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The Skababs - Penicuik Town Hall 13th March

Ska music originated in the 50’s in Jamaica. It’s an amalgam of reggae, jazz, calypso, rhythm & blues. It’s happy danceable music.  People of a certain age will just associate it with The Specials, Madness, The Beat etc. but these lads were listening to the original Ska long before they gave us the Two Tone variation or the second wave of Ska. This is because they were brought up in multi racial & cultural areas, they heard the original Ska from their friends Jamaican parents. The Two Tone symbol was in fact a symbol of racial equality & mixing. So DON’T EVER think that Ska is racist skinhead music, it’s completely the opposite. In fact racist skinheads are detested by real skinheads the world over. Racists of any type should be abhorred. Original Ska was a Mod / Skinhead favourite of the sixties. Ska is still going strong in America, but they’ve taken it to another more punky level. Which in my mind isn’t really Ska , but hey ho what do I know?

Anyway lecture over what of the actual night?  The Skababs are a Scottish Ska band, which is unusual in its self.

Mmmmm well I’m afraid I came away early. Why? Well to be brutally honest I think the musicians were good, loved the actual sound of the songs, loved the choice of tunes. But I’m genuinely sorry I really didn’t think the singer suited the genre of music. I’m 100% sure he’s passionate about the music. But Ska doesn’t really suit someone singing in a local Edinburgh accent. The Proclaimers can get away with singing in a Scottish accent, but they sing their own songs. But I personally I don’t think it suits Ska. So rather than just slagging someone off for the sake of it, I came away. You might love it I don’t know?

When I left people were up dancing. Don’t get me wrong they weren’t terrible or anything.. Look why don’t you check them out for yourself on Youtube or their own My Space page above. They weren’t personally my cup of tea. But for goodness sake don’t let that put you off seeing them. You might like them. Check them out, as I say there’s loads of clips of them on Youtube. You decide for yourselves, you might really like them.

The Skababs

 

 

The Redstarts Cuiken Inn Sat 27th Feb

Well, what can I say...another great performance from the Redstarts! As a lot of you may already know the Redstarts play a variety of songs by bands in the 'mod' northern soul genre such as The Specials, The Who, The Kinks, The Jam, Small Faces...etc.  The guys are so tight & play really well together.  The harmonies are always perfect & their timing is never off!  The majority of the crowd in the Cuiken were there for the band & I can honestly say that not one person left early...once the guys start performing you want to see it to the end!  Another great night guys...well done!

Lynn xx

RedStarts @ the Cuiken Inn

 

 

The New Age Jam with support by The Redstarts Penicuik Town Hall 31st October

Another sell out gig! Mike Scott will be driving a Rolls Royce at this pace. Mind you he’ll still be pleading his poverty to everyone. We all know he’s loaded & there’s strong rumours he actually relaxes in his mansion in an Armani suit & hand made calf skin slippers!

The RedstartsFirst up were Penicuik’s own The Redstarts, Ross White, Scott Neil, John Moare & Vince Archibald. I thought they were excellent. Ross plays drums & sings, a hard feat to do. Which your general punter doesn’t actually appreciate how hard it is. The lads harmonies are great as well. They play tunes from my youth the 80’s, & they play them well.

I believe they were a bit nervous about the gig. Wondering if people would only turn up later for the main act. Well they needn’t have bothered, because the hall was already busy by the time they went on. The Jam numbers they did went down a treat. Yeah I really enjoyed their set. Well done lads, really enjoyed the set.

The main act

Right he ho, I was a big Jam fan from roughly 78 to 82. I’ve been a big fan of four bands in my youth, The Jam, The Stranglers, The Cure & Genesis. My bedroom walls were plastered in Jam posters. BUT the worst concert I’ve ever seen in my life was the real Jam at the Playhouse in 1982. So as you can see even although The Jam was one of my favourites I say it how it was. Paul Weller was crap that night.

