GASGIANT, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, NOVEMBER 1 2026

 Back from the dead!

Line-up:

STUART HONEYMAN: A very nice young man with a guitar. Songs about relationships, good and bad. Nice to see a singer/songwriter who's not entirely miserable. I'm intrigued by the long song about an old lady that he didn't play, though...

No video this time, because the Sneaky Pete's air-con ruined my audio recording.

https://www.instagram.com/stuarthoneymanguitar/

LUCID LIARS: Rather fine robust indie from Inverness. Influences include, apparently, FRIGHTENED RABBIT, which I get, and JOY DIVIDSION, which I don't. Thanks to singer JO for handing me a CD after the set.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/n6T8vdtAv4w   https://www.facebook.com/LucidLiars

GASGIANT: I first discovered these post-rock/slo-core lads many, maybe 12, years ago, after they had ceased to be. Which made me sad, as I quite reasonably thought that I'd never get to see them play. And now they're back! And they're MUCH louder than I expected. Strangely, though, my audio recordings needed absolutely no tweaking, which pleased me immensely. Hard to photograph though, in the fog and murky lighting.

VIDEO HERE:   https://youtu.be/x6Cmd1vtgaI   https://www.instagram.com/gasgiant.band/

So. Worth the long wait? Absolutely.

AK'CHAMEL, BANNERMAN'S, EDINBURGH, SEPTEMBER 8 2026

 Never heard of them. No idea what they do. So, obviously, I have to go look.

Line-up:

PLASTIC COWBOY BUILDER: Very odd trio from, I think, Edinburgh. A lady who scratches away on a violin, a minimalist drummer, and a guitarist/singer who appears to be able to do neither. His guitar keeps making lead-based crackling noises but I suspect nobody would have noticed if he hadn't tried to fix it. I believe this is what the kids call 'avant garde'

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/NXFibfG11pk  https://www.instagram.com/cowboy.builder

HEXAKAIDECAGON: A sixteen-sided polygon, or an improv electronic duo from Glasgow. Either way, they don't show up. To be replaced by MILDRED HURTFUL, a middle-aged bloke who makes weird beat-boxing noises, cries like a baby, and tells rambling half stories with no punch-lines. Quite mad. FULL DISCLOSURE: I really don't understand this kind of stuff. I feel it's like watching someone having a breakdown, or a tantrum, and not knowing what to do. It makes me uncomfortable. But maybe that's the point.

AK'CHAMEL: Apocalyptic psychedelic tribal folk/jazz weirdness, or something. With masks. They play strange instruments and ordinary instruments in strange ways. One appears to have a tea-cosy on his head and a stick through his face. The drummer is an absolute machine. One of the instruments sounds like bees.

To be fair, it's all a great deal better than all of the above might suggest. The relentless driving rhythm section gives it a hefty flavour of krautrock and it's all, frankly, quite brilliant. Their 60 minutes goes by too quickly. 'No encores,' says the drummer at the end, 'it's too hot in all of this shit.' Which kinda ruins the mystique a bit...

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/L1Wo3YmshH4    https://www.facebook.com/giverofillness

ORA COGAN, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, MARCH 24 2026

 Something a bit different. Definitely not metal.

Sneaky Pete's is STILL excessively smokey, though. I don't know why they feel it necessary to pump so much smoke into the room. There's no need for it.

Line-up:

ATTICUS MERCREDI: Canadian/native American singer/songwriter and percussionist in ORA COGAN's band, going solo with songs exploring his childhood and Native American roots. He's never done this before, so maybe that would explain why he seems a little nervous.

VIDEO:    https://youtu.be/yrk8GMHLSFQ  https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.mercredi

ORA COGAN: Hard to pin down, this. Part country, part folk, part Americana, part psychedelic and part goth. But not as goth as I expected, to be honest, apart from her bat-winged boots. Also Canadian.

She seems a little bemused by the tiny stage in Sneaky Pete's, and is prone to frequent fits of giggling.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/cR7hMtlOkO8     https://www.facebook.com/oracoganmusic

CELEBRANT, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, MARCH 5 2026

Something gentle, for a change. Here's hoping that Sneaky's can be restrained with the smoke machine...

And are they? No. They are not.

Line-up

BELL LUNGS: Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist soundscaper CEYLAN HAY. Although, to be fair, there's not much evidence of the singer/songwriter bit in tonight's performance. Instead we get a mesmerising ambient/drone piece featuring looped violin, accordion, all kinds of bells and whistles, squeaky things and rattly things and some wordless vocals that sound more like gulls than anything human. If you think that all sounds horrible, then you are wrong. It's the sound of lonely open spaces, big skies and high Scottish moors.

No pics, because it was too dark and smoky. Standard Sneaky's. So you get a strange murky video instead. Sounds good, though.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/t1cSQSmfqnM   https://www.facebook.com/bell.lungs

GAZE IS GHOST: Northern Irish born singer/songwriter/school-teacher LAURA McGARRIGLE. The only name on tonight's bill that I have seen before, and more than happy to see her again.

Delicate piano ballads, folk-tinged and a bit gloomy, a voice for which the word 'ethereal' was invented, she only plays a short set of five songs. I manage to record the one song she plays on guitar, but she's not happy with the performance and asks me not to use it. 

