George Glen

What a great occasion to be part of the twice postponed SITC all choirs show we have all been preparing for up to 3 years! A privilege to play on such a big stage at such a famous venue with a great band and 350 enthusiastic and well coached singers who performed beautifully for us all. What a great laugh too, everyone excited but enjoying the whole unique experience.

Also great to meet and hear the wonderful Kirsten Adamson singing one of her own lovely songs then a gorgeous rendition of her late father Stuart’s famous Big Country song ‘In A Big Country’ accompanied by the Aw Blacks choir … unforgettable.

This was the only night I could make of this great 2 weeks festival at the temporarily made music venue at the old Royal High school. An amazing building and a great effort turning it into a magical home for so much music, dance and also art exhibitions. Met up with Andy and Jude and wandered around. Stumbled across the very special Imogen Stirling in a downstairs basement performing spoken poetry from her book ‘Love The Sinner’. Very impressive and not surprised since I saw her last year. Watch out for her! 

Wandered along to the stunning Central Chamber to see the end of So Long And Slender dance performance. Very impressed, great ideas and visuals. The into the Indoor Music Stage to catch some of Flo Perlin … nice but not wowed. Then out to the main outdoor stage for a bit of Dana Gavanski, again nice but not wowed.  

Eventually got in to the indoor stage to see the band I was most looking forward to, Penelope Isles. Loved them since just before Covid and was impressed by their new songs and band members joining Lily and Jack. Superb. Caught another wee bit outside of headliner This Is The Kit. Favourites of Andy and Jude and though I agree Kate Stables is great … not my cup of tea. 

But The Joy Hotel are exactly my cup of tea and rounded off the night in fine style for me with a rousing set back indoors. A really great band with 7 members full of good ideas and energy. Love them and will see again soon.

Attended by George, Andy & Jude

To cut a long story short, I booked to see Jon Spencer from USA only because my drumming hero Janet Weiss from Skeater-Kinney was in his band with Sam Coombes. Sam and Janet have a great two piece band Quasi who were going to play support. Magic, always wanted to see them. Shortly before their UK tour started it was announced that Quasi would not be supporting. Bummer. Oh well still see them in Jon’s band ‘The Hitmakers’.  Arrived at Broadcast … left handed drum-kit on stage … no Janet, obviously missing the whole European tour. Dammit! Janet! Gutted. 

Putting my disappointment aside, I decided to stay and first enjoyed a spirited support set from Glasgow’s own Ellis Hurley from Pandas with Pandas guitarist Oran McBride. Great stuff. Will have to watch out for them.

I’d heard a lot about Jon before and he delivered exactly the kind of garagey rock-n-roll intensity I expected, ably supported by Sam and the others. But though I enjoyed it ok, I thought it was all a bit samey even though an enthusiastic packed crowd loved it.

Attended by George

Always try to catch the rare Valves gigs, especially after covid layoff, so really enjoyed this one at The Wee Red Bar again. Great to hear the old, old tunes again and meet some old, old friends again !

Attended by George & Jan

Bought tickets immediately on sale knowing Wet Leg were just about to blow up massively and amazingly they stayed with the Mash House when they surely could have sold out a much bigger venue. And the small club environment was just perfect to experience the band at their joyous best. They are currently riding this ginormous wave of love and hype. The grind of touring and soaring profile might well change them but at the moment they seem to be still having a blast on stage. I’m sure they can’t believe the amazing reception they are getting but tonight was just a massive celebration with a party atmosphere and killer tunes.

They only have so many tunes from their short career, but more than enough from their great debut album ‘Wet Leg’ … deceptively simple but catchy songs with hooky riffs and clever, knowing lyrics. Intelligent, imaginative, irreverent. So much smiling … in the crowd and on the stage … infectious and a ton of fun. Rhian and Hester are just superstars with amazing rapport, stage presence and no little skills. Brilliant show all round, made a lot of people very happy. Magic. What next for Wet Leg? Will be fun to watch.

Attended by George, Andy and Douglas

I’ve been captivated by the mesmerising Celtic Harp playing of Maeve since hearing first then seeing her playing at two amazing concerts with Arooj Aftab. The fact she is from Edinburgh and had composed a special piece for the Edinburgh International Harp Festival … I just had to go.

And what a special occasion and performance to close the festival with ’Sharmanka Suite (Death And The Polar Bear)’. Just stunningly beautiful music, led by Maeve’s Harp but with brilliant and sensitive contributions from Su-a Lee (Cello), Fergus McCreadie (Harmonium), Aidan O’Rourke (Fiddle) and Ruth Nelson (Viola). All to a video backdrop of exhibits from the place that inspired the suite … The Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre in Glasgow. Must go there soon!

Attended by George