The FudBlog: Desert rock

Showing posts with label Desert rock. Show all posts

Thursday, June 18, 2026

ALL THEM WITCHES, LA BELLE ANGELE, EDINBURGH, JUNE 17 2026

OK, we've been away for a few weeks, but now we're back with something quite exciting. Well, I think it's exciting. Slightly annoying, too, as FAETOOTH are also playing tonight, just around the corner in MASH HOUSE. If I wasn't here, I'd be there. But here I am, and that's fine.

Line-up:

STEAK: Heavy psychedelic rockers from London, apparently. I expect fuzz and riffs and fuzzy riffs. And, indeed, we get plenty of those. I get the impression that they MIGHT have listened to a few KYUSS/QOTSA records once. Dead good, though.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/bv-YneFC7qo https://www.facebook.com/SteakBandLondon

ALL THEM WITCHES: Oddly, the second touring US band I'll see in a month to come from Nashville. And, like HOWLING GIANT before them, not 'country'. Rather, they're a glorious mix of stoner/psychedelic sludge and blues. Not unexpectedly, their set is heavy on the new stuff, since they've just released a new record. It's called 'HOUSE OF MIRRORS' and it's dead good. Third time I've seen them, but the first in Edinburgh. Which is nice.

LA BELLE is rammed and it's very sweaty.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/3im06Y-MciM https://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches

So, do I regret missing Faetooth to see ATW? No. No I don't.

Saturday, January 10, 2026

VOLKA, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, JANUARY 9 2026

All right 2026, let's be having you!

It's not been, relatively speaking, a long winter hiatus this time. Only 3 weeks since the last thing, and already gigs are piling up for 2026. Back in Sneaky's for Gig 1.

Line-up:

HEMLOCK: There's two of them, they're from Glasgow, and they do, apparently, desert rock.

And, indeed, there ARE two of them and they do, indeed, play some kind of desert rock. Like Queens of the Stone Age blended with a grungy variety of Stereophonics, if that makes any sense. They're very good. AND they finish with a sturdy cover of QOTSA's 'Song for the Dead'.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/7CcajAtj7E0 https://www.instagram.com/hemlock_official_

BRASSER: There's two of them, they're from Glasgow, and they do, apparently, post-punky alt-rock. Actually, I HAVE seen these lads a couple of times before, and have absolutely no objection to seeing them again. Which I don't, because they have some kind of family emergency and can't play.

VOLKA: Noisy alt-rock from nearby Livingston. Never seen them before, no idea what they sound like. What can possibly go wrong?

Nothing, as it happens. Despite this being their first gig in about 14 months. Are they rusty? How the fuck should I know? But they sound fine - rousing emo-ish alt-rock songs with big sing-along choruses. It's easy to forgive them for coming from Livingston.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/jYiYCvNn9QQ https://www.facebook.com/volkaband

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

HELLRAISER X-MAS SPECIAL, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, DECEMBER 13 2024

Friday 13th. I'm feeling lucky for my last gig of the year.

Line-up:

PRIAPISM: From Newcastle. Imagine CLUTCH playing tech/death metal. Or don't. Your choice.

VIDEO:https://youtu.be/enHlxxDjNxM https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063464893966

ACIDSAURUS BONG: The dankest sludge/stoner/grind/doom/etc. Local lads with a recent new album to promote. Which they do.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/mKaAtGaxhfQ https://www.facebook.com/acidsaurusbong

ACID AGE: War-jazz thrashers from Northern Ireland, in Scotland for the very first time. Hopefully they'll be back soon, because they were unreasonably good.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Qmv9_LVfHZk https://www.facebook.com/acidagethrash

ROBOT DEATH MONKEY: Local stoners. Like desert rock, if you were driving through the desert in a stupidly fast car with a broken silencer. And lots of beer.

Joined - briefly - at one point by some lad from, I think, BIG IRON. That's him there, in the photograph.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/EoUx_lyXr3s https://www.facebook.com/RobotDeathMonkey

Well, what a way to end the year. Four trios. Two old favourites and two new ones. Death/sludge nutters from Newcastle and a bunch of ridiculously talented Irish thrash lads.

