Pop!South #2

Woog Riots! get trippy

A huge thank you to everyone who came out last night. If you didn’t, you missed some amazing music and so much fun! The bands played energetic and enthusiastic sets, while All the Rage played lots of danceable indie-pop in between. (Be sure to head down to their next night at Blackfriars on August 10th!)

Detritus from a good gig

The Italian/German duo Woog Riots started the night playing fun ‘tweelectro’ music. It’s hard to describe exactly what they play, but I think their new album title, ‘From Lo-Fi to Disco’, captures it pretty well. One of our favourite numbers was ‘Backstage Lemonade‘ written for Kimya Dawson when she got flack for bringing her daughter on tour with her.

They wore flashing disco lights and passed around glasses that made everything rainbow-tinged, to get folk in the mood for a number about taking drugs. Here’s Liam from The Glad Cafe getting into the spirit of things.

After their last song, they came down from the stage to demonstrate how their sample and synthesizer driven songs begin life—on a ukelele and singing saw! They played the last song again, unplugged. After such an interactive set, the crowd was primed for the riotous sets to follow.

But first there was a brief interlude as Karren A read from her book, The City is Ablaze, the history of her zine, Ablaze!, from the 80’s and 90’s. It’s a hefty book, filled with tons of wonderful interviews.

Then Edinburgh’s own Spook School were up. Dressed in thermals that have been adorned with coloured tape, these four have an anarchic energy about them that got most of the crowd dancing and bobbing their heads.

This is partly due to their effervescent drummer, Niall, who will attempt to give you a sweaty hug after the show.

We are super excited to be putting them on again in support of the Flatmates this October. I was pretty amused by their song ‘Can You Ever Trust A Man Who Thinks Matt Damon’s Really Cool?‘, and not just because I hail from Boston, where Matt Damon bashing is a local past-time.

Finally, our headliners, Tunabunny, were amazing! They certainly tested the sound limit of the venue (sorry, Gav) with their raucous pop. One of the lead singers, Brigette, jumped off stage early on and started playing the old piano at the side of the bar. It was an utter treat being able to put them on.

Thanks again to everyone: the bands, All the Rage, the folk at Glad, and everyone who came down to see 11 folk make some noise on a steamy Tuesday night. (If you want to see a few more photos, click here.) Hope to see everyone next Tuesday for our last gig of the month!