Live bands in Edinburgh

It’s come round again

bruceonthefringe 2023, Eurovision 2023, Live bands in Edinburgh, Logan's Close Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

‘Twas the night before Eurovision, and I have a magnificent rack of spare ribs defrosting in the fridge, gonna marinade them first thing in the morning. I’m thinking half in a barbecue sauce and half in a Chinese type of thing – I’ll just be ad-libbing both with what I can find, that’s how I roll. Still to get a bottle of prosecco and some pear juice (makes the perfect Eurovision drink); hopefully the stall that sells baba ghanosh will be at the Farmers Market in the morning, a very tasty dip with flat bread!

I’ve watched both semi-finals so know what to expect in the Final. All but two of the songs I picked for the final have gone through – there are more songs I wished had not made it through! Romania and Azerbaijan are the unlucky two; and while Portugal’s beautiful song is through, apparently no song sung second in the Final has ever come first, shame.

There’s no song that really stands out, but there are a few I really don’t want to see win. A quick glance through my scrawlings, I want Armenia, Austria, Australia, Czechia and Portugal to do well, Moldova too. Who can tell? Oo, and there’s a new Rest of the World public vote added in this year; I’m not sure how it’ll work but it could mix things up a bit.

Tonight I’ve had the telly box on BBC4 for all things Eurovision, yes, a whole evening of various programmes on one topic. Do other countries have such full-on Eurovision nostalgia every year, I wonder? Hey, I got to indulge my moose crush on Måns Zelmerlöw, I’m happy. He’s on my Spotify Europop playlist that I’ll have on tomorrow as I tidy round.

I may have a break from the madness in the afternoon – Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters are playing Whistlebinkies at four o’clock (for those not into Eurovision, he’ll be at B Bar in the evening). I’ll possibly pop back there late on to check out the midnight band, Steepwater Canyon, call me intrigued.

Oh, The Scat Rats went down brilliantly last Tuesday midnight at Binkies. The place was busy when I got in just before the lads began, too busy for me to get a good view, but as is often the case late on, many left after the first set (well, that is around one o’clock) so I scooted forward some. It all looked fairly empty when Carl started Runaway with his usual flourish, that pulls them in, by the end of it, that part of the pub was busy again!

Everyone was having a great time, the Rats were on fine form, enjoying raucous applause after every song, the crowd joined in plenty (check out my Instagram reels), it was one of those nights. Little Green Bag is now a regular on the setlist, an excellent addition.

Another excellent addition is the latest single from Marah and Rough’s other, Logan’s Close. Gouching On The 33 came out on the midnight between me arriving back in Edinburgh and heading to Yorkshireland the following morning, I just had to have a quick listen before I headed off! Oh boy, gorgeous! It’s been a semi-regular inclusion for the Rats, I really can’t call it yet which way I like best, the acoustic duet or the studio LC sound. There’s a video out too, filmed in Carl’s mum’s cafe, it’s on YouTube do check it out!

Must go, it’s very late, I need my beauty sleep. Toodle pip!

Not your average Sunday evening

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Oh lordy, so glad I got back up yesterday evening! I knew that The Buccaneers were playing Stramash at ten, which is always good, but I had no idea they would be that good! Wowzah. On fire they were, and with plenty new covers too. I didn’t arrived back in Edinburgh until the back of eight, just time to put things away, eat and faff a while; well, I wasn’t convinced it wouldn’t actually be a ten thirty start in reality.

Nope, it was ten o’clock, The Buccaneers were already getting down to business when I trotted in, with fellow creative James Gilhooly filming them. Did his presence perk up the performances? Was it the new set list? Was it the joy of having Luke Cunningham was back with his keyboards? Whatever it was, the band were soaring and took the crowd along with them.

Stramash was up for a good time last night, plenty were out with it being a Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Marah was on fire, yes, he’s always good but last night was one of those special nights, he was totally in his element, oh he shone (shined?) brightly. I look forward to what James Gilhooly will put together from the evening, when it’s out I will let you know, really you will have to see it, it’s gonna be awesome!

