Whistlebinkies

Gimme some Ol’Times rock’n’roll

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

They came, they rocked, they conquered, and now they’re about to storm down across England, Newcastle first. Ol’ Times gave Binkies another night never to be forgotten, talk about the passion, baby! Going on for three hours, until half past midnight – I had no prior knowledge of the extended time slot, so it came as a most excellent surprise!

The place was buzzing in anticipation, busy with folk trying to grab a good space to seeing the band, when in walked three beanpoles, skinny but wide-shouldered, they hovered about at the back looking around. They seemed harmless enough, but just a look between myself and the chap I was chatting to, we both already knew where they’d decide to stand, and indeed, just six foot from the stage!! Yes, I’ve ranted about this before, but jeez, come on! They stood like a mini mountain range with peaks around 6’6″, the folks immediately behind had no chance of seeing anything. And breathe.

I had my eye on a good side spot which I sidled into once the band were onstage doing the soundcheck. I had a fresh pint of Stewart’s Harlequin (another good brew from them), I was ready. First song, Ol’ Times started with a bang, All The Way To The Top written just 28 days previous (I know this because Kai, the drummer, mentions it before he gets the crowd chanting). Straight into the classic Walking The Dog, sung by one of the guitarists Colm, how to keep the temperature rising!

It was during the first set that I noticed Gabriele’s voice reminding me of Marc Bolan, there was one song in particular where I really heard it. He is a brilliant frontman and whilst I’ve likened his singing to others, Gabriele has a unique voice with a mischievous edge that immediately entranced me from the first time I heard it.

The band were obviously enjoying themselves, having a blast, as much as the crowd were. We got sleazy rock, funky beats, rolling jams; all delivered with easy, laidback confidence and irresistible charm. Think Bad Company but take out all the so-seriousness and angstiness and add some of the nonchalance of early AC/DC aussie boogie woogie (the start of Give It To Me is so this).

The second set included a real blast from the past for me, Come On In My Kitchen, apparently they used to play it regularly but hadn’t for about a year until that afternoon when they were busking. As it was back in their consciousness, the band picked it up and made a tasty bluesy jam with it. I’ve since dug out The Joker by The Steve Miller Band from my record collection (side 2 track 3), well, I had to give it a spin! It’s the only other time I’ve heard it, used to love howling along with it (check it out, you’ll get why). Apparently it’s an old Robert Johnson song; that’s my one thing learnt today!

The jams got longer in the second set, Gabriele just put words to them on the spot, a true showman, and as is traditional there was a drum solo, two words that used to strike fear and boredom into many hearts, but, I dunno, have the new generations of drummers figured out something the previous didn’t? I enjoy them now, and Kai doing that thing (as the band call it), oh my, ’tis a fine thing to behold. The crowd vibed along with the grooves, I don’t think anyone wanted the music to end, if Whistlebinkies had a beating heart it would’ve been stolen by Ol’ Times last Friday night.

Tonight Ol’ Times are in Geordieland, that’ll definitely be one mighty fine time for all. One word of advice to anyone planning to see Ol’ Times as they head south, take a pen so you can get the guys to sign their CD (you’ll be wanting to buy one be the end of the gig!) as they probably won’t have remembered to have pens with them. These guys are definitely gonna be big so catch them now if you can!

I’ll leave you with shots from Friday night in Binkies, no, I didn’t manage to get a clear pic of the bassist, sorry!

from top left clockwise, Gabriele, Manuel, Colm and Kai

When in Rome….

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Or an Irish bar in Glasgow late on a Thursday night, not somewhere anyone would expect to find this moose, drinking Magners cider too! Well, I’ve never been a fan of guinness and, being totally out of my element Irish cider seemed logical (no, you will never see me drinking the stuff anywhere else).

Yes, I adventured West to see Ol’ Times, better there than Penicuik, which it turns out is not happening (shame) instead they’re back in Binkies tonight (yay). Do I mind that I went all that way for a second look when they’ll be back in Edinburgh? Don’t be daft! Not remotely. Saw a great gig, discovered a new place and a new band.

The place, Malone’s is rather nice. Tucked down a little lane, blink and you’ll miss it, the bar’s at street level with the music venue above it. Doorstaff direct folk into the bar before the gig starts and give a shout when the door opens. Upstairs is a fair size, very long and a tad narrow, but it works. Malone’s has a good ambience to it with great barstaff up and downstairs, I felt comfy and welcome. It’s only a short walk from Buchanan Street Bus Station, very handy indeed.