Merry Fudmas, and see you all next year.

Sunday, October 8, 2023

LOW & SLOW ALL DAYER, BANNERMAN'S, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 7 2023

Quite a convoluted story, this one. I'll probably get the details wrong. Let's see.

BEEHOOVER, the German progressive sludge duo have played Edinburgh before, and wanted to do so again, but they would only work with Ewen from PISSCHRIST PROMOTIONS. Now, that would be fine, but Ewen gave up the promotions lark some years ago and suggested that Bailey from SCAPEGOAT could take the gig on. But no, it was to be Ewen or nobody so, for one night only, GOATPISS was born and the show went on! It was good to see Ewen back, though, even if it was just for this one gig,

Then the chaos started. Bands were booked, bands pulled out. Bands broke up. Bands were replaced, and the replacements pulled out, or were otherwise removed from the bill. Finally, we were down to a somewhat reduced six band line-up. And then, at the last minute, the opening band called off. Five bands, then. On the plus side, I had arrived late expecting to miss the opening band, but actually arrived just in time to catch the de facto opener, and missed nothing. Swings and roundabouts.

And then I realised that I'd totally forgotten to bring my camera with me. I have it EVERY TIME I go to a gig, but not this time. I had the video camera which CAN take still pics, but they're shit. Ditto my cheap-ass phone. Oh well. It was kind of liberating, actually, but I didn't quite know what to do with my hands all night. Anyway...

Line-up:

CULT OF SOBEK: Crocodilian doom from edinburgh Can't read heiroglyphs? Tch, kids these days... It says 'Crocodilian doom from Edinburgh.' Obviously. Slow, crushing sludgy doom, although giant singer/bass player Harry McCardle looks more like a lion than a crocodile.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IyGY2_LvFFI https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088422994440

ACIDSAURUS BONG: More swampy sludge, this time more 'gators and moonshine' than crocodiles. I've seen these lads a few times now, but they've never seemed more... feral, perhaps, than they did this time. Raw.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/xwzXUlLHXZE https://www.facebook.com/acidsaurusbong

THE KRYSS TALMETH EXPERIENCE: A step away from the sludge with this psychedelic stoner/blues trio, playing, amongst others, a BRAND NEW SONG, as featured in the attached video.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/6DPCGiNeUXc https://www.facebook.com/KryssTalmeth

CODESPEAKER: Further chaos and mishap. Promoted to main support, one of the country's finest post-metal bands were going to - and DID - play a song they've never played live before - the very excellent 'Hiraeth' from their debut album and I was going to - and DID, actually - record it. But guitarist Bob broke his guitar a couple of songs into the set and had to pick up the spare, which was set up SPECIFICALLY for Hiraeth, and was forced to do some rapid re-tuning, then tune it BACK for its scheduled appearance. Perhaps because of all of this extra twiddling - or perhaps not - he managed to break some strings during the song and had to improvise his parts, but that didn't go well. Anyway, he asked me afterwards not to upload the broken song, and I was happy to comply. So, no video for Codespeaker. If you haven't seen them before, there are plenty of other videos on my YouTube channel. Go watch one of them.Or all of them.

Next time...

BEEHOOVER: All the way from Esslingen am Neckar, which looks very nice. Proving that Drum and Bass isn't only Chase & Status or Royal Blood, Beehoover have been doing their prog/sludge thing for TWENTY whole years and have gotten quite good at it.

{Please note that I actually quite like drum'n'bass. Not Royal Blood, though. No.)

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Dyk24aSVOgg https://www.facebook.com/beehooverofficial

Well, there you go. A somewhat reduced day of entertainment. I had been looking forward to seeing the bands who didn't make it, but five for a tenner was still top value. Just a couple of random facts to finish off...

1. EVERY single person involved tonight had a beard, including the two promoters and the sound engineer. And me.

2. On the way home I turned the radio on in the car and got BBC's drum'n'bass show on Radio 1. Which was nice.