wood, nah, kept running it through my head. Help, someone. Even better for me was The Running Man, and I went in not sure about it, but yay, Edgar Wright wove his magic again. Had a wee inward cheer to myself, when I spotted Rich Hall in a brief scene, nice one.

On a much smaller screen, Carl Marah has a video on his YouTube channel to go with his latest song Cold Cold Christmas, do give it a watch. Mind, if you want to just listen to it, I wouldn’t bother asking your smart speaker! Certainly Alexa refuses to understand the name Carl Marah, stupid, stupid !!#*?!! I was round at a friend’s, it just confirmed to me why I’ll never bother getting one.

Tonight will be the second time this week seeing Louis Crosland as I caught the band in Stramash on Thursday evening, but it wasn’t a trio, oh no, added keyboards. I did wonder beforehand, but any doubts were quickly dispelled, a part of the puzzle that we hadn’t even realised was missing. A perfect fit for Louis’ sound, especially his own songs; sadly, it was only for the one evening so far, but hopefully, he’ll be back, that’s Guilhem Forey.

With more originals on the setlist some of the usual had to go, so not much Dylan except, of course, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, Louis’s all time favourite song. I’ve heard the band play Louis’s My Kind of Heaven a few times, but it was a first outing for Losing Game, apparently voted into the set by the rest of the band, they all really like playing it. Yeah, I could tell you the names of the other two new originals, but I wasn’t taking notes, just enjoying being in the zone. Like I’ve already said, the keyboards slotted in so sweetly, the bass vibe was brilliant as ever, thanks to Rob Henderson; I’ll leave that there, just add a few pics for you.

Blimey Charlie, time I shifted! More very soon. Toodle pip!

Mr Marah Plus Two

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Wednesday evening in the Voodoo Rooms was awesome. There may have been fireworks going off outside for Bonfire Night, but inside the atmosphere was sparkling and crackling with fine vibes. Local musician Jack Hinks was support for the evening, some rather lovely tunes there, and a gorgeous voice, rich but not too much (I know what I mean). Tone for the evening nicely set, drink in hand from the bar, good position to see, ready!

Of course, this was the first gig where Carl Marah has played his solo music with a band, which added to the anticipation, not just one man and an acoustic guitar anymore. On drums was Gavin Lamont, like who else was it gonna be? As lovely as he is talented, no 5/4 timings could throw this chap. On bass and occasional backing vocals was one Simon Toner; he and Gavin are in a band Sekoya with Luke Cunningham, who played keyboards with The Buccaneers (oo, how good to have the three of them with Carl some time? make that happen!). A very promising line-up, and how!

It was a gentle start with You’re Always Right and how right was the sound – just perfect. On to Lost and Found, gorgeous but I did find myself contemplating whether, lovely as the band version was, the acoustic solo version had something extra for being less for me. World Keeps Turning next is a tune that’s already one of my accidental hums (oh, I can hum unaware that I’m humming for ages), a cracking song, definitely up a notch with the extra punctuation from the drums.

The setlist was thirteen songs in total, all known to the faithful to some degree. James Gilhooly, the go-to cameraman, was around filming the proceedings. At the start of Long Way To Oban I noticed the array of drumsticks Gavin had to hand, but then I guess that’s how he always gets just the right sound; Holidays with the brush sticks was luscious. The poignant 39 was sooo beautiful, a moment to reflect.

Song of the night for me has to be Cat’s Eyes, oh my heartses. I’d just popped to the loo and came back out into the little hidden area to the side of the stage, it seemed a perfectly good spot to watch the band as the music drove along, taking corners, foot down on the straights. Oh, I’m already there, Cat’s Eyes on the stereo driving along the A702 in the dark, can’t wait! Only Don’t Wanna Love You No More could have followed that, yay, Carl getting down and bluesy, always fine with me!

As it’s the latest single Roll the Dice finished the evening. Yeah, right. Encore! One more song! Hmmm, something that really would really show the whole band off, something by one of Carl’s favourite artists? Paul Simon? 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, yay, what a way to end, excellent choice. What an evening, I’m looking forward to next time already, hopefully it won’t be too long. Meanwhile, Mr Marah can be seen in the pubs of Edinburgh singing to the stags and hens and mooses.