The New Age JamSo what has that to do with the New Age Jam you ask? Well not really that much on the whole. As we all know The Jam were a three piece act, The New Age Jam are a four piece. So straight away you’re going to get an ever so slightly different sound. So if you’re a perfectionist it’s a wee black mark against them for the Jam numbers alone & the band name. Because it kind of insinuates a Jam tribute rather than a Paul Weller one. But they do state on their posters they are a tribute to Paul Weller rather than a full on Jam tribute. So they can be excused.

Who cares Hodge? Okay the actual set was a good mixture of tunes not playing the Jam numbers in album order was good. I’d personally have preferred a full Jam set, but I suppose they are advertised as a Tribute to Paul Weller. And as I’ve always said it’s not down to my personal taste it’s what Joe Public likes. And Mr Public seemed to really, really enjoy the night.

Well I asked a good few of my old mates who were Jam fans in the 80’s. We all came to the same conclusion. Yeah they were okay, pretty good but not outstanding. However the crowd in the hall seemed to enjoy them a lot more than us boring old perfectionists did.

Would I personally go and see them again? No, & not because they were bad. Far from it they were pretty good. I just personally don’t like much of what Mr. Weller did after 82. And I’m a three piece perfectionist.

Should anyone who likes The Jam & Paul Weller & is not as much of an auld grumpy git like me go & see them? Oh definitely. They are a wee touch too loud tho,’ but pretty good all the same. If you like Paul Weller, I think you’d like the New Age Jam.

If you’re a Jam perfectionist? I think you’d find them okay, not the worst out there by a long mile. But not the best either, I still think the Jamm are probably tops for Jam tributes.

But all in all, yeah a pretty good night. Oh and well done to Peter Middleton on the sound desk.

 

Skool Rock - Various acts Craigiebield Hotel Sat 28th August

I get invited to quite a lot of gigs doing this website. Often I don’t really want to go I’d rather stay in & watch the telly. Thank goodness I chose to go out tonight to help support a friend & work colleague Ross McVie of Rayne. What a totally enjoyable & eye opening evening.

All the lads of Rayne along with the likes of Gary Oliver have done more for local music than any other band I know. Tonight was no exception Rock Skool a rock night for 12 – 18 year olds. Giving young bands an opportunity to play a local venue.

Any youngster under 16 had to be accompanied by an adult. So there were a good few mum’s, dads & big brothers & sisters about. Did everyone behave? Of course they did! Not one bit of trouble, everyone was happy & sober. By the look on their faces (well maybe not the Emo’s) they all seemed to really enjoy the night.

Rayne opened the night with the addition of Trish singing with the lads. What a really pleasant good set they did. Trish & Ross actually sounded great together. Should be done a bit more often lads. It was a nice surprise.

I was totally amazed at the level of skill of the young bands. They could have put to shame some of the bands I’ve seen in the last few years doing this site. There dedication & obvious loads of rehearsals that really showed off the work that had been put in. I don’t think there was one bad band on the night.

Now I know I shouldn’t say this but there was one young lad tonight who actually shone above the rest. That was the singer of Electro Circuit. Now as much as everyone & I mean everyone, gave their all tonight. This young lad really is a gifted singer. Good band behind him too. I’m a bit of a Muse fan & these lads played Knights Of Cydonia. Excuse the language but bloody hell, I know older lads who wouldn’t even attempt that one. And they did a fantastic cover, the young singer has a voice many years his senior. What’s more he actually sang the songs, didn’t shout, sang. I was very, very impressed. I really think that he would show up three quarters of the band singers in the area just now. That’s how good this youngster was.

As for the rest of the bands a HUGE thanks for the night. I’m 46 almost 47 (12 days time, don’t send presents send money!), & it brought me right back to being a teenager myself.