Among the new tunes were Heard It Through The Grapevine, The Weight (the song with the line “Take a load off fanny” see now you know the one), Feeling Alright? a classic originally by Traffic. Donavon song Season of the Witch was in there with great keyboard swirly bits and Mr Marah rocking it on his guitar. Oh, and California Dreamin’ had a tasty jam in it (to be seen on my Instagram).

One after 909 stayed in, nice. I got a great quick snippet Carl and Simon Gibb singing, not an easy thing to do filming a drummer – there’s very few angles where he’s visible! I loved Shake Your Hips as did the crowd, all indeed shaking their hips and everything else, and all with the beat; they had the floor bouncing to the rhythm!

For shame that I write a whole blog post about a band and not mention the bass player; there, steady, reliable but rarely mentioned. Ewan Gibson, also part of Nicole’s Back-up Crew, the Black Diamond Express and no doubt others, he’s a tad busy. I’ll also give a mention to John Mackie the best on sound and lighting in Stramash, LA Woman is awesome anyway but he adds the cherry on top!

Hopefully The Buccaneers will be back soon, and they haven’t played Binkies in a while, just sayin’. The Scat Rats are back on the midnight watch at Whistlebinkies tomorrow night and next Tuesday (according to their website). Must get an early night tonight.

Toodle pip for now!

See what I mean?!

A feast for all senses

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No more chocolate for a while, methinks. I hopped along to the Farmers Market just in time to grab the last white chocolate and raspberry easter egg from Co Co Co. huzzah! And it had some white chocolate passionfruit eggs with it, honestly probably the best easter egg I’ve ever had. I’ll wait til the memory fades before I eat more chocolate, I don’t want it tainted!

What a day it was – scrumptious eggs for breakfast, succulent roast lamb for lunch and ol’ time rock’n’roll for supper, feasting for all the senses. After a day of tastebuds overload, my ears were filled with such sweet sounds harking back to classic 70s rock, my eyes beheld showmanship delivered with easy swagger and charm. Oh yay, Ol’ Times packed out Whistlebinkies and whisked the room up into a rocking frenzy (all that plugging the gig on Waverley Bridge really paid off).

It’s good old style headbanging, hipswaying music; really, if your body remains motionless on hearing Ol’ Times, well, there’s no hope for you! I remember a conversation with my mother about headbanging, no, I have no idea how we got on to it, but it always appalled her, “You never did that, did you?” Er, how could I not? It was purely instinctive, still is (never did the air guitar thing, mind).

Ol’ Times are not just another Irish rock band, for one thing (or two) they’re not all Irish, there’s Argentine and Italian in the mix. Not that you’d know the singer, Gabriele is Italian (pic right), oh he’s something else for sure, a wiry larrikin sparking with charisma, a natural showman. The few times I’ve seen them, the drummer came across (to me anyway) as spokesman and leader of the band, personable, quietly authoritative, oh and there’s a bit of a Tom Hardy look to him.

The band are now over in Glasgow, playing Malones on Thursday 13th, then Penicuik (yeah, if you know it you’re probably as bemused as me), before heading South for ten gigs around England. It’s all there on their social media, you should check it out; there isn’t a gig near my hometown in Yorkshireland, shame that (and yet they’re playing Penicuik!?) Hopefully it won’t be too long before Ol’ Times return to Scotland but for the meantime I picked up their CD (one song Word After Word can be heard on Spotify). Sweet!

Other musical notes, I was back in Binkies last night for Dr Salad and The Scat Rats – a double dose of Mr Rough! The good Doctor was laying down some heavy, heated grooves for the fans in their very own heavy romance genre. The grooving was not for stopping, but as half the next band was already on the stage and the other half was happy enjoying the music, the Salad course somewhat overran. Plenty Salad-lovers stayed around for some rhythm and blues, so in the time left, the lads piled on banger after banger for the dance floor freaks. For a late Tuesday night it was very boisterous!

Toodle pip, mes amis!

Sounds and Visions

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Easter weekend and the sun has been shining today!! The forecast is more of the same tomorrow and Sunday, anyone would think the rain gods aren’t paying attention. As the sun was out I popped along to Waverley Bridge in case there was anyone playing – there was, and they were rather good (There’s snippets of evidence on my Instagram).

