Louis Crosland Trio

A is for Antipodeans

bruceonthefringe 2025, Antipodean acts, Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Live bands in Edinburgh, Sooo fringe Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Well, that’s the Fringe well and truly underway! The brilliant sunshine brought everyone and their Aunty Maude out into town this afternoon; no doubt Whistlebinkies will be packed all night. Oh, I intend to head there sometime after midnight as the Harry Higgs Trio are playing, with a few others no doubt. Last night it was the Louis Crosland Trio on, well, it started like that, then Harry joined in, and the missing Moanin’ Bone from last Sunday was in, so he got up to sing a couple of numbers. It was a fine time for all!

I have been busy enjoying myself, haven’t even written up my own personal Fringe diary, nevermind any blog posts, and I used to be so diligent with my diary. Mind, my two favourite spots to write it got kinda spoilt and then closed for renovation (most likely destroying any ambiance that Teviot had). I haven’t found anywhere else that feels right, yes, I’m fussy, I’ll know the place when I’m in it, okay?! Tomorrow morning isn’t forecast as good and my first show isn’t until early afternoon, so I’ll write more then, promise. For now, the antipodeans….

After not the best start to last year’s Fringe, this year I choose two definitely brilliant shows to buck me up. First off Laser Kiwi – Everybody Knows, I’ve seen Laser Kiwi’s previous two Fringe shows, they have incredible acrobatic skills along with a wonderfully playful, surreal, mischievously deadpan sense of humour. They’re back in the Assembly George Square Gardens in Piccolo, where I saw them for the first time, it’s a venue that really suits them with it’s tinge of other worldly charm (well, that’s how I feel it). Everyone Knows has so much to delight and amaze it’s audience; the bicycle bit was nail-biting stuff, Imogen’s acrobatics are incredible, the charades sketch was howlingly funny, and remember “gotcha nose” as a little kid? (oh, I loved the gotcha nose bit 💛). Loved it all, walked out with the biggest grin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Hmm, turns out this is the third year in a row that I’ve been to John Robertson’s The Dark Room on the first night of Fringe previews, a fine tradition to continue, methinks (well, for as long as he brings it back, but it’s such a success and Robertson clearly enjoys doing it, I don’t see it disappearing off). Most of the audience are returning fans, looking forward to the games ahead. Robertson plays dungeon master with such manic, shouty glee, how does his voice hold out for almost a month? He is magnificent, holding court, yelling, “Ya die, ya die, ya die!” at some poor Darren. Yup, I’ll be back next year ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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!

Mobsters, movies and music

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Did you watch Boardwalk Empire when it was on the telly? I didn’t, hey, I’m just fifteen years late. One of the many charity shops on South Clerk Street had the first two seasons on dvd for £2 each, hell yes! Steve Buscemi was the man! The first thing I saw him in was the film Miller’s Crossing, another mobster tale, back in 1990 (well worth seeking out if it’s still available). From then on he was forever popping up in my film choices through the ’90s, we’d give a little cheer whenever he appeared, haha.

The whole cast of Boardwalk Empire are excellent (Stephen Graham pops up as Al Capone!). Oo, the whole thing, the attention to detail, mind it is a Martin Scorcese project, so yeah. Honestly, if you even vaguely enjoy gangster stories then check it out; I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of the series. I’ve also been watching the second season of My Name is Earl, I noticed the boxset at a friend’s in a pile bound for a charity shop, it will get there, just a bit later.

Earl Hickey, such a wonderful anti-hero, he’s fallible and flawed, not the brightest spark, he can be downright selfish and mean, but he tries so hard to do good and there is a kind, generous heart in there, and he loves his brother. Earl’s trying to level up his karma by doing right by everyone he’s wronged in his past; I loved this show at the time and yeah, I still love it now (especially his ex-wife Joy, pure trailer trash). And on anti-heroes, I picked up Wreck-it Ralph in a charity shop today, such a great movie, must get me some popcorn!

Meanwhile on the big screen, I went to see Death of a Unicorn last Thursday, just the title had me. A comedy horror with unicorns, Paul Rudd and the guy who played Victor Zsasz in Gotham in the cast? Yes, please (Victor Zsasz was awesome). Hmmm, I did kinda enjoy it, the unicorns were great, but the dialogue and acting felt a tad hammy and lame in parts, such a shame considering all the acting talent involved. The idea was great but the execution was lacking, this should have been so much better; maybe a European re-make could take it there?!

Thursday night this week I saw Novocaine, I’m not really sure what enticed me to go, the film poster looked really naff to me, but hey, I have my Unlimited pass. Wow! To paraphrase Bo Diddley, you can’t judge a film by looking at the poster. Novocaine is funny, well-crafted and extremely violent, I won’t lie, I was flinching and squirming a fair bit, and occasionally just shut my eyes. Hey, the main guy doesn’t feel pain, a clear indication that the violence will be ramped up!

As I just mentioned, our guy Nathan Caine is a mild-mannered assistant manager with a disorder which prevents him from feeling pain and discomfort (including having a full bladder, he has an alarm go off on his phone to remind him to go to the bathroom every three hours). He lives life very carefully and quietly, by day in the credit union office, then straight home to game; he’s also well-versed in medical first aid in case of injury. Enter a new girl at work who persuades him out to lunch and to even try a bit of her cherry pie (Nathan hasn’t eaten solid food in years for fear he might bite his tongue without realising). Our boy feels so alive! They go on a date, have sex, he’s on top of the world! The very next day the credit union gets robbed and she gets kidnapped by the gang….

…. So, a man who doesn’t feel pain, who has just had the best 24 hours in his life, has his new love snatched away by ruthless killers (they kill a lot of cops while making their escape). You just know how this is going to go!! Oh, and one of the gang has left his place booby-trapped to the max (not really sure why, but it sets up a very painful, gory scene). This is a wonderfully madcap violent film, I fully intend to see it again, without shutting my eyes!

The past two Thursdays have also seen me at Whistlebinkies for the midnight band, the same both weeks, the Louis Crosland Trio, he’s rather good, you know. Louis is another fine blues guitarist on the Edinburgh music scene. Besides his own band, Louis has also been playing with the Moanin’ Bones recently; a few of his own compositions can be found on Spotify. The crowd in Binkies last night were loving all the Jimi Hendrix covers, I also recall some Dylan, Stones, and Zeppelin (or maybe that was last week?) As yet I find his vocals a bit lacking at times, but hey, the voice will come with experience and a few more years knocking about; definitely worth seeing if you like your blues with a tinge of rock.

It’s now very late and I notice I’ve prattled on quite enough. I shall leave the other musical notes for next time, hopefully tomorrow?! ‘Til then, a pic of Louis Crosland doing his thang in Binkies. G’night!