The bands were No Need (great set lads, you have the Spirit of 1979 height of New Wave), Disposable Heroes, another great tight band, loud, fast & one to watch, was well impressed. The Revenue, another great set well done lads, you're really getting better every time I see you. Bottom of the Night, I’m not putting you down lads so please don't think I am please take this as advice not criticism (that goes to any mums dads etc of the lads too, I'm not putting down the lads. Because there's loads of raw energy & skill there. Just needs a tiny weenie touch of refining); you did extremely well, but possibly a wee bit more rehearsing on your set pieces. Just to tighten what you’re trying to do. Because you’ve got the look the energy, and the attitude as well. I know there's loads of bands with attitude out there. But what they all have in common is a tightness of sound that comes from practice, practice & more practice. And listen to older musicians too they can honestly help, especially when setting up (I know that it sounds condescending, but they've all been gigging for years & know the equipment back to front). Lastly Electro Circuit, well I said it all above, but don’t go getting big headed over this. This is not the big music press it’s only a local website & only one old mans opinion. I certainly no Simon Cowell or would want to be.

Over all a very high standard of musicianship from such a young set of lads. If it happens again I really would advise anyone who enjoys music to go along. Who knows you might be seeing a fledgling superstar in the making.

If I've got the band names wrong let me know, cos it was fellow old farts that told me who's who!

Rayne with Trish Disposable Heroes The Revenue
Electro Circuit Bottom of the Night No Need

 

 

 

To Hell & Back Meat Loaf tribute Penicuik Town Hall 27th June

Mmm I pondered quite some time in whether I should write this or not. As you can see I came to the decision that I’d write.I’m not going to be as harsh as a lot of people wanted me to be. But what I’ll try & do is put forward as honest a review as I can.

The sponsors of most of the tribute bands to have played the Town Hall have spoiled us over the years. We’ve had great live music “bands” playing here. “Pete Loaf” being one of them, which I would say was a whole Meat Loaf experience. I’m afraid that Pete made “to Hell & Back” tribute seem very much an inferior product. The problem being for the sponsors they have to go on what the acts send them, or on their websites & their reviews. If you go to “Hell & Back” (www.meatloaf.org) own website you get wonderful reviews & great tracks. So yeah I’d probably have been taken in too. So we can’t blame the sponsors for the night, so don’t go giving them a hard time. They have, & are bring a whole load of great bands to the town.

Listening to the performers tonight I’m afraid I was extremely suspicious from the very start. Because there was no band & the two singers were singing along to backing tracks. Not a great start for me personally as I much prefer live music. But I thought “come on Craig give them a chance”. However because every song I heard had so much reverb on it. And the vocals were far too perfect at times; I had a sneaking suspicion that there was an awful lot of miming going on. Don’t get me wrong the vocals were good at times. The woman especially, but it was friends who put forward a couple of issues.

1.    The woman singing was waving her microphone about at times, but the vocals were strong & you never got any fading of her voice. You would have I she was singing 100% live.

2.    They wouldn’t use the Town Halls own P.A. system, where our sound engineers could have balanced the sound for them. Why not? Well if you're singing to a pre-recorded track could have been one of the reasons. Only supposition not fact, so don’t go quoting me.

I do think they actually did sing on the night. I don’t think it was all miming but I have my OWN suspicions & they are my OWN, I do think they did sing along. And they most probably have really decent voices. But with the reverb on, on all the songs I listened to it was very hard to tell. And if there was backing vocals on track it would mask any real vocals. Sing along to your favourite music yourself you’ll see what I mean.

I actually came away because as I said earlier I personally prefer a live band. However I did go back to speak to a whole load of friends who stayed to the end. I unfortunately never got one good bit of feedback on the whole night. I can’t write what people actually said but it involved the word defecation in its most colloquial form.

To give Hell & Back there dues, they did try to give a proper Meat Loaf experience. But the phoney American accent didn’t really work. Or trying to do the real Meat Loaf vapid chauvinistic stage humour (which is all part of his act). Didn’t really work either, it detracted from the actual singing. There’s only one Meat so he’d have been much better just being his self in-between numbers. I think the audience would have liked that better. I also think they most probably have very good voices too. But too much reverb on the tracks you couldn’t get a good feeling for there voices. It might have just been the Penicuik audience; we’re much more used to bands than backing tracks. I think possibly to Hell & Back would be better on a club circuit rather than a musical venue. They’re much more of a “Stars in your eyes” type act than anything else.