I was meaning to check out Ol’ Times as they’re playing the 9.30 set at Whistlebinkies on Sunday evening, no need to check online now, that was them this afternoon. I may wander back that way tomorrow or Sunday as they do intend to play there some more, yay. Binkies is the first gig of a swift tour around the UK for Ol’ Times, if you like energetic bluesy Irish rock they’re worth a shot; and if you like them, they have a CD and a card reader for those who don’t carry cash any more.

The lead singer has a great voice, reminiscent of someone, took me a while but, and you’ll have to be old to get this one, a mix of the singer of April Wine early 80s and a young Geddy Lee with a twist of Irish. The band sounds like they could be from the late 70s, no bad thing in my book, some amazing music around then.

Oh yeah, on amazing music – the lads have put out another video! Half & Half is the latest visual treat from Logan’s Close shot in the Voodoo Rooms by their go-to film maker James Gilhooly. Rich sumptuous colouring with a slight haze and strange white clouds bobbing around, it reminded me of tv shows from Eastern Europe back when I was a nipper; and the light from the glitterball was such a great effect, sweet.

I’m not really sure what the song is about but hey, the words pour like honey from Scott’s mouth and mixed with the sparse guitar and bass work, awesome – seductive with a dash of melancholy. Half & Half will be on Heart-shaped Jacuzzi but it’s not out as a single, just a little treat for the fans!

In other news, the Jolly Judge is having a cider festival just now. Technically it’s on until Easter Monday but hey, any ciders still left will be need to be drunk up. My favourites so far are Windfall from Iford (6%) and Barn Owl from Perry’s Cider (5.5%). That’s from six that I’ve tried, there’s at least another six to try and I intend to.

Now if I’m going to be up in time to get to the Farmers Market before CoCo Co‘s Easter eggs all sell out, it’s time I hit the sack. I’ll leave you with a couple of pics of the most unusual portable twin decks I’ve ever seen….

The only thing a DJ needs is a suitcase….
….. and some 78s (talking about the ol’times!)

Lights, music, camera – action

bruceonthefringe 2023, Cinema, Live bands in Edinburgh, Logan's Close, Pubs Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Oops, it’s thirteen days since my last post, and this is gonna be a very short and sweet catch-up as it’s very late and I need to be up early in the morning. I say I need to be up early, I intend to be, really I do.

Well Everything Everywhere All At Once did brilliantly at the Oscars, just as I thought it deserved. Yes, the most bonkers film of the decade won big time, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Picture, along with Oscars for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. So so happy the ladies were recognised for being bloody awesome in it.

And in other awards news, The Jolly Judge has just been named as Branch Pub of the Year 2023 by CAMRA Edinburgh & South East Scotland. An excellent choice! One of my favourite Edinburgh pubs to be found in James Court off the Lawnmarket (near the top of the Royal Mile); a cosy wee place, friendly bar staff and always a good selection of real ciders and real ales (also dog-friendly).

Since I returned from a wee trip away I’ve caught The Scat Rats twice and The Buccaneers, yay. No keyboards again, I noticed; I also noticed the sound and lighting guy was having a lot of fun with The Buccaneers set – check out the reel I’ve put on Instagram of Simon Gibb’s drum solo on Black Magic Woman! Hmm, on Tuesday evening in Whistlebinkies the Rats got blasted with the smoke machine, engineers getting sassy!

Ah, it’s just after midnight so it’s now two weeks since the lads released their latest single Babestation from their upcoming album Heart-shaped Jacuzzi (I’ve just now noticed that it’s one word not two, I have some editing to do). It’s had nearly 2,500 streams on Spotify so far, I highly recommend you check it out! Besides being part of the Logan’s Close library of sound, Babestation has been added to Scotify a playlist of the best new alternative music from Scotland.

And sometime in the next 24 hours the video is being released, yes, a video for Babestation!! LC have put out a tiny wee bit to tantalise us. I won’t say anything about what I’ve seen so far, apart from, it’s not a video you’ll forget you’ve seen, apparently the band came up with the concept for it whilst in Hamburg (it figures).

Anyhoo, I must away to my bed. Toodle pip!

An unexpected treat

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I do like an unexpected treat, especially of the musical variety, so I was delighted yesterday morning to see that The Buccaneers would be playing Stramash at ten in the evening. The band listed to play must have had to cancel late on, three out of the four Buccaneers were available – no complaints here!

