The Buccaneers

A little bit of bonkers!

bruceonthefringe 2025, Comedy, Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Late night shows, Sooo fringe, Stand-up comedy, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Today is the day that many Fringe shows with full runs take off, and it’s not bad at all out there. It is rather cloudy but the winds have abated down to breezes, and it’s a nice 20°ish. Pretty good for a scottish summer! I did a proper big shop earlier, think I’m still buoyed up from last night at the Jazz Bar. I had a grand time enjoying some quality blues and rock’n’roll from The Blueswater, always a blast! A little sad though, as it reminded me how much I miss seeing Nicole and the Back-up Crew and The Buccaneers playing in Stramash, ah well, times move on. But back to the present, and the near future, there’s just two more chances to catch The Blueswater this Fringe, that’s on Thursday 14th and Sunday 24th (see the Fringe out with a bang, why not?) at eleven o’clock in the Jazz Bar.

One chap who’s not resting up at all this Fringe is the lovely Alex Farrow (in fact in the absence of Mr Goatley, Alex may be the loveliest person on the Fringe now, hmmm, I’ll have to recalibrate). He’s back with a new show Alex Farrow: New Order, as well as his two usual, hosting Stand-up Philosophy and featuring in Stand-up Science; he’s also directing a play at the Pleasance Courtyard! Busy, busy! He did tell me it’s name when I ran into him last week, but no, it’s gone (there’ll probably be an edit here later!).

Oops, just popped out a while there! I noticed one of my post-it notes had a mention of a free Fringe show starting very shortly, so I legged it up to Carbon on the Cowgate to see God’s Longest, I didn’t actually remember anything about it, but I’d written it down, so I obviously wanted to see it. Ah ha, it’s Aidan Pittman and Hudson Hughes (Dr Dolittle Kills a Man) along with Anand Sankar and Alex Berr doing improv, very surreal improv; this is improv that runs down rabbit holes with manic glee. They’re all very funny and watching them bouncing off each other, wow, pure joy, the situations and characters they conjured up were brilliantly bonkers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

And on bonkers, (hmm, does that need re-wording?! nope, it stays) I tootled along to see Will & Noah: Too Much Time on Their Phones at the Underbelly, Bristo Square. Oh, they had me at the opening sketch of skimming stones; as someone who cannot pass by any stretch of water without looking down to find a flat stone, this was hilarious (and please can I borrow that sound effect to make myself feel better about my own attempts?). Will BF has a silly streak a mile long, and sharing a stage with Noah Geelan, well, the pair take silly to new levels, I would give the finding things on the floor of a nightclub sketch as prime evidence, it went there and beyond! Audience participation is plentiful and the day I went the audience were very game. The Where’s Wally sketch was an absolute hoot; and when they started on the final furlong, it was like a mad dash of the callbacks to reach the finish line. Just bonkers! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Toodle pip!

If music be the food of love I’m besotted

bruceonthefringe 2024, Bands, Live bands in Edinburgh, Logan's Close, Venues Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s Good Friday tomorrow, well, it’ll be good if it doesn’t rain again!! It’s been a very soggy week here in Edinburgh with only short bursts of sunshine to tease us. Sunday is egg-rolling day, but just how far will they roll on the sodden ground? Or maybe more eggs will make it to the bottom without being smashed to smithereens? I shall report back on Monday, okay, maybe sometime later depending on the weather.

It’s been a quiet few weeks on the music front – I was away again and managed to miss my favourite dynamic duo not once, not twice but thrice! They’re playing Stramash on Sunday night but as it’s the graveyard set I’ll probably miss that too. Oo, but it will be a good Friday evening, Jed Potts and Nicole Smit (my second favourite duo) are playing Whistlebinkies at seven, sweet, haven’t seen them there in ages! And according to Binkies website Jed and Nicole will also be back there in a couple of weeks (so it says).

I’ll catch The Scat Rats next Thursday (4th April) at Stramash but only for one set, a pre-gig warm-up before I pop round to the Mash House to see Ol’Times. Yes, the boys from Galway will be back in town! Hallelujah! I’m looking forward to that big time. Hmm, is there something in the air? Two more long-time-no-sees within the following week! Nicole and the Back-up Crew and The Buccaneers are back in Stramash and at reasonable times (am I getting old?!).