I’m sure there were probably people in the hall that enjoyed the night. And I don’t think any of the sponsors should be blamed. This act was booked on faith, & they weren’t cheap to book either. It’s not cheap to organise all the events they do, & we should thank them for bring music back to the Town Hall. There are a few really good live bands coming in the next few months. So if you were disappointed in tonight’s performance you’ll not be in the next few. They’ve just about all played here before to rave reviews.

Personally I was a bit disappointed on tonight. I’m not a Meat Loaf fan but I’ll give every performer a chance. And I genuinely love when an act comes on playing music I don’t normally listen changes my mind. I’m afraid To Hell & Back didn’t change my mind tonight. But because it doesn’t matter what I like it’s what the audience likes. The dozen or so people I talked to all had one common theme. They didn’t think he was as good as Pete Loaf, & they didn’t like the fake accent or attempts at real Meat Loaf humour.

Reply from Dean (the performer):

I found your review of our performance to be biased, and slanderous and downright amateur! 

I dont know who you are and to be honest i dont really  care . 

First thing your slagging us off then in the next breath your saying the vocals were that good we had to be miming !! You then go on to say Peatloaf is better , well he would be he is from Scotland!!! Peat in my opinion is f***ing dreadful , yes he is good if you like your meat loaf sounding like Billy Conolly!!!   

All our vocals are live, we didnt use the in house pa because it was sh*te! , there was no top end to it , and it distorted like hell at any reasonable volume, I suspect this is the reason for your misguided review. Do you really think I wanted to lug 6 large speakers up 2 flights of stairs! if the in house system was good enough ? 

For the record we took 4 private bookings on the night, sold 11 CDS !! Had loads of nice comments from many people , quite a lot saying i blew peatloaf out the water, which isnt really difficult, i suggest you check his youtube videos against mine to see for yourself, the ones of him in benidorm are awful to say the least!! 

The quotes about the american accent are again laughable , as for being chauvenist again you obviously havnt seen a live Meat Loaf show! 

The hospitality at the venue was sh*te and  we were made to feel as welcome as a fart in a space suit, i think you like most reviewers have an hidden agenda what that maybe again i dont give a f**k, we have had lots of great reviews about the show at penecuik  town hall, see our guestbook!! 

WE HAVE HAD MANY FANTASTIC NIGHTS IN sCOTLAND OVER THE YEARS  

We have always had great reviews , obviously your a peatloaf fan so your racist review dosent really bother me!  

EUROPES NO1 MEAT LOAF TRIBUTE!!

If you have a good review, anyone out there who was at the Town Hall I'll publish it. For the sake of a proper balanced outlook. I'll not publish anymore bad points of the evening so please don't send them.

I did point out to Dean in an email I'm neither a Racist (my girlfriend is both English & Black) or even a Peat Loaf or Meat Loaf fan. It was a review on what I thought of the nights performance, & what more than a dozen people said to me afterwards. I'm genuinely sorry Dean feels the way he does. And I was more than pleased to post his reply.

However he must realise that we are in Penicuik more used to live musicians (as in guitars, drums etc). And he is not always going to be told how great he is. You have to take the good with the bad in this life. As I said I wrote what people said to me & not just two or three people either. It was more like 15 to 20.

You can check out his website guestbook & see the reviews if you feel I wasn't fair. Or better still write a review & I'll publish it (send your full name don't worry I'll not publish it).

 

T9 in the Car Park 6th June 2009

Due to a bout of food poisoning I couldn’t manage to get to the event till 2pm. We’ll not go into full details, let’s just say upset tummy & leave it at that. I only managed to stay till just after 5pm so I’m afraid I missed a few bands. But what I saw was absolutely great, not a bad band in the selection. 

