WOLFBASTARD, BANSHEE LABYRINTH.EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 17 2025

An evening of Black Metal and very spiky logos, brought to us by those fine people at WULFHERE PRODUCTIONS in, it seems, their first gig in Edinburgh. I have seen, I think, only one of these bands before.

Line-up:

NECROCRACY: 'A system where the dead are recognised as the ruling authority'. Can see how that might be awkward. Bleak, desolate and unsmiling black metal. Quite hard to pronounce. Zero banter.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/6vq-F6n3frI      https://www.facebook.com/NecrocracyOfficial

NEFARIOUS DUSK: Old-school black metal duo, heavily influenced by Norwegian legends DARKTHRONE  Once again, laughs in short supply.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/Zkwzewz1Prc   https://www.facebook.com/nduk666

OLD CORPSE ROAD: Atmospheric/symphonic black metal. Like a black metal soundtrack to a cheesy Hammer Horror movie about witches and pirates and zombies and zombie pirates. OTT and a bit silly, perhaps, but fun.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/McfH6SFUj54   https://www.facebook.com/OldCorpseRoad

WOLFBASTARD: The aforementioned 'one band I've seen before'. Caught them at TEMPLE OF BOOM in Leeds in 2018, and described them as 'ferocious d-beat/black metal'. Have they changed? Let's see.

That'll be a 'no', then. More death/sludge than black metal, perhaps, but still ferocious. And rude. And very entertaining. (Called the singer of ND a 'Teemu Dannii Filth' Cheeky, but not entirely inaccurate)

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/p2GUDawbMkI   https://www.facebook.com/dbeatblackmetal

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.

QUADE, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, SEPTEMBER 25 2025

I have no idea who QUADE are, or what they do. What can possibly go wrong? Apart from mis-spelling 'SNEAKY'...

Line-up:

ELLIANA CRAIG: Apparently, ELLIANA CRAIG is not a person, but a band. Local lads. I'm finding it hard to describe what it is that they do. It seems to have it's origins in post-punk, but it went off the rails somewhere and hooked up with noise rock. And some kind of warped post-rock. There's quite a bit of instrument swapping, and there's a violin. Some of it is quite gentle, and some of it is a discordant scraping noise. I'm not sure if I like it or not. Probably I do.

Video:  https://youtu.be/EmnztJNNacw   https://www.instagram.com/ellianacraig_band/

QUADE: Like the lads above, QUADE are difficult to pin down. They are, as previously mentioned, from Bristol, but that's about the only thing I can definitely say about them. Let's try. They don't talk much, and most of what they do is very quiet. It's a bit folk, a bit ambient, a bit post-rock, a bit jazz, a bit prog. There's quite a bit of instrument swapping, and there's a violin. Wait, that sounds familiar... Well, yes. They are made from a kit of parts similar to the one used by Alliana Craig, but assembled in quite a different way. Less chaotic. The sensible adults to AC's unruly teenager.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/pfzr_-vB3tQ  https://www.facebook.com/quadebanduk