They were great, obviously having fun, I even saw the bass player smiling (bass players don’t tend to smile much, really they don’t). The phrase “while the cat’s away, the mice will play” sprung to mind, hahaha, not sure what that would imply about the keyboard player?! It did seem the three were really letting loose but I’m sure a lack of keyboardist had nothing to do with it. More likely because this was the first time in a while that they’ve played together at Stramash, certainly the first time I’ve seen them this year.

I took the opportunity afterwards for a quick catch-up with Carl Marah on Elsie’s antics. Well, there’s been some filming going on in the Voodoo Rooms which apparently did not go as originally planned but possibly worked out better for it. More filming coming up, set accessories are being sort out today – my mind is boggling overtime as it knows which song’s being filmed!! The next single from Heart-shaped Jacuzzi will be available from early March, I’m really really excited about this one!

On the album front, the lads are now in possession of the test pressings of Heart-shaped Jacuzzi, teensy tiny snippets can be heard on their Instagram. There’s still a lot to be done, er, any record companies keen to get in with the awesomeness that is Logan’s Close?! Have I mentioned LC have a show lined up in May? That’s Thursday 18th May at The Caves in Edinburgh, tickets are available now, so if you were thinking of visiting Edinburgh sometime soon …. why not?! (be warned, it’s very likely to be a sell out)

That’s all for now, coming up soon, Fringey bits and a rant. I could have ranted any time in the last week but I thought best to breathe first and see if I still felt annoyed – I do! I’ll leave you with the pic of the pressing and it’s proud parents….

Wetting the baby’s head in The Waverley

A good score and mellow beats

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Another rugby weekend is done, the Welsh will all be back home, plenty probably still nursing their hangovers. They do like to party, it’s always a great atmosphere when the Welsh are in town for the Six Nations Rugby. Even at noon when I was just heading to the Farmers Market on Saturday, the Three Sisters pub was already busy with a queue waiting to get in. I suspect some of them may not remember anything about the game, not after five hours drinking before the match got under way!

Of course, all the pubs in the Grassmarket were busy as I walked along to Castle Terrace, red-topped folk everywhere, not all would be heading to Murrayfield later in the afternoon, some do just come up and watch in one of the many pubs that show the games. Six Nations Rugby weekends are great for pubs, especially the home game weekends; Stramash had a band on at noon to attract folk in before the first match.

It was a gloriously sunny morning, a tad chilly but hey. The Farmers Market was nicely busy, Annanwater had almost sold out of fresh produce but they usually have some frozen cuts too, just as well when I’m so often quite late getting there. I got the last fresh lamb fillet which I had for tea tonight as a pasta sauce (with enough leftover for another meal) and some frozen lamb’s liver for later in the week.

Next to Brewsters Smallholding to stock up on more honey for my daily morning porridge, plus eggs and chicken thighs. I was tempted by the Hometown Cheesecake stall, but held off as CoCo Company were finally back (first time this year), back with some gorgeous new chocolates for Valentines Day. I say gorgeous, they look yummy but haven’t actually tasted them yet, I just take it for granted they’ll be as excellent as I’ve come to expect. Yes, I bought myself a small box, well, they do say you have to love yourself before you can love others (that’s my excuse, anyway!)

Once home, I stayed in to watch the rugby, I was saving myself til the evening to have a drink. The final score of 35-7 to Scotland ensured a very lively night out, the town would be buzzing! I’d seen that the seven o’clock band at Whistlebinkies were called The Breeze which I correctly guessed was a reference to the JJ Cale song Call Me The Breeze, I love that song, his original version and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s, so I was intrigued enough to pop along. Oh my, they were good, the female singer (and guitarist) has a great voice. I don’t really know too much about JJ Cale aside from his album Naturally but I do like his kinda lazy mellow sound.

Indeed, Binkies was hooching, god knows what it was like by late evening! I was quite happy to quit the place after The Breeze finished their second set as I was feeling peckish, so wandered home grabbing a chicken shawarma for my supper on the way, humming Cocaine (a hit for Clapton but written by Cale) deciding to go with that theme – I would finally get around to watching the boxset of Breaking Bad that I received, oo, a couple of Christmases ago. Just three episodes so far, yeah, I can see why folk rave about it. So, a pretty good day, all in all!