Despite it probably being the coldest day in June, with intermittent showers. It was a great event. The sound was by the irrepressible Gary Oliver & it was top notch.  

I walked in on 21Grams set. What a great band! Not my normal type of music but I was well impressed. I believe they’re from Glasgow, check them out if you get the chance. I think you’ll be quite impressed, good hard rock band. 

The Remedy was pretty impressive too. Saw them a couple of years ago & they were good then. But I think they’ve improved even more. Even a song sung in a slightly too high key made everyone laugh. Because the singer stopped burst out laughing & started again. It actually made the set more enjoyable, because you could see the lads were really enjoying the day. Really good set. 

The Occasional Rascueduos  are old T in the Car Park familiars. Great sounds again not really my cup of tea. But extremely enjoyable & professional sound. 

Rayne, the lads who actually organise the whole thing, were fantastic. I think it was one of the tightest sets I’ve heard them play for quite some time. It’s a smaller line up these days, but I have to be honest it sounds bigger. Okay they do have the combined age of the whole of human kind foray into music. And their clothing style is more B & Q than D & G. But it’s not a fashion show (thank Cod!) it’s a music event, & I was well impressed. 

All in all what I saw was fantastic. The whole event was smoother than all the previous years. The band change overs were quick & the sound was great. Lastly the kids loved the day because they had the hall all to themselves. A bouncy castle and games, was quite jealous. Next year maybe a bouncy castle for adults?  

Stu Goodall & The Whitlocks plus guests Navaar House Hotel Fri 1st May

Stu is well known on the local musical circuit. He’s also highly respected & has an ever growing fan base. An unassuming quiet lad off stage, but genuinely one of the nicest blokes you’ll ever meet.

On stage he’s a consummated professional. He can turn his hands to just about anything. I’ve seen him play lead guitar, rhythm, mandolin & keyboards all to a very high standard. Plus he writes & produces as well! I wouldn’t be surprised in the least, if he could play the didgeridoo, balalaika, Trombone & double bass.

Tonight he was accompanied by two fantastic guitarists Rodrigo Braga & Ant Law, Anna on violin, backing vocals & lead vocals too. Plus of course Steve (bass) & Tony (drums). What a cracking combination. Totally mind blowing musicians all of them. If you like a bit of jazz, seriously check out Ant’s website.  

The actual set was probably one of most mixed musical styles I’ve heard in Penicuik in a long time. Everything from Survivor, Queen, Bon Jovi to Phil Collins, Paolo Nutini & Coldplay. Basically something for everyone. And not a bad execution in any of them all played excellently. Stu even got the thumbs up from his biggest fan, his mum!

I haven’t seen a crowd enjoy a small session like this in a long time. I don’t think there was one person who didn’t enjoy the night.  

I you haven’t seen Stu or the fantastic Whitlocks, seriously go along & check them out. Stu has a new website www.stugood.co.uk check it out. And pop along to give him support. You'll be going along to see the birth of a new musical talent on the circuit.   

Extremely enjoyable night a good 10/10.

Jam in the Bar, Craigiebield House Hotel Friday 7th March

I wasn’t going to write a review about tonight, I didn’t even take my camera. But when I got there and listened to the music I felt I had to write something. 

Jam in the Bar is a friendly, easy musical concept. Run by the lads from Rayne & held in the bar of the Craigiebield House Hotel. It’s almost a turn up & play concept. However a couple of months in & it’s starting to get so busy you’re going to almost have to book a slot. 

Tonight they even had to bring in seats from the restaurant to seat everyone. Even then there was a few of us standing. No bad thing at all. And the selection of music was even more diverse than last months. We had the Blues, Rock, Folk & a brilliant Simon & Garfunkle duo, with fantastic harmonies, Stu Goodall, the young lads from last month of course the lads from Rayne. Plus a good half a dozen new faces.

