Musicalmidget’s Blog

I’ve been back from Edinburgh a few days now and I’m already looking forward to next year. The fringe was fantastic and I along with the rest of the band had a fantastic time. We played 10 performances in total at City Nightclub, plus another three short promotional shows out on The Royal Mile and a rather pointless session at Festival Square where a whole four people were around to watch us. Nevermind.

Audience numbers grew as the trip went on and we reached three figures on a number of ocassions, although we sadly only got 99 on a particular night. Doh! A fantastic 160 came to see us though at our final performance that was certainly one of the best of the trip not only because of the number of people in the venue but also the atmosphere during the night.

We had a reviewer from Three Weeks in the audience on one of the earlier shows. We’ve only just found the review. You can read it below.

Fancy a dance? First couple on the floor got £1.50 from the droll Yorkshire bandleader of this big band. Meanwhile, the meaty line-up delivered gutsy trumpet, saxes, trombones, wild-man drums, keyboards and bass. This was an hour of big band bliss with a trumpet section screaming with testosterone. No vocals, but they romped through everything from funk to bossa nova - including favourites ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Birdland’ - with such verve the ballads didn’t miss a singer. And there were funny moments too - like when one of the saxophonists raised her hand when the leader asked “Anyone here from Hull?” The club venue, with dance floor, tables and bar, set the scene perfectly for this dance band of delights. Other university music departments should be gnashing their teeth with envy.

I took along my new digital camera although to be honest I didn’t get many photographs. A small selection have been uploaded to the gallery however. No, I’m not on any of them in this selection. Yes, that’s intentional.

Is that hill supposed to be on fire?

Lot’s of people enjoying the heat in Princes Park. We were able to do the same on our last day!

Half the band performing at Festival Square. As you can see, it was such a busy place that the audience we’re fighting for seats!

The full band performing at City Nightclub. If you look closely, you can see my empty chair.

Bring on Edinburgh Fringe 2007!

Tomorrow I’ll be going away for ten days on a trip that’s been in the planning since early in the year. The big band from university will be heading off to Edinburgh to play at various venues around the festival time. There’s obviously lots of performing involved, but there’s also going to be plenty of time to enjoy the delights of Edinburgh too, a city I haven’t yet been to.

I’ll be equipped with my new toy, a shiny new Kodak digital camera, a set of brand new batteries and a 1GB SD card to get as many photo’s as I can whilst away. I’ll be posting some online on my return.

So, if it seems I’ve suddenly vanished into thin air, then I’m actually just away from home. I’m hoping I’ll be able to check my emails and so on from the hostel we’re staying in, although I can’t be sure of that yet.