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.

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

CLOTH, LEITH DEPOT, EDINBURGH, AUGUST 12 2025

The first of two actual Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows this year. This one is part of a series of conversations with Vic Galloway combined with live sets. Tonight's show features indie kids CLOTH, fresh from their tour supporting the mighty MOGWAI. 

Incidentally, the ticket price for this gig included a £1.00 levy to help out independent venues. This is a VERY GOOD THING, and everybody should do it.

Line-up:

SIOBHAN WILSON: The wispiest of indie/alt-folk singer-songwriterism. Gentle and beguiling and absolutely lovely. Siobhan is SUFRECS, the organiser of this series of events. Her Bandcamp page would suggest that she has been doing this singing-songwriting thing for a number of years but she still displays a charming schoolgirlish excitement at doing it in front of an audience. A delight.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/sNwln8sTf2c   https://siobhanwilson.bandcamp.com/music  https://www.facebook.com/siobhanwilsonmusic

                                    

Next, we get the interview with Vic Galloway, well known DJ and presenter. Interesting, I guess, and a large part of the event concept, and even a chance for the audience to put a few questions to the band. However, the chat limits the band to a brief 5 song set, and I'd like to see more of them.

CLOTH: Glasgow-based but Borders-born twins Rachel and Paul Swinton, fresh off a big tour supporting Mogwai. They don't sound like Mogwai. Subtle, low-key indie, they're normally a three-piece, but they're playing without their drummer tonight. Which is odd, because he's here, at the back of the room, his duties being covered by a little box apparently called Roland. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/GNFMzXI7GEM   https://www.facebook.com/clothband

DAY SLEEPER, MASH HOUSE, EDINBURGH, NOVEMBER 30 2024

 Yet another show featuring too much smoke and hostile lighting. But not any kind of 'metal', this time.

Line-up:

ANNIE BOOTH: Local singer/songwriter, understated and melancholic. She has a heavy cold today, but still gives us a fine show, fragile, delicate and simply lovely. The only set of the night NOT to feature the skills of Edwin McLachlan, drummer of DAY SLEEPER, SCARRED LIP, YOUNG FATHERS, and SHUDDER(anybody remember them?) but probably best known for his work as vocalist in hip-hop trio BRITNEY.  She'll be back later.

VIDEO:https://youtu.be/cHDF6pThfgU    https://www.facebook.com/annieboothmusic

SCARRED LIP: Singer/guitarist Matthew reckons this is an amalgamation of everything he has done in the past, particularly A FIGHT YOU CAN'T WIN and HALF FORMED THINGS, and it's hard to disagree. Quality alt-rock with a hint of Americana. Features the drum skills of E McLachlan of DAY SLEEPER, etc (see above) and, most notably, singer of blackened bluegrass trio BRITNEY*. They bring ANNE BOOTH back to join them for one song, which is becoming something of a tradition(It was MAGPIE BLUE last time I saw them) 

I'll add a Facebook link below as usual, but there's not a lot happening there.

* Is this joke getting boring yet? 

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/XDvAYgjPOis   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093419917600

DAY SLEEPER: A local band I have managed to avoid - unintentionally, by the way - until now. Seeing them now makes me regret that. More of that alt-rock stuff with, to my ears at least, definite flavours of the likes of WATERBOYS and BLUE NILE. But what the fuck do I know? I'm a post-metal guy. 

I've seen - and liked - singer LEO BARGERY doing his solo piano stuff, so it's nice to hear his rich'n'creamy voice with a full band. Which, incidentally, features the drum skills etc etc...but most notably of three man chamber orchestra BRITNEY**.

The show ends with a reappearance of the delightful ANNIE BOOTH with an acoustic song out in the middle of the crowd. Which is nice.

** OK, that's the last time. Even I'm bored now.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Meel8nTXf40   https://www.facebook.com/daysleeperisaband

SOLVENTIS, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, MARCH 8 2024

The first of two gigs in two days at the BANSHEE LABYRINTH, and an odd one from the metal specialists, RED CRUST PROMOTIONS, and one beset by unfortunate camera issues.

Line-up:

JASMINE ANGEL:

The first of tonight's solo singer/songwriters, indulging in a bit of self-therapy. My video camera ceased to function between this set and the next. Which was annoying.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/kwGw_kvFWS8  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008003869417

MÀIRI NA GRÈINE:

A former maths teacher, apparently. When I was a lad, all maths teachers were terrifying, skeletal and covered in chalk dust. How times change.

I hadn't yet discovered my technical issues, so there is audio but no video. 

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/LTZuEhukGqg   https://www.facebook.com/mairi.nagreine

SCARLET KEILLER:

More indie/folk singer/songwritering, from Glasgow this time. By now I had discovered my camera problem, but hadn't yet worked out a workaround, so there's no video at all, Which is a shame, because she is very good.

https://www.facebook.com/scarletkeillerofficial

SOLVENTIS:

French dark folk/folk-gaze duo. A bit like ALCEST without the black metal, but with added vocal harmonies. They'd been on tour, and this was the last gig of the run. Very nice indeed.

By now, I'd worked out how to use my stills camera as a substitute video camera. It's a bit fiddly, because it really needs three hands to operate the camera and hold the mic, which goes some way to explaining the shaky results.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/InFhUrd-eZU  https://www.facebook.com/solventis