But one of the best of the night, & to be honest he wasn’t a great singer at first. Was a bloke who got up for his FIRST ever time to sing & play guitar. But the sheer enthusiasm & the way he came across as really enjoying his self. It was totally infectious. He came off stage telling us he’d never sung into a mic before or play live. He was so high on adrenaline that if you had put a string round his leg. You could have floated him as a balloon. It was fantastic! And the set he played was great, really good.

Coming a very close second was an older bloke doing a couple of classic Folk numbers. He was brilliant, & funny. He started into Whisky in the Jar & shouted at everyone “Sing”. It was hilarious, & got everyone behind him straight away.  

All in all I think Rayne & The Craigiebield have a winning concept going here. However if it gets anymore successful I think they’ll have to think about having it in the actual hall.  

So if you like live music & a pint at a good price too. Go along to the Craigiebield first Friday of the month. You’ll enjoy it. Oh but go along early so you get a seat!

Jam in the Bar Craigiebield House Hotel Friday 6th Feb

Sometimes it’s a genuine pleasure to do a review, & tonight was one of them. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again. Penicuik has a real wealth of musical talent. Not only that we have a strong experienced core of musicians who actively support the up & coming bands & singers. Ross McVie, Ian Hunter, Chris Stenhouse, Mark Anderson, Kenny Archibald & Gary Oliver can all be found regularly at these events. Whether they’re actually organising, encouraging or just playing along for the pleasure of it. These lads are rarely acknowledged for their contribution to the Penicuik scene. But without this core of talented musicians I don’t really think the younger bands would have had the opportunities to be heard by the Penicuik populous. So as a mere spectator & hopefully a friend of these lads, can I say thank you for organising & encouraging the burgeoning music scene in Penicuik.

The venue was the Craigiebield House Hotel. Which in my humble opinion is one of the nicer venues in the town. It has a really nice relaxed cosy atmosphere.

Anyway tonight was a Jam in the Bar night, basically an open mic evening. Now I’m going to be terrible here I can’t remember any of the names of the young bands I saw. Sorry. But they all were very good. There was a raw talent that made me smile. I think most of the mums & dads were well chuffed too!

We also had a great mixture of musical styles. Everything from Eagles numbers to the blues to a bit of Green Day. Smashin! Oh & we had a first tonight as. Gary Olivers 8 year old daughter sang a couple of songs, with her dad playing guitar. She was fantastic, the musical dynasty begins!!!! If Gary & Lesley give me permission I’ll see what I can do to add the wee video I took to the site. (Gary send me an email I've lost your address & I'll send the photo's & video)

I’d genuinely encourage anyone to go along & have a listen. It’s not like the days of yore when at an open mic you had certain bands hogging the mic. It’s a couple of numbers from each. Then if there’s time everyone gets another shot. So you get a real good selection of talent.

Yeah well done everyone I’ll see you in March.

 
 
 
   

 

 

Saturday 31st January - Charity Gig featuring Flat Oot & Strange Affair

This was a Charity Gig organised by Jennie Anderson in aid of SENSE. Jennie will be running in the London Marathon & this was a fund raising event for the Marathon.

I believe Strange Affair haven't been together that long. But I can tell you what a great singer, really good voice. I was told he's in a Wishbone Ash tribute act. I can't corroborate this but it does make sense. I think they enjoyed themselves, & my ears did too.

Strange Affair

Flat Oot is my mates band & they're dead gid! I'm no just saying that because he's a friend. To put you in the picture I was good friends with the lead guitarist over 18 years ago. He was rubbish on the guitar then, he used to strum away badly to all my favourite tracks. Well I'm really please to say that practice does make perfect. I was gob smacked! Well done Stig (Stevie White). What a sensational singer Clare is too. Really good rockin' band, just what the doctor ordered for the first review.

Flat Oot

Huge thanks to Jennie & the bands for a great night. Oh there might be a few clips on You Tube if I can work out how to cut up the video I made. I'll let you know via the News Page