I wasn’t sure quite what to expect apart from dark, shouty noisiness … And I certainly got that in spades but with a lot more tune and groove too … Very good indeed!
Crowd surfing isn’t easy at Sneaky Pete’s but a few dedicated souls managed it. A relative riot for a Tuesday night. Well impressed all round!
8/11 Attended by George
I last saw Cara in Manchester in Nov last year. She has such a beautiful voice and this was a lovely show with her full band in such a great setting.
Seats were laid out as cabaret tables and we were right at the front, not more than 15ft from Cara. I couldn’t take many pics since I was too embarrassed with everyone looking at the back of my head! Great to also meet Robin, Andrew and partners, at the table right next to us. All us diehard Cara fans!
7/11 Attended by George & Karen
A year since we first saw NSAHB and they were too much fun to miss this time at the Voodoo Rooms. This was the smaller downstairs room though and by the time we got there it was packed. I’m sure they could have sold more tickets upstairs, and we might have had a better view!
More classic SAHB songs and stories and we were lucky to have the brilliant Ina adding extra spice to some songs with her special characters and artistic dancing. A really good band with pretty faithful renditions and charismatic front man, not Alex. Highly recommended!
7/11 Attended by George & Karen
Another new bands winner from Sneaky Pete’s! Just spotted PINS on the list and thought why not, which was a good decision on my part since they were very good, as were support band ‘Peace And Love Barbershop Muhammed Ali’! (PALBMA)
Both Manchester bands, PINS are generating a bit of a buzz and have been gigging non-stop this year. They are lively and enjoyable, a garagey guitar approach but with a Go-Gos like pop overtones. Songs could be more varied to make me happier, but they do what they do very well.
PALBMA are a band I’ll watch out for since they were really interesting with a retro, 70s, even glam style and a great sense of dynamics. Simple but powerful. Good stuff.
7.5/11 Attended by George
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pins/2015/the-deaf-institute-manchester-england-3f48d17.html
I’ve always quite liked Sufjan’s music rather than loved it … so was prepared to be underwhelmed … but no chance … he was superb! I was spellbound and really moved. Good job Sufjan!
The music for the majority of the performance came straight from his lastest album ‘Carrie & Lowell’ played in it’s entitety. His extensive and very talented backing band also made for some stunning arrangements away from his normal simple folky americana. The extended synthesizer led codas to some of the songs were as unexpected as they were breathtaking, especially the extra 7 or 8 minutes added to ‘Blue Bucket of Gold’. Spectacular.
A huge visual backdrop showing panoramic landscapes and occasional home movie scenes complemented the music brilliantly. The combination with the music was truly beautiful and to make that all work on such a grand scale in such a big hall was an amazing spectacle. The huge 3,000 strong crowd were just as mesmerised and rapt as I was!
9/11 Attended by George, Andy & Jude
http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/gig-review-sufjan-stevens-edinburgh-1-3873894
The idea of uniting Franz Ferdinand and Sparks was just so enticing a whole crowd of my friends ended up getting tickets. Sparks are such heroes to me and so many, including Franz Ferdinand. The combination works really well since both bands usually keep their tongues firmly in their cheeks and they kept it that way much to our delight. We all had a great time. Highly camp but highly enjoyable!
Being Part of the official Edinburgh Festival and being at The Festival Theatre made for an odd situation for a rock gig and a mixed, though mainly middle aged audience. The first few FFS songs got an enthusiastic if polite response. That was blown away when they played Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ when everybody got up dancing and stayed up going mad for the rest of the show!
FFS never let up from that point and it was a truly joyful occasion, the audience responding to the new FFS songs but going wild for the few revived Sparks and FF songs. ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’ was received with rapture and we nearly blew the roof off at the end. A privilege to see Ron and Russell Mael still at it and on top form. Will we see them here again? I sincerely hope so … And soon!
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ffs/2015/edinburgh-festival-theatre-edinburgh-scotland-7bf72e98.html
9/11 Attended by George, Karen, Jan, Andy, Jude, Douglas, Rick & Andy G !!!
http://www.wow247.co.uk/2015/08/26/eif-music-review-ffs/
8/11 Attended by George & Karen
Hard to believe it’s 40 years since I bought ‘White Punks on Dope’ EP and though I loved those songs, I never really followed them much since. Well they’ve been touring a lot recently with 4 original members led by the irrepressible showman Fee Waybill, and one of my favourite drummers Prairie Prince.
Amazing to see them play a great set from their big back catalogue, brilliantly played and acted out as always with Fee’s many costume changes. Really impressed, especially with guitarist Roger Steen, and really enjoyed this. Fee is 65 now but is still full of energy and mischief. How he manages his huge stack heeled boots as Quay Lewd singing ‘White Punks on Dope’, I don’t know! Magic!
8.5/11 Attended by George
7.5/11 Attended by George
The imaginative moniker chosen by former Red House Painters front man Mark Koselek. I was intrigued enough to go along though I hadn’t heard much of his music. A packed Summerhall with a pretty cosmopolitan , Intrnational audience perhaps due to being better known outside the UK and the Edinburgh festival billing.
His songs are very personal first person monologues with sparse backing. I quite like but they do tend to be long and after nearly 2 hours I was just too fed up of standing to handle any more. So, pretty good but just too rambling for a casual listener like me.
6.5/11 Attended by George
George Glen 