Limbo 062 - Thursday 5th March 2009
Limbo Home page
|
As you may have heard, we've had to adjust our door times because of noise complaints. This means that THE FIRST BAND IS ON AT 8.30 SHARP!
The Set Up is an old band from Austen George, who has been focussing predominantly on solo material and the acoustic guitar of late but what a bonus for us that the old band were keen to do the gig as they're a great trio, with Murray Briggs (Aberfeldy) on drums and Lewis Rosa on bass. Having not managed to get a proper sound check, they begin with one. Giving all their instruments a good workout to warm up, getting everyone into the room in the process, they then announce to the assembly that 'that was just the sound check so ignore what you heard' ('it was the best sound check i've ever heard' replies someone from the crowd). The Set Up take their musical cues from the likes of Cream and they play fantastically well together but really this band is all about Austen George. Austen is a mean guitarist and a talented song-writer and he has it all out on show tonight, using a slide and then picking away at some incredibly intricate parts. With this Sixties blues-rock sound threatening to make a big come-back this year, it wouldn't be at all surprising if Austen finds himself and his band in high demand come summertime.
Next up it's The Travelling Band, who have managed to make it to the show under some duress, after leaving their rhythm section in Manchester and then piling into a mini with all their guitars and a mandolin (easier than you might imagine with four people in such a small car). So, full props to them for making the gig but their vibe is 100% acoustic as a result. However, not only do they have some good guitarists in their ranks, but they are individually all also possessed of some fine vocal chords, which makes for some beautiful close harmonies at times. Apparently The Travelling Band all like to take turns writing songs and so a fair bit of instrument-swapping takes place on stage as a result. They also have some hilarious between-song banter, which consists largely of one of them saying something a bit banal and then Joe, who comes across a bit more like the front-man on stage than any of the others, taking the piss out of what his band-mate has said and invariably raising a laugh from the crowd. This eventually ends up with one of his cohorts calling him 'a nob' on stage, very audibly, in front of the assembly - all quite light-heartedly, mind, but still - to which Joe has some flippant retort and they fire into the next number. It's actually really really funny and serves as a reminder that this bunch of lads are just that and completely bona fide in their musical endeavour. Then Steve announces that they're gonna do an old Mancunican folk song, before explaining that it's actually not really old or a folk song (engendering more cheeky banter) and the band drop a gorgeous cover of The Stone Roses' Waterfall. This is possibly the night's most memorable moment but, not to do a disservice to their own material, only because they perform it so well. Anyway, The Travelling Band are a revelation and we expect to see them again.
Finally, Withered Hand, alias Dan Willson, takes to the stage and immediately usurps everything and everyone in the room with his eccentric personality and high-pitched voice. Tonight Dan has decided to bring the full outfit with him for the occasion, so we've got cellist, drummer, banjo and backing vox as well as Dan on lead vocals and guitar. Withered Hand is most definitely anti-folk rather than straight folk. Everything about his stance is slightly awkward and suggestive of someone who loathes anything that isn't a little bit alternative, his attitude totally punk as he lightly ribs The Travelling Band ('this is an old folk song, err, no it's not') and then fires into New Dawn - one of his more uptempo, fiery and utterly infectious numbers. This part of the gig alone demonstrates what's wonderful about Dan's style. He's deceptively soft and gentle on the surface. When he comes on stage, he's making fun of himself as much as the band who've been on before and then he tears your head off with the raw brutality and pure honesty of his work. So you get this juxtaposition of musical fluffiness (all acoustic guitar, banjo, cello, light drum beats etc) with lyrical attitude (ouch, he's rapier sharp). So, much like Meursault's contrast of visceral electronic beats and industrial-sounding production with anguished, haunted vocals, Withered Hand is quite disarming and very refreshing. You can see why Neil and Dan are such good pals and will clearly both be riding all the way to the top of the tree, as the rest of the world wakes up to Edinburgh's punk-rocking, anti-folk, musical revolution.
myspace.com/witheredhandmusic
Come get a sugar-rush at Limbo's candy-pop special with Unicorn Kid, Sugar Crisis and Ex Lion Tamer. Mind the bubbles! This one's really popping.
|
MAILING LIST
FACEBOOK/MYSPACE Come and hang out on Facebook here or say hi to us over here at MySpace CHEAP DRINKS! 