Such a great gig really deserved better pics for my blog than I could manage with my mobile – many thanks to @hateinacageonfilm for letting me use some of his photos, what a guy!

Carl Marah looking suave with his Movember tache
Gavin Lamont
Simon Toner

Sounds and visions and pies

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Last time I wrote I was on a bus down to Newcastle, well, ultimately Gateshead to see Carl Marah doing his solo thing at Station East, the lad did not disappoint, and neither did the pub! Station East is only just on the other side of the Tyne, and definitely worth a wander over. It’s a smashing pub, the bar staff were great, plenty of beers and ciders, and a fridge full of pies!! Okay, it being a Sunday the fridge wasn’t full but there was still plenty of choice. A couple of hours in, I refuelled myself with an Aberdeen Angus Steak Mince & Onion pie, oh my lord! It was sooo good. I had fancied a Mexicana but was warned that it was quite spicy, yeah, no.

Local musician AJ.Potter (he played support when Carl was last down in Newcastle) was in and delighted the crowd with a few of his tunes before Carl stepped up to the mic. Sunday afternoons don’t come better than this! Seven songs, including a new one Fountain of Youth, then two favourite covers (one by Squeeze, natch), a short break, then plenty more, with a couple of brand new songs in the mix. All the while I was enjoying the great range of ales on offer, and a couple of halves of cider, it was an interesting trek to the train station afterwards! Oh yeah, I bought one of the Mexicana pies to take home, had it with a yoghurt dip to cool it down, definitely the right thing to do! Do try a Pitman Pie if you’re ever down that way, bloody tasty.

I did said at the end of that last post that the following week wasn’t looking up to much, how quickly things change! Louis Crosland posted about three gigs on Instagram, yay, then Carl Marah was playing the Three Marys in Leith (I’ve never been in there, so it seemed like a good reason to go), and Power Denim playing Binkies on the Friday evening turned out to be another of Mr Potts’ sidelines (just the band name had my moosedar tingling with suspicion). There was also a few films that I fancied catching on the big screen …. I took myself off to see the Bruce Springsteen biopic on Wednesday evening, hmmm. It was okay-ish, very long, the actor playing Springsteen was very good, but it was for the more ardent fans, methinks. Roofman and Good Fortune were both way more my thing, hey, two out of three, you know. It’s great having an Unlimited card! The new Emma Stone film will be next.

Halloween had the town packed with all manner of weird creatures, but none so strange as seeing Jed Potts on stage sans guitar! I surely wasn’t the only one mumbling, what? huh? wow, really? Yes, Power Denim had Jed centre stage with just a microphone (I wonder if he kinda felt naked without his guitar?), oh, and a guitarist, bassist and drummer, playing classic rock; they’ll be back in Whistlebinkies at the end of the month, or so the gig guide says. I left after the first set to catch a number 14 down to Leith to see Carl at the Three Marys, what a lovely bar! It wasn’t very busy so, yay, more Marah’s Originals in the mix, sweet. The weekend saw Louis Crosland out twice with his trio and once with the Moanin’ Bones (two of those in one evening), naturally I was out to catch the vibes.

And now I’m about to pop out again, it’s nearly midnight, on a Tuesday – if you don’t know where I’m going you haven’t read enough of my musings! Time for another Scat Rats top-up fix, it’ll take me through nicely to tomorrow evening when Mr Marah takes to the stage in the Voodoo Rooms with a band too! It’s gonna be bloody, bloody brilliant, oh, my heartses.

Toodle pip!

When Harry met Louis

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After a day of sorting and cleaning Chez Bruce, I took a stroll up to Whistlebinkies sometime after ten to catch the second set of the Louis Crosland Trio, mighty fine as usual, and the floor show was a joy! Those folk who just get up and do their thang, and with such style and ease, last night there were a few in. One young couple were so in tune with each other and so fluid, at times I felt I applauding them as much as the band!