G’ night, sweet dreams!

say it with scrumptious chocolates ❤️

Some salad with my blues, please!

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Last week was Independent Venue Week here in the UK, I don’t know much about it except that it champions small independently-owned venues and helps organise events across the country to increase awareness of how important these small venues are to live music. Living where I do, I’m spoilt with the number of music venues around me, you may have noticed from my scribblings!

As part of Independent Venue Week Whistlebinkies focused on bands playing their own original music; in a whole week something was bound to take my fancy! Thursday night saw me going along to witness the spicy, saucy, sultry, stringy, succulent uniqueness of Dr Salad; genre? they call it bad romance (which actually makes some kind of sense when you see them). Dr Salad are a lot of fun, with deep, heavy, infectious rhythms, guitars wandering their own mysterious ways and the words, they’re the saucy, sultry bit! Oh, and there’s some Velvet Rough in the mix helping the medicine go down.

Scotty boy was back out again on Friday evening with his fellow Scat Rat in Stramash, but huh? they were billed as Logan’s Close, well, yes, they are LC as well, but as a duo they’re usually the Scat Rats certainly on early Friday evenings. Last Friday evening was a ticketed event at Stramash, I had my ticket booked for The Black Diamond Express, a local band who play blues with celtic strains and an Americana twang. It was an unexpected bonus to later read that the lads would be on as support, just a short sweet set of delights.

Definitely in Logan’s Close mode – both were looking very smart (Carl always likes to look smart, but, well, Scotty goes for a much more relaxed look as a Rat), and Carl had his electric guitar for that LC sound. All their own songs apart from the usual finale You Can’t Judge a Book… ; including the latest two singles Dans Le Jardin and Heart-shaped Jacuzzi, sweet. The lads went down well with the crowd, as only to be expected, and had Stramash nicely warmed up for the main attraction.

The Black Diamond Express, are a band of many, the stage looked packed out after the sparseness of LC. With that many musicians about, there had to be one I’d seen elsewhere – yes, the bassist, Ewan Gibson. He’s a Buccaneer, one of Nicole’s Back-up Crew, a Blueswaterman, and that’s just the ones I’m aware of, probably a few more, I’m sure.

When The Black Diamond Express came on the place was buzzing and there was soon some jigging about going on in the crowd. For me the fiddle-playing really enhanced the mood of the music and sounded great against the singer (great voice there). Oh, it was all great, I just like a touch of fiddle to add a little pathos and melancholy.

Back in Whistlebinkies on Saturday evening Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters were playing some of their originals, always a pleasure! Binkies was buzzing, well, Scotland had just beaten England in this year’s Six Nations Rugby Championship, I’m guessing quite a few folk were a few pints in already!

No, I didn’t go to the Handsome House Jam on Sunday evening, I stayed in with the telly. Mind, the video is out and the setlist looks very interesting, I shall have a watch at some point. It was a good night for telly, last episodes of His Dark Materials (god, I’d forgotten how sad the end is) and the utterly brilliant Happy Valley which, happily, finished perfectly! All the coffee shops and cafés in Hebden Bridge will be looking forward to another influx of tourists on the back of it.

The sun’s beckoning me, must head out. There’ll be clips of the bands up on my Instagram later, please do check them out. Cheerio!

The Black Diamond Express

Passionfruit buns and other highlights

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There’s a mutton tagine and pork cheeks slow cooking in my oven. No, not in the same dish, that would be too weird. I prepared the pork cheeks first and put them in for an hour on a low heat (long and low for melt-in-the-mouth tenderness). In that hour I started my mutton tagine on the hob, and had time to make some bun mixture for my latest experiment in baking….

Buns with passionfruit pulp inside! A good dollop of bun mixture slightly hollowed out, some passionfruit innards dropped in, another dollop of bun mix on top. Popped in the oven along with the tagine (cheeks taken out, temperature raised), once the buns were nicely baked they came out, temperature lowered and the cheeks went back in. I tried one immediately, well, I had to be sure they were cooked right through, it was and bloody yummy too – a success!