Don't forget you can take advantage of £2 bottles from any of the Voodoo Rooms' three bars by showing your Limbo wrist-band to the bartender. VENUE INFO 
Limbo takes place at The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street, Edinburgh.
Sponsored Links |
||||||||
Limbo Home page | Forthcoming bands
|
|||||||||
Ross is bringing his full band for the show, so we get the Scarfs as well as Mr Clark for what will surely be a great performance from this man-on-the-make.
Five steps into this eight-story MySpace Trail and a woefully unfit DiS needs to take a breather, so it's lucky for us we've stumbled upon scruffbag singer/songwriter Ross Clark. Now, wistful guitar playing stool-sitters are not normally our bag, but this Glasgow-based troubadour creates wind-blowing acoustic lullabies of such striking beauty it's impossible not to be captivated by his lonesome, fireside mew and choppy fret-picking. Already picking up a plethora of praise in the dog-eared pages of the local press, Ross's stirring nomadic psalms rest steadily in the fissure between James Yorkston and Daniel Johnson. A bright future surely beckons for this charm-oozing romantic. (Drowned in Sound)
We've been aware of Randan Discotheque for a couple of years now, via gigs at the Wee Red Bar for starters and his part in the Art School Dance film. He's been on the list for a gig at Limbo for months now but - now a trio instead of a soloist - we're especially looking forward to seeing how the new band performs.
After years of tinkering and bleeping with machines Colvin Cruickshank was asked to reform his first group Nonstopcamels to perform live for The Art School Dance film. All involved were blown away with the end result and a sell out gig followed later that year. Thriving on the buzz of this, Colvin was keen to pursue the project but it was not to be. However, when friend and work colleague Craig Coulthard went for a three month exchange to Dusseldorf, Colvin seized the opportunity to borrow his Randan Discotheque rhythm section (Doug and Ollie). Drafting in the multi-talented Hugo (ex-Minotaur Three) on guitar the new group was now ready to create. This will be their debut gig...
We've been dying to get Unicorn Kid on at Limbo since we first discovered him on myspace early last year. His 8-bit sound, reminiscent of vintage old school arcade game soundtracks and hand-held toys such as the Nintendo Gameboy, is very Eighties and all the rage right now. Expect a riot of colour, club kids and candy-floss sounds.
Echoes of The Housemartins in the vocal styles but a synthetic sound more like Erasure makes Sugar Crisis one of the more exciting pop acts we've come across on 'the space' of late. Topics range from the heroic/triumphant (We Are Here To Save You) and more prosaic (Sunshine Kid) to the mundane/workaday (We Are Stuck In Traffic).
Easily one of our favourite Edinburgh artists, Ex Lion Tamer finally made his Limbo debut at our first birthday party after a few abortive attempts to get him on. Fresh, polished and more pop than almost anything else in Edinburgh right now, he's been a real revelation in the city over the last six months and slotted in particularly well before the final DJ set of the night of November 27th. We're expecting more of this next week. Ex Lion Tamer's music is pure electro-pop, what with all the synthetic vocals/vocoders and naive synth melodies, with an occasional dose of electric guitar. It's got buckets of soul and real depth too, though, as he bares all on vox as well via his trusty vocoder. We're reminded of contemporary artists such as Schneider TM, Matthew Dear, Daft Punk and Vector Lovers but ELT also hails bands such as Yazoo and Erasure, Madonna, Whitney Houston and Cyndi Lauper on his myspace. At last, an Edinburgh act unashamed to wear his gay pop influences on his sleeve! And Ex Lion Tamer really is that POP too. It's a very mature and accomplished sound which we think will find fans all over the globe once word spreads. Which shouldn't be long now; he's recently inked a deal with local music-blog-turned-fledgling-label 17 Seconds, the first fruits of which will be out as a digital download on Monday 9th March. Mind the bubbles! This one's really popping.