Wide Days, Wet Nights – Made in Scotland Gigs presented by Wide Days (Review)

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A taster session. Like a flight of whiskies or craft beer, enough to give you good ideas, not enough to definitively make up your mind. Crucially though, more than enough for a great night.

That was the premise of the Wide Days and Made In Scotland event, eight acts in total, crammed into three nearby venues in Edinburgh. Wide Days and wet nights, all the better to stay indoors, and if you are venturing outside, keep the distances short.

Bikini Body opened proceedings. All bounce, yelp and scream, as much theatre as song, all wrestling for supremacy. They feel like a band who’ll be liked for many different reasons, but only a select few will adore every aspect. Which isn’t a bad thing, and considering they were on first, they know how to get a room going – arm-waving, singing along, a keen fanbase already forming.

The same is true for Dara Dubh, with punters standing in the rain in the hope of hearing her, and maybe squeezing into Sneaky Pete’s. It was a lively show, packed full of saucy pirate quips, rapping, hip-hop, spoken word moments, synth-pop and a lot of friendly chat. With a new album coming, Dara is due her props.

Promo for these events featured the line Your Future Headliners. All of the acts will headline and sell out gigs in their own right. But if we’re talking about scale, maybe becoming the type of act mentioned during lunch break or by relatives, Fright Years are probably the best bet of this line-up.

So much modern music feels ’80s influenced but this mob are unapologetically commercial in their aim. Simple Minds and Texas are your Scottish blueprints for songs that soar, continually reaching upwards. Once they weave in a few explosions at the end of these builds, Fright Years will go far. And high. Obviously a lot of focus falls on the powerful vocals of Jules Kelly, but special mention must go to bassist CJ for outrageous ’80s-esque struts and facepulls that would have graced any Top of the Pops from that decade.

The proximity of the venues worked perfectly, but it added to the demand for some of the acts.

The smooth sounds of Cathal