Oo, that’s reminded me, literally just this second, the pear sponges I made last summer, they were so good! But where did I find the passionfruit and mango coulis to drizzle on top? The combination was quite a highlight of my culinary year, and speaking of highlights – any more from 2022? Well, The Scat Rats as mentioned in my last blog post; rewatching all my vid clips as I attempted to prune my collection recently, my god, the lads are sooo brilliant now, a recorded live set would be awesome!

Just the amount of time spent seeing great local bands last year was amazing, late nights in Stramash and Whistlebinkies, sunny afternoons watching The Kennedy’s Project playing on Waverley Bridge; the Miracle Glass Company in the Old Royal High. Of course, a particular highlight of 2022 for me was seeing local favourites Logan’s Close a few hundred miles away in Nottingham! The whole day was such fun trawling round some great little boozers with an old friend before heading to the Running Horse and seeing the new line-up for the first time (yeah, and the rest of it!)

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival was back almost to old normalcy, shame how they screwed up with the Half Price Hut and no app, but apart from those hiccups it was rather good. I did write about my highlights shortly afterwards, but now with some months gone by, what are the bits that still really stand out in my head?

Crybabies: Bagbeard immediately springs to mind (err, possibly assisted by the fact I follow them on Instagram), clever, fun, stylish and utterly charming; Mr Sullivan Brown in red shirt and shorts in Grubby Little Mitts a darkly bonkers sketch show with partner-in-comedy Rosie Nicholls (and lots of eyeballs); The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, sharp, stylish physical theatre and a wide-brimmed red hat; Blueswater playing The Wizard by Black Sabbath, truly astounding!! A rat-arsed Rat performing in Binkies after two in the morning; and lastly, but by no means least, a guy with show that is so much what the Fringe is all about, Accordion Ryan’s Pop Bangers.

Back with Elsie, there was the triumphant gig at the Voodoo Rooms on their return from southern parts in March. Like, wow, brilliant, but, for me, then topped by two awesome gigs in Sneaky Pete’s in December, the perfect way for Logan’s Close to end such a great year! But, still not my top highlight….

That plaudit goes to the CD of 2021’s top highlight, Logan’s Close on LimbicTV (Live from Aluhpasonics), an hour of raw, exuberant energy in the time of Covid. I’ve been listening to it for just over a year now, still love it to bits. And you too can grab a copy of Logan’s Close Live at LimbicTV by going to their website, just £10 GBP (+postage). No doubt their album Heart-shaped Jacuzzi will be a highlight this year.

It’s late, yes, I remembered to turn the oven off. I may edit in a couple of pics later, I need my bed just now but if you check out my Instagram I’ll put up a lovely, sweet moment from Stramash in August, the two dancing are the other two original members of the Close 🧡

Cheesecake with blues

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As weekends go, that was quite a good one. More frozen turkey bits from the Farmers Market (two wings this time, bloody big they are!); also treated myself to some baba ganoush from a relatively new stall which turned out to be seriously yummy. On my way home from the Market, the shop I popped in for a newspaper had Hagan Das Strawberry Cheesecake ice-cream on offer at £3.50!! Oh yes, another treat for my tum.

Plenty of musical delights as well (as previously anticipated) Bones, Rats and a Jam, a veritable cornucopia of rhythm and blues. The double helping of The Scat Rats was great, both in the early evening too, nice. It has occurred to me that the Rats were quite a highlight of last year for me; since their continental jaunts in the first half of the year Messrs Marah and Rough have played Stramash and Whistlebinkies plenty times in their Scat Rats guise – two voices, two guitars, great rhythm’n’blues, love’em!

Sunday evening saw the 100th Handsome House Jam at Stramash with host Tim Elliott, invited along as it was he who hosted the very first Handsome House Jam, nice touch. There were a few guest musicians joining the band on stage, including one of my favourites, Jed Potts. It was a cool, laidback evening, helped along by a couple of pints of Pentland IPA from Stewart’s, the current guest ale; it’s rather nice. I’ll put a couple of clips on my Instagram, for pics check out Waysted Photography on Facebook, he gets amazing shots at gigs around town; last night’s are up on Facebook now.

I’ll leave you with a still of Scott Rough clocking me filming The Scat Rats on Friday evening ….