Dusk yesterday found me at Powderhouse Corner in Holyrood Park with Lady Evil blasting in my ears. What’s that? Lady Evil from Black Sabbath’s first album with Ronnie James Dio singing. Why? I’d been in Fopp on Rose Street earlier and as I moseyed around I started wondering what I was singing along to, I seemed to know all the words, Rainbow, perhaps? No, then it dawned, omg, it was Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, god knows when I last heard it! There was a time when I loved that album, it was one that I used to “borrow” from my older brother (he had no idea and to keep it that way I handled his records very carefully). He like many others had bought it but then hardly played it because “it wasn’t real Sabbath without Ozzy” it just wasn’t right.

Just listening to it by my young self, outside of the rock fraternity, I had no idea how it had fractured the fans. I remember later on confusing folk by liking that but nothing by Dio (it was much later again before I finally appreciated the earlier albums with Ozzy). Hearing Heaven and Hell again wandering round Fopp was amazing, I remembered why I loved it so much, I would have bought it but at £15 for the CD, no, I’ll have a ganders in some second-hand record shops for it, meanwhile there’s Spotify. And that’s why I was listening to it when I went up into the Park to take some photos. When the last track started I suddenly remembered that was the one that really caught my attention, Lonely Is The Word, bloody brilliant it is. I never did care for anything else Dio did, or much of Ozzy’s own stuff, they don’t move me.

The Moanin Bones didn’t move me on Hallowe’en – they weren’t there to! I heard that apparently someone was still on holiday, well, I hope he’s back as they’re meant to be playing Whistlebinkies this evening. Oh, it’s been posted on Facebook today so there’s a good chance! The post also said Jed Potts & The Hillman Hunters are on at 21:30, yay, twice in one week! Yes, I got me a ticket for the Leith Dockers Club show, definitely was worth going, though an odd venue for them (mind, being a club bar, the drinks were cheap). The band were on fine form, playing some from the new album, some old and some to just mess around with, mighty fineness!

Such a good evening couldn’t end yet, so I headed up to Stramash to catch the Scat Rats second set. They’re playing the midnight slot at Binkies on Sunday but I doubt I’ll be there. I did see them at Hallowe’en as they were pulled in late on to play the seven o’clock set at Stramash, so at least it wasn’t all disappointment that night, and I got to see Carl Marah two nights in a row. On the Sunday evening he was playing with the Handsome House Band being very bluesy (and rather excellent too), I haven’t yet but I’ll put a clip of something up on Instagram.

Stramash really went to town with their Hallowe’en decorations, they looked brilliant, folk with severe arachnophobia would have had a few problems! The bar staff dressed for the occasion too, one guy accessorising with a blow-up chainsaw (first time I’ve seen one of those). Tonight is Bonfire Night here in the UK, I can already hear fireworks exploding in the distance. Ah, for the long-gone years of the village bonfire, firing rockets across the valley out of milk bottles stuck in the ground, Catherine wheels that rarely spun round as well as they should, treacle toffee and parkin.

Its almost time to trot up to Whistlebinkies, best eat first. Toodle pip!