There was a new beer on tap to try, Golden Hour from Natural Selection Brewing, a rooibus infused blonde ale, and also a very quaffable ale. What more could a moose want? Great beer and great sounds. Those bass lines were sounding so good, I realised I was zoning into them quite a bit, such a sweet balance of sound, but then it was Nico at the desk, I’d expect nothing less. Oh, and it was my preferred drummer, I like his style, for me it seems much more in keeping with what the band requires; for me the other drummer is too bombastic for the LCT (oh, I can appreciate he’s a great drummer, I’ve seen him plenty times, just, well, my opinion).

The band following on at midnight was The Moanin’ Bones, so a double shift for Louis, but as midnight came and went there was no sign of main man Mr Buckley. I wondered that the rest of the band might play as a trio, time ticked on …. then in came Harry Higgs with two guitars! Oh yeah! Like, hell yeah! This was going to be something else, and I was there to see it (usually I hear about these sort of things later).

We were treated to a mix of blues and rock covers from Louis’ and Harry’s sets, so there was the likes of Sharp-dressed Man, Crossroad, Miss You, some Hendrix, of course (there’s a reel and stories on Instagram). The drummer and bassist were well up for it, they know their stuff, a good solid rhythm section for Harry and Louis to play above, swap roles, riff off each other; a little bit of musical alchemy 💛

Both guitarists are back in Whistlebinkies later this week with their own bands, the Louis Crosland Trio at midnight on Friday, and the Harry Higgs Trio at midnight on Saturday. I’m not planning on seeing any morning Fringe shows this weekend!

G’night, sweet dreams!

Music to a moose’s ears

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And just like that, June was over, four weeks today it’ll be Fringe Eve! I’d panic about my lack of preparedness but my procrastination skills have reached such a level that I’m even procrastinating about panicking. Honestly, I’ve long been Olympic standard, but this is bloody ridiculous now. And breathe. Yes, this year’s Edinburgh Fringe is getting close now (the courtyard at the Pleasance is already taking shape), next [Edit:but one] post will be Fringey, but for now, well, I had the most deliciously musical weekend….

Last post I was down in Yorkshireland, intending to make it back up for Jed and Nicole at Whistlebinkies; thanks to an unexpected road closure, plenty of motorway roadworks and torrential downpours, I just caught their second set. Grrrr. A pint of Stewart’s, some fuzzed up guitar and Ms Smit’s blend of sweet’n’sass and I was fair revived from my journey. Special note for their final number Something’s Got a Hold on Me, always great, but on Friday, woozah, Nicole really went out with a blast 💛

Jed Potts & Nicole Smit

Saturday, after another scrumpy ice cream from Thistle & Churn, followed by scallops from Creelers (I may have a habit taking shape there), I was back at Binkies for The Scat Rats and their usual mix from country to rhythm’n’blues and, of course, the odd original. There was what I took to be a, ahem, “maturer” tour group who had escaped the heat outside along with their tour guides (two wore tartan trews and glengarry hats), a bit of Johnny Cash and they were up! It’s always nice to have a floor show to enjoy, ha.

The Scat Rats, as ever, always a joy, delivered the goods, and I must give a shout out to George on sound; I’ve come to appreciate how differently some sound guys work, and he really brought out the music (loved the echoey bits, Scotty certainly did!) When I went to compliment his work afterwards, George’s modest reply was, “It’s easy to make someone sound good, when they’re that good already”. Nah, he’s good, he really got them, some don’t.

And then it was Sunday, time for the big one….

…… Carl Marah’s Second Single Tour beginning in the Voodoo Rooms, his second single being Roll the Dice (it’s in 4/5 time, you know) But that deserves a post of it’s own, I’ll just say here that I cannot allow Sunday evening to be the only time I get to hear his music in it’s current form on this tour. Those lucky bastards in London on the 2nd! It was a glorious evening, continued with further drinking, finishing back, once again in Whistlebinkies with the Harry Higgs Band, not the trio, a quartet (trio plus keyboards) with an occasional fifth, of guest vocals by Reine Beau.

A great end to a great weekend!