It’s all go in April on Sunday evenings too; there’ll be the usual Handsome House Jam on the 7th, but l may save heading out til later for the Harry Higgs Trio in Binkies as I rather enjoyed them last month (rock with a twist of blues and a dash of funky jazz). Yay, The Scat Rats are back in Stramash the next two Sundays in April. Yup, living in the Old Town part of Edinburgh really does have it’s advantages, times like these I feel quite spoilt.

It’s still up in the air about Bremen on the 30th. What do you mean, huh? Go back and read my last post! Missing seeing Logan’s Close at the Heartbreak Hotel in Bremen wouldn’t be too much of a disappointment as I’ll have already seen them twice in April. Oh hell, yeah!! Saturday 13th sees the lads back home in Dunbar for a rare acoustic performance, oh my heartses! That is gonna so amazing. Here’s hoping for good weather so I can make a full daytrip of it.

And there’s more! On April 23rd Logan’s Close head over West to play McChuills in Glasgow, of course I’m bloody going! Then with their sweet sounds still swirling round my head I’ll leave Ol’Blighty for Österreich, before catching up with them again seven or eight days later in Bremen or Berlin. It’s all a tad exciting!

In the meantime do have a happy Easter!

Notes from my calendar

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

It’s Friday the 13th, which means it’s only seven days until the album packed with the juiciest of toons, Heart-shaped Jacuzzi is released into the world. Oh yay! Interestingly I’ve spotted that the single of the title track was released digitally on the 21st October last year, hmmm, I wonder if that’s deliberate symmetry? And there’s not just a new album from Logan’s Close (available on digital, CD and vinyl), oh no, there’s a limited run of a special lathe cut vinyl single with Heart-shaped Jacuzzi on one side and Hot Blondes In Your Area Tonight on the other!! Plenty other new merch on their website, check it out!

So far I’ve got through today without anything bad happening, in fact it’s been a rather fine day (touch wood). As soon as I’ve done this I’m popping out to Stramash to catch Duke Duncan and the Hurricanes. Indeed, this next week is a great run-up to Friday, tomorrow there’s Jed Potts & Nicole Smit in Whistlebinkies at two, then The Breeze at seven. Monday evening Jed and Nicole are at Stramash with the rest of the Back-up Crew. Tuesday The Scat Rats are at Whistlebinkies (true this time), followed by the early evening slot at Stramash on Thursday. So, that’s a Marah triple in the next week, yay.

I’m not impressed about next Sunday evening though (22th) as The Buccaneers are playing Stramash at the same time as Jed Potts & the Hillman Hunters play Binkies, bah. Mind, there’s always a chance the Binkies listing is wrong, haha. Moanin’ Bones are back on the scene now that main man Chris Buckley has returned to Edinburgh, I’m looking forward to seeing them again later this month.

And with that I shall bid you adieu, I shall away to Stramash for a pint of Stewart’s and some fine rhythm’n’blues. Toodle pip!

I got hugs today, yay

bruceonthefringe 2023, Edinburgh Fringe 2023, Music in Edinburgh, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Well, this has been a marvellous day so far, and in a bit I’ll be heading up to Stramash for The Buccaneers, yay. I was there last night for The Scat Rats and Mr Marah will be back there again Friday night at ten o’clock on Hurricane duty. Very exciting though, is tomorrow evening in Stramash as the Ol’Times are back in town for a few days!! Needless to say, I’ll be in there for seven, and the following evening the same time in Whistlebinkies and finally Binkies midnight on Saturday (you’ve gotta get it while you can).

This afternoon I bumped into two of the loveliest people on the Fringe, both of whom I had no idea were coming to Edinburgh this year until about 24 hours ago, and both called Aidan! First up Aidan Sadler looking fabulous as ever, flyering a last minute organised show at theSpace on the Mile. Then blow me, just a minute later, only Aidan Goatley! Back up, back on the Free Fringe with that brilliant show 10 Films With My Dad this time it’s the Director’s Cut! One of my favourite all-time Fringe shows, yes it’s that good, well, he is the loveliest man on the Fringe.

