Station East

He, himself and other class musicians

bruceonthefringe 2026, Bands, Carl Marah Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

And so the Magnificent Marah continued his tour to spread the word of his new EP Me, Myself and I with a return visit to Gateshead and the Station East, before a home crowd in the Voodoo Rooms. The EP is out on streaming platforms now, so if you haven’t already, go check it out, that’s Carl Marah, for those not paying attention. Oh, it’s magnificent!! A thing of beauty, charm, wistfulness, I could go on. It was released into the ether Friday 5th June, the same day that Mr Marah played Gateshead, but this time with the band, ooo.

I’d pondered on going down, it’s a great pub with a good range of beer and real ciders, and there’s the pie fridge at the end of the bar too. Of course, last time it was a long lazy Sunday afternoon session, okay for getting back up afterwards, I’d maybe have to book a room this time. Could I justify it when I’d be seeing him five days later at the Voodoo Rooms? Well, no harm just checking the train times…. hallelujah, the last train up is much later than it used to be, yay. A nice cheap Lumo train at 11.10, sweet, the return ticket came in at just under twenty five quid!

What a gorgeous afternoon and lucky me, my seat was on the left-hand side of the train so I could enjoy the coast views (they really are something to watch out for if you ever travel up to Edinburgh on the east coast line). Once in Newcastle I had a wander round before crossing over the bridge to Gateshead and the Station East. Again, what a smashing pub, lovely barstaff, a hug from AJ.Potter, the locals are a friendly bunch so plenty of chat, the early evening sun kinda delayed the start of the gig I think (you know when it’s still too warm to realise that time is passing). AJ. Potter kicked things off again with his delightfully honest folkish (his word and I agree) songs. An excellent entree before a main course of Marah!

Anyone that saw clips of Carl the last time he played the Station East may be wondering where the band would fit, that’s a tiny space by the staircase! Aha, go left at the bar and there’s a dark, high arched room (possibly part of an old railway arch?), almost a bit spooky but a good space for gigs, and this was a good gig, indeed. An hour and a half of sheer joy and bliss, good humour with an occasional touch of bittersweet, a warm fuzzy hug of an evening; just how it is watching Carl perform any time, but maxed up with the added band elements; then, of course, five days later in Edinburgh there was keyboards too, oh, my heartses!

For keyboards Carl has called on his old Buccaneering pal, Luke Cunningham, of course he would, the guy’s brilliant; and as it happens, in a band with Gavin Lamont and Simon Toner. Sekoya is a contemporary jazz collective, formed as a project for the three, usually sidemen, to develop their own sound together. A great stroke of fortuosity for Carl to get all three to back him?! To have two of them with him in London and Gateshead was awesome, but all three at the Voodoo Rooms was epic. The shades, the sounds almost like textures you could feel, well, okay, that might just be the effect on me, honestly, it was glorious.

The setlist was the same order but with more songs as time allowed. Cat’s Eyes seems to get longer every time they play it, no bad thing; yeah, I must go to the Inverness gig at the end of July, it’ll be well over fifteen minutes by then, haha. Carl gave the rest of the band a wee break when he played a new song solo on his acoustic guitar, he said new, I’ve heard Day By Day a few times now, but yeah, new. The VR gig also had the brilliant Don’t Wanna Love You No More as the encore, wowzah, what a way to round off the night.

I’ll sign off now as the Moanin’ Bones will have started at Stramash, but I’ll just mention that Carl will be in Glasgow at McChuills on the 8th July, just saying. Toodle pip!

Sounds and visions and pies

bruceonthefringe 2025, Carl Marah, Edinburgh bands, Live music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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!

Yeah, I like me some live music

bruceonthefringe 2025, Bands, Edinburgh music scene, Live music venues Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Saturday evening, six o’clock and it’s already almost dark, bah. I’ll be heading out soon, the Louis Crosland Trio are on at Stramash at seven, but there’s just enough time to catch you up, well, it’s been such a great week music wise.

Wednesday evening I was in need of a pick-me-up, a quick scroll found one in the form of Jed Potts at The Jazz Bar early evening. One leisurely half and a set of Potts and I was restored! There were plenty of people in, well, all the tables had folk at them, oh, I was fine standing (swaying along) at the back, but I was also ready to swoop in when a couple left.

Thursday evening I trundled down to Leith Arches where Messrs Marah and Rough, in LC mode, were supporting Native Sun over from New York on tour. There were two more bands playing but I missed the first and just caught part of the second, they were quite psychedelic, not bad, music for an indie movie soundtrack. Hey, I was there to see Logan’s Close and the boys did not disappoint!

Babe Station started the set in style, so lush; for me, one of their best, the intertwining vocals towards the end send me every time. The newish Costume Changes was next up, a moody tune, with flits of foreboding and melancholy. After Hot Blondes we were treated to a brand new tune, they didn’t mention it’s name, so I’m calling it Giddy Up until I hear otherwise. Half and Half had a notch more echo on Scott’s vocals, oh wow, and combined with Carl’s Gretsch, chillingly atmospheric (I’m thinking an Edgar Wright film soundtrack).

Gouching On The 33 had the crowd singing and swaying along, and on into Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi too; that was meant to be the final song but of course, the crowd called out for more and from the way the guys were debating, they hadn’t planned for another, they asked for suggestions, oh my heartses, we got Merry-Go-Round!! I’ve not heard a duo version before, I’ve wondered how they’d do the long instrumental part, I think they were still wondering about that too, haha. I reckon the acoustic version should just wander off on its own track there, do it’s own thing, it’s such a different creature to the studio showpiece. Whatever, I do hope it’ll start appearing on Scat Rats set lists.

After that, the headliners Native Sun were good, but honestly, the evening had already peaked for me, I did enjoy them, the lead singer sure has it. I would see them again, if they’re ever back in Edinburgh.

That’s how far I got writing (and rewriting) bits of this on Friday and Saturday early evenings; the hour between six and seven is much shorter than any other hour of the day! Hence, on Friday evening the Scat Rats first set was nearing it’s end by the time I strolled into Stramash. So I was a little freaked to realise that yes, once again, it was that spell of summoning, Babe Station being played! Scotty clocked me and looked equally bemused. As Stu from Logan’s Close was in, Hot Blondes had extra harmonies, yay (like they’d have let the opportunity go to waste!).

It was back to Stramash, the back of seven, on Saturday for the Louis Crosland Trio, yes, this time they were playing! But only as mentioned on Instagram at the start of the week, the poster and website both showed Safehouse, who, incidentally, were the band that played instead of LC3 the previous Saturday (hmmm). Sorry, but it is a bugbear of mine, the poster, okay, but why not correct the website, huh?

And that’s been my week for music so far. So far – I’m tapping this out on a megabus heading to Newcastle. Turns out that pub that Carl Marah is playing in at four this afternoon has a fine selection of real ales and decent ciders! It’s Station East just over the bridge in Gateshead. Well, why not? It’s actually my first time on a megabus, not only is it cheap, the views from the top deck, travelling down the coast have been excellent!

Next week is not nearly as good as this has been. On the other hand, the week after does have Mr Marah doing his thing in the Voodoo Rooms, with a full band too! You really should go if you’re in Edinburgh, really.

Toodle pip!