CELEBRANT(feat. HAVER QUARTET): I'm not entirely sure what genre this multi-national outfit fits into. I think I'll settle for 'indie-folk chamber-pop', accompanied as they are by a string quartet. They're here tonight promoting their new single 'Feral Gods' The chap with the guitar  - Tom Irvine - used to be in Glasgow's URVANOVIC, as did Seonaid Stevenson, who joins in on vocals for the last few songs of the set. By way of an encore, Irvine, Stevenson, singer Laura Zoschg and one of the violinists - who probably does have a name -  jump down from the stage and give us one final, unplugged, song, and it's lovely.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/LQbDlYqzzoQ   https://www.facebook.com/celebrantsongs

VEXATIONS, WEE RED BAR, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 25 2025

 A double EP release show. This one's going to be chaos. With any luck.

Line-up:

OCH VEY: Joyous Yiddish folk-punk, keeping the klezmer spirit alive. Seditious, anti-authoritarian and pro-Palestine. And quite right too. Much dancing happens.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/hmM-U5-55N0   https://www.facebook.com/ochveymusic

SHINLIFTER: Another new band for me, in-yer-face post-punk this time, angular and spiky. Attitude by the bucketful, and always teetering on the verge of chaos but never quite falling in. Joined at one point by friendly heckler Colin, cheerfully improvising along to a song whose words he does not know. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/lLixPecIp0M    https://www.instagram.com/shinlifter/?hl=en

VEXATIONS: Local 'off-kilter post punk' quartet giving THEIR new EP a run-through. I HAVE seen these folks before - at THE HOME BAR up the road - and they haven't got any less intense since that gig. Fierce,

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/fFwOKf8N6T4   https://www.facebook.com/vexationsedinburgh

BONUS CONTENT!

At the end of VEXATIONS; set, they are joined for a chaotic rendition of THE STOOGES' 'I Wanna be Your Dog'. Bodies everywhere, Enormous fun.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/hmM-U5-55N0

DUNBAR MUSIC FESTIVAL, SEPTEMBER 26/27 2025

In which I sample some of the goods on offer a lot closer to home than usual.  A bit like North Berwick's FRINGE BY THE SEA, but  just music. And not in North Berwick.

FRIDAY VENUE:  HARBOUR CHAPEL Formerly the DUNBAR METHODIST CHURCH, it's not much to look at from outside. Plain and utilitarian, painted a rather fleshy shade of pink. Right across the road from a big free car park.

But inside it's lovely. Original features include fancy tiled floors, stained glass windows, wooden pulpit, exposed stonework, and so on. Oddly, though, the pews (on wheels) are all set perpendicular to the stage, so we all have to twist around to see the action. 

Line-up:

GAZE IS GHOST: East Lothian based Northern Irish solo pianist and singer LAURA McGARRIGLE, now with added guitarist for the first time(Luke Sutherland, frequent MOGWAI collaborator). Classically trained, with roots deep in folk territory, her music is absolutely gorgeous. Also the first time I've ever seen her pick up a guitar. Wearing a suit apparently made of William Morris floral pattern curtains.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/BYD5AONvU_A    https://www.facebook.com/GazeisGhost

DARA DUBH/HARRY HIGGS: Another young Irish lady, Dara Dubh (Government name D. WATSON) and her lovely harp. She was here last year as a solo artist, but she's back with jazz guitarist HARRY HIGGS, playing a mix of her stuff, his stuff, collab. stuff and covers. Even a mash-up of one of Dara's songs and Cher's 'Bang Bang', which you can see below if it takes your fancy.

VIDEO:    https://youtu.be/X6WSByi3MKg     https://www.facebook.com/darawatsonharpist   https://www.facebook.com/harry.higgs.31

SATURDAY VENUE:  ROYAL BRITISH LEGION  Down a dark little close off the High Street, you'd find it easy to miss. Recently re-modelled, it's a standard social club inside. Clean, bright and functional.

Line-up:

THE SOUND RAYS: Hypnotic psych/kraut-rock guitar/bass duo with a drum machine. I THINK I like them, but they're quiet and hard to hear over the VERY chatty audience. 

VIDEO:    https://youtu.be/AvmlPSMDfB8   https://www.facebook.com/thesoundrays   https://www.instagram.com/the_sound_rays/?hl=en

SCARRED LIP: Edinburgh based alt-rock folks, doing their best to drown out the background conversation and, mostly, succeeding. They draw a pretty big and enthusiastic crowd, and there is some dancing. They play a mix of old stuff, current stuff and some rather fine new stuff.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/-xAZf_-4dRg   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093419917600   https://www.instagram.com/scarredlipband/

RACECAR: I know nothing of these folks, but research would suggest that RACECAR are a trio. Clearly this is not the case. There are EIGHT of them. They do a nice line in perky alt-pop. And they appear to share a drummer with SCARRED LIP.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/5GTpCIyq_Y0   https://www.facebook.com/racecarband   https://www.instagram.com/racecar.band/

There's plenty more to see at the Festival, and a whole third day, but that's all for me. It's a nice wee thing, very mixed and very friendly. And very free! Anyway, now that I know it happens I'll look out for it next year and try to see a bit more.