DRAGGED UP, LEITH DEPOT, EDINBURGH, JUNE 15 2024

A new venue, kind of. LEITH DEPOT shut up shop some time ago, for various reasons, but has now been re-invented and re-opened. Which is A VERY GOOD THING. The old venue was excellent, but small and very, very hot. I'll be interested to find out what the revised version is like*. 

FUZZ BAT GIGS have always been good friends of the Depot, and can be relied upon for oddness and nice posters. 

Venue: LEITH DEPOT, obviously.

Line-up: With what seems to be a recurring theme recently, we get three new-to-me bands tonight. I'll hand you over to the Fuzz Bat team for potted descriptions.

PAL: 'Energetic fun delightful trio formed by a lobster-clawed pop svengali.' Frankly, I'll be disappointed if there are no lobster claws.

Sadly, there are no claws. They are, however, hugely entertaining. Joyfully ramshackle garage punk, including a gloriously terrible mash-up of ABBA's 'Does Your Mother Know?' and Iron Maiden's 'Run to the Hills'. Utterly magnificent. It was, by the way, bassist Pat's 50th birthday.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/yDLu13jysW4   https://www.facebook.com/paledinburgh

DRAGGED UP: 'Fuzzy and scuzzy psychedelic garage rock quintet with a triple harmonious vocal threat.' Yes. Exactly that. I had the impression that Glasgow's Dragged Up were nominal headliners tonight, but it seems they have to go early as their drummer is at less than peak fitness. Doesn't seem to affect their performance, though, and we get a fine set of 60s surf flavoured garage psych while the sweat runs down our faces. It's HOT in here. I've made the elementary error of wearing my tightest skinny jeans tonight and now I feel like a boiled sausage.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/BIlbOa6dT4A   https://www.facebook.com/DraggedUp

LLENNETT: 'Atmospheric keyboards and powerful vocals flirting with a variety of moods and textures.'

Beset by periodic technical issues, Llennet will be forced to drop one song from their set, but otherwise give us exactly what is described above. As a bonus, we get a couple of songs featuring the guitar, an instrument she hasn't used on stage for a long time, apparently. She may have forgotten how to plug it in, but not how to play it. Bon Jovi style rock is NOT what I expected, but is delivered with aplomb but without the hairy man themes prevalent in that genre. Slightly upstaged at one point by the appearance of a birthday cake - made of choc ices  - but it's for Pat so nobody minds.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Ux-V-a_-9-U   https://www.facebook.com/Llennett

* - STILL small - 60 cap. - and very very hot, but now not up the stairs.

NIGHT THIEVES, LEGENDS, EDINBURGH, JUNE 1 2024

RED CRUST PROMOTIONS step outside of their metally comfort zone with an evening of alt-rock, featuring a pair of touring bands and a couple of youthful local upstarts. You might notice that only ONE of those perky locals appears here, and you'd be right. Due to an early start, roadworks, accidents and ridiculous Edinburgh traffic, I didn't get to see THE CLOVERS, but I'm sure they were amazing.

VENUE: LEGENDS

Line-up:

BAMBITOS: Youth, enthusiasm and alt-metal in one bouncy package. They don't, however, seem to have a Facebook page, so good luck finding them out there. Instagram seems to be the place to look.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/tn_mmqXjgqE   https://www.instagram.com/bambitosband/

CRYSTALLINE: With that name, you might expect shoegaze, or dream-pop, but no. CRYSTALLINE are 'melodic and serrated' alt-rock. From Wales.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/9ncYC-2WDSk  https://www.facebook.com/CrystallineBand

NIGHT THIEVES: The 'heaviest' band of the night, alt-metal from the bottom right corner of England, featuring a man with a hat, and what is probably the ugliest bass guitar I've seen in a long time.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/i1HYQE07UPo  https://www.facebook.com/NightThievesOfficial

If I could offer Night Thieves one piece of - non-musical - advice, I'd ask them to rethink their logo. I can see where they're coming from, with the N and the T, but it still looks a bit... nazi.

EL MOONO, LEGENDS, EDINBURGH, JUNE 3 2024

Today is my birthday, so I'm treating myself to a gig, featuring some bands I have never seen and know nothing about. This could go horribly wrong.

VENUE: LEGENDS

Line-up:

REVELATION 23: A very new young band from Edinburgh. I have the impression they've played very few gigs, and they seem to be missing their bass player tonight. Maybe that accounts for the somewhat nervous performance. Still, promising - if slightly dark - alt rock. Worth watching out for.

Incidentally, in that last photograph, he is NOT poking her in the back with a stick.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Z-9WnHuMsUg   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555304594170

KUBO KOBI: Totally not what I was expecting, just from their name, which is all I knew of them. Although I can't actually say what it was that I WAS expecting. Just not this. Sort of post-metallic alt-rock kinda thing. Vocals reminded me in an odd way of Jefferson Airplane without actually sounding like them. From Glasgow, if that helps, and playing with a new guitarist. The one with the nice hair.

Pronounced KOO-bo ko-BYE, by the way.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/fHJ1mfh7hP8   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063665015485

EL MOONO: From Brighton, let's call it 'alt-rock', although that seems a weak way to describe El Moono. Post-hardcore mixed with a bit of grunge and some metal and other stuff, but all very excellent. They're out on tour promoting their new album 'The Waking Sun' which you should all go out and buy immediately. Singer Zac Jackson looks like he's escaped from an asylum, with his manky gown and mad eyes. 

They have, apparently, played Edinburgh a couple of times before, but tonight is their biggest crowd so far. Which is a bit sad, because there's only about 20 people left in the venue. Maybe it's because it's a Monday night. Hopefully, they'll be back to play to a much bigger crowd very soon.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/FlYS4h43pBw   https://www.facebook.com/elmoono

So, did it all go horribly wrong? Well, clearly not, although the Monday night crowd was a bit sparse. It was maybe a bold move from Duncan at Red Crust, bringing the headliners here on a weekday, but touring schedules left him no choice. It was Monday or nothing. I, for one, am very glad he did.