And on the subject of great shows, I don’t think I’ve mentioned how brilliant Laser Kiwi: Rise of the Olive is, bloody brilliant! Their acrobatic skills combined with spot-on comic timing make for a thrillingly hilarious show. You’ll never see Jenga played like this anywhere else! ☆☆☆☆☆

Bishops at Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose is another cracking show, Chris and Noah have very strange minds, indeed, but they sure know how to subvert expectations. Honestly, they had me half gasping, half laughing at some of their sketch endings. Oh, and I bet I wasn’t the only one to google a certain fruit after I’d left! ☆☆☆☆½

Time for some buccaneering, me hearties! Toodle pip!

Bands with occasional overlaps

bruceonthefringe 2023, Cinema, Edinburgh bands, Pubs, Uncategorized, Venues Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Today is the last day of June, it’s raining but still warm (for Edinburgh, that is); I’m often surprised how warm it is when I step outside, the moose cave is always fairly cool (in all ways, daddio). Was mid-June the best of this year’s Scottish summer? Don’t laugh, it might be! We could be in for a wet, miserable August – mind, at least Edinburgh doesn’t have midgy problems like plenty of Scotland (always look on the bright side, eh). It has been good being out late night without feeling chill. Oh, I did go along to The Jazz Bar to see Duke Duncan & the Hurricanes last Saturday, walking home going on three in the morning was rather lovely.

On my way there I glanced in the window of B Bar and noticed Nicole Smit with a couple of her Back-up Crew (Simon on drums and Ewan, this time on guitar), as I had plenty of time to hand I popped in. Not really my style (it’s quite a cocktaily place) but nice enough, the bartender was cheery, for a late Saturday night it seemed fairly quiet. Once in The Jazz Bar I noticed there were more hurricanes this time, a female backing singer and a saxophonist had blown in. Whilst I enjoyed the full band experience, I reckon I prefer the version at Binkies (harder and more intense?), yeah, sans sax for me; the backing vocals were very good (great voice), a different feel again, hmmm.

I was at the cinema last night til late, popped into Whistlebinkies on my way home as Willie Dug was playing, along with two musicians I haven’t seen before (at least I don’t reckon so) – as long as the name written up let’s you know what to expect, I guess. It was fine, but no Cosmic Gents outing. I left before the end of the first set because down the road at Stramash it was time for The Buccaneers to be taking to the stage (indeed, they just started their first number as I paid for my pint of Stewart’s, perfect). No keyboards tonight, again, you never can tell who’ll actually be up there, but hey, I love both versions equally with these dudes.

Stramash was heaving, plenty of students boisterously (or, drunkenly) dancing/colliding enjoying the music as much as The Buccaneers looked to be enjoying playing it. Oh, that iconic lick on I Heard It Through The Grapevine so, so fine, and the sparseness without the keyboards shows off the tight rhythms on the drums and bass (yes, that would be Simon and Ewan again, from Saturday night). I think I grinned from ear to ear through the whole set, such an irresistible joie de vivre when these guys are playing. Black Magic Woman finished the set in style, I finished my pint and popped back to Binkies, caught the rest of Willie Dug before home. No, I was too tired to stay up any later, hey, it was going up to two!

Oh, the film? I went to see The Flash, I knew very little about the film and even less about the character, apart from snippets in The Big Bang Theory. I actually quite enjoyed it, for a DC movie it had some humour to it! Okay, so the timelines thing was a bit, huh, but seeing all the various Batmans was fun. The Flash is a long film but as it keeps up quite a pace throughout, I didn’t really notice the time; if you go to the cinema to see it just be sure to go to the bathroom beforehand!

Must go and make something to eat, I’m Hank Marvin. After that, Fringey stuff – yes, I have tickets! More later……

Not your average Sunday evening

bruceonthefringe 2023, Bands, Edinburgh bands, Live bands in Edinburgh Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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?!

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!

