They say that familiarity breeds contempt. It would seem that unfamiliarity does likewise. I’d mentioned to a few people over the last couple of weeks that I was going to see Josh Rouse; the response was invariably a variation on: “Never heard of him” and implicit in these statements was the conviction that if they […]
Nostalgia tours roll into town with rapid regularity. Missed one Seventies or Eighties hit-maker? There will be another along before you know it. Nostalgia sells. It’s less common though for someone who had their first number one in 1979 and their last top ten single in 1982 to come storming along with a set that […]
I last saw Public Service Broadcasting three years ago, here in the Usher Hall, opening for the Kaiser Chiefs. As much as I enjoyed their set, I struggled to imagine how they might sustain their mix of electronics and newsreel audio and video samples over any more than forty five minutes without running out of […]
Edinburgh in March can be a cold, damp, miserable place. So used are we to wet, windy weather that we even have a special adjective to describe it: Dreich. If only there was a band who could bring a waft of warmth, a shaft of sunshine, a hint of hot African nights. Step forward then, […]
Bryan’s back in town and the Ferry fans are out in force; it seems unlikely that a bleached blonde in a blingy black blouse will anywhere to be seen outside of the Usher Hall tonight. And that’s as it should be; after all, septuagenarian sex symbols are in short supply and who knows when this […]
I’ve been a bit sniffy about tribute bands in the past, and deep in my bones I suspect I always might be; it’s the “it’s not really them” factor I suppose. But having seen three of the best in the business: The Australian Pink Floyd, The Musical Box and Rumours Of Fleetwood Mac, I’ve learned […]
Texan singer Chrysta Bell first came to my notice when she played Agent Tammy Preston in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks:The Return. CB, as she is known to her band mates, first met Lynch in 1999 and they have worked together on a number of musical projects including her debut solo album This Train and a […]
Following their critically well-received slot as the opening act on Tubular Bells For Two’s UK tour last autumn, Gypsyfingers now embark on their first ever UK tour, with a brand new single, Half World, released to coincide with the dates.
It has been just over two years since the last time I saw Rumours Of Fleetwood Mac perform. The hook for this current tour is a 40th anniversary celebration of the Rumours album, although we are actually now closer to the 41st anniversary. The band has recently undergone a radical restructuring with original members Allan […]
Support: IDestroy, Trillains, Newcastle13th March 2018. Arh man I hate days like this, sitting in front of the computer trying to compose a witty, yet informative review of a band that you know simply won’t do them justice. I mean they are certainly cornering a niche market here, punk/metal Victorian comedy anyone? And I know several […]
John Scott pops along to The Caves in Edinburgh to see Paul Draper.
Having been suitably warmed up by support act Bright Light Bright Light, whose synth pop torch songs from his album Choreography are enthusiastically received by tonight’s sell out audience, there is a tangible thrill of anticipation as the lights dim and Erasure take to the stage.
London Astrobeat Orchestra are bringing their spectacular live show to venues across the UK over the next few months. Band leader and bassist Edd Bateman has brought together West Africa’s finest session musicians to form a group that fuses rhythmic influences from Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Cameroon and Congo with the music of legendary new […]
Tonight’s support act is a guy called Thabo. I assumed from his accent that he was American but when I checked out his website after the show I discovered that he was born in Zimbabwe and lives in…Huddersfield. Thabo’s songs are intelligent, tuneful and incredibly engaging. By the end of the first song he has […]
In January 1977 John Scott paid £2.80 to see Genesis. Tonight, nearly forty one years later, he’s paid £35 to see some Canadians pretend to be Genesis.
Despite having penned the title song of Ireland’s biggest-selling album, A Woman’s Heart, and releasing more than a dozen albums over the last couple of decades, Eleanor McEvoy is still something of a well-kept secret. Over the last few years she has become increasingly appreciated in audiophile circles for the recording quality of her albums, […]