The new band was The Best Bad Influence were first on-stage, boy were they fun! A three piece rockabilly band, double bass, drums and the guitarist sang. There were standard classics and their own stuff, all played with style and swing and a grin. I did spot that one of their originals started by borrowing from a great old ZZ Top tune She Loves My Automobile a real blast from the past (from Degüello an awesome album from before Eliminator). It would be great to see them over in Edinburgh in Stramash or Whistlebinkies, they’d go down really well in both.

And on to the main event, Ol’ Times were mighty fine, just a shame there were some technical problems, not that we, the audience noticed them but a brief chat afterwards revealed an unhappy bunny (hey, being fussy about quality is no bad thing), you’d never have known from his performance. If there was anything slightly down from their Binkies gig, I just assumed it from being in Glasgow rather than Edinburgh (just kidding!)

It was fun to be over West knowing the band would definitely put some Edinburgh mentions into their banter to bait the crowd. Whilst it was busy, it didn’t look to be as packed as Binkies, but the singing was louder I reckon (after a wee jibe!) The band wound up just after one but as Malone’s is open til much later plenty folk hung around, me included as the next bus wasn’t until two. No way was I leaving before the very end! Hey, I need to soak up every sweet morsel of sound to keep me going.

And on that note, I shall take myself on a wander to Waverley Bridge. Toodle pip!

Ol’ Times at Malone’s out West

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!

G’bye Ken, hi babe

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What a day! A new single from Logan’s Close and a sad farewell to Ken Bruce on Radio 2. Old Ken is going over to Greatest Hits Radio and he’s taking Pop Master with him, so good luck Radio 2 finding something to replace that ten thirty fix! I suspect a great many will be retuning their radios. Reading about the move, Ken will be playing music from the 70s, 80s and 90s on his new show which is fine but I think I would get a tad bored. I do like hearing newer stuff in the mix; different tastes and flavours enhancing the platter of sounds.

A neat segue to the juicy spiciness that is Logan’s Close! I can think of a number of LC tunes easily playable on a classic tunes radio show that would have folk wondering how they’d missed hearing it at the time! So many throwback sounds teasing misgotten memories. That evil joker of a friend could easily get you to remember that night, you know, that night, the brunette wearing The Who t-shirt, this was playing – god, yes, yes it was!

Just after midnight another succulent dish was added to the Spotify menu from those master chefs of musical morsels. I feel weird calling it new – I first heard it almost two years ago on the LimbicTV performance and for the last year it’s been a staple of The Scat Rats sets. The song? Babestation, a word that makes certain ears prick up, there’s always a few looks of acknowledgement every time and yes, the song is about what has sprung to those minds. Call me naive, I’d never heard of it, but Mr Marah’s words paint a very vivid picture for the uninitiated.

Babestation is inspired by a late night live adult tv channel, yup, porn. The song oozes with heavy sensuality and sleaze. Carl Marah always sounds beautifully plaintive singing this, but with added the studio production, oh my heartses, the hollow bleakness shattered me to pieces! I loved this song from the off, so was a teensy bit anxious how the studio version would sound, ha, no worries, the Close picked the right midwife to help deliver their baby – Dennis Rux at Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Studios (midwife or obstetrician? Hmmm).

Frisky rhythms from the bass and drums drive the song along, like keeping the babe upbeat to get through it all. Plenty sparseness of guitars and keyboards, a musical nonchalance to the scene (Oo, just saw the lads as a seedy wedding band playing unnoticed in the corner of her room). The verses each build from an almost introspective view from the babe, to looking out at her audience, to the hard coldness of it all, then Showtime, folks! I like the drop downs to quieter moments and the usual slight creepiness to the keyboards at times. The Scat Rats swirl Babestation down so well, but with the rest of LC added in, the result is intoxicating, love the hollow echoiness of Scott’s cries and the drum beat still jauntily going on.

Do check it out on Spotify and I’ve put a reel of The Scat Rats in Whistlebinkies on Instagram, enjoy. Now I must go eat, the Rats are due on at Stramash shortly. Toodle pip!

Messrs Marah and Rough blending

Rhythms, blues ‘n’ balls

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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

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 🧡