Rhythms, blues ‘n’ balls

bruceonthefringe 2023, Edinburgh, Live bands, Music in Edinburgh, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The end of another Six Nations Rugby weekend, the end of Scotland’s winning streak. If only they’d bucked up sooner in the second half, for a short time there it looked like they could possibly catch up, but no. Ah well, at least England beat Wales, not a consolation to my Scottish friends but I’m happy with that. Ireland beating Italy was pretty much presumed, at least Italy had a valiant try. They face Wales in the next round, mind, the Welsh won’t want to lose yet again!

No Six Nations next weekend but plenty of good music, on Friday 3rd there’s The Scat Rats in the seven o’clock (or half past six, or going on for eight o’clock) slot and The Moanin Bones in the after midnight slot at Stramash. Also, if my memory is correct I’m sure Logan’s Close mentioned on Instagram that the new single is available to play on the 3rd, alas it was on their storyline so gone now, I could have dreamt it!

Saturday 4th sees Nicole and the Back-up Crew in the ten o’clock slot at Stramash, yay. I had the pleasure of catching Nicole and Jed Potts playing an awesome second set at Whistlebinkies Tuesday gone. I was quite annoyed with myself for turning up so late – what delights did I miss? They really were on excellent form, riding on a country vibe for much of the set, yes, I should have just left the washing-up!

Actually, thinking about it, the line-up for last Tuesday at Whistlebinkies was very confused, the Edinburgh Gig Guide, Binkies own website and Facebook posts were all saying different things, Jed Potts was also publicising a time which was right by one account but wrong with another! Ah ha, yes, it hard to tell what was happening up until quite late on. So far in March Whistlebinkies have The Scat Rats playing twice, I may check that with Mr Marah closer to the dates.

The second weekend in March (the next round of the Six Nations Rugby) has a Carl Marah double on the Sunday night in Stramash with The Scat Rats at seven and The Buccaneers after midnight. Also, the later bands listed for Whistlebinkies look interesting – a possibility for some of the time between nine and half past midnight.

I’ll not see the Saturday matches but I may catch the second half of Scotland v Ireland on the Sunday afternoon if I’m back in time. I’m off on a wee jaunt! No, not to the mother ship, I’ll be heading there the following weekend for Mothering Sunday, but it is down to Yorkshireland (and lots of real cider, oh yay!)

Oh, that rant I mentioned last post has subsided to a grumble, I’ll tell you about it next time. For now I’ll leave you with a couple of pics taken in Dr Neil’s Garden this week. Toodle pip!

Cherry pink……
…. and apple blossom white

An unexpected treat

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

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

It’s bin a rubbish week

bruceonthefringe 2023, Edinburgh bands, Music in Edinburgh Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Can we rewind back to the 2nd, please? The last morning when I woke up feeling good – what a waste this last week has been! If I could just go back to waking up on the 3rd and find myself gotten over the lurgy while I slept (this can happen, I’ve really felt bad in an evening, all the signs flashing red, then managed a sound sleep and woken feeling fine). I could have gone to see Potts & Smit that evening and been fine for a midnight rendezvous with a couple of Rats the following night. Oh, and The Buccaneers late night at The Jazz Bar, missed that too!

So much for a happy new year! The Scat Rats are playing the midnight set at Whistlebinkies again tonight, not a chance of me going, so not happy. It’s one thing to be ill, everyone gets ill, but I prefer to be ill when I won’t be missing good music. Oh yeah, I did catch some of the Handsome House Jam on Sunday 1st at Stramash – that was good. It was one Gus Munro with the band, I haven’t seen him before, but on checking a previous jam I decided to pop along.

It’s coming back why I missed the first set, His Dark Materials was on the telly and I kinda got caught up in it. If I’d known I was about to be laid low for a week! I have watched both sets since, but it’s not really the same watching on a small screen rather than in Stramash with the atmos and a drink in hand. The Handsome House Jams are filmed and can be seen on Facebook, there’s quite a collection on there (including Carl Marah twice). If you’re ever going to be in Edinburgh on the first or last Sunday of any month the HHJ vids will give you a good indication of what you’ll get in Stramash.

Well, I guess I should to my bed seeing as I’m not trotting up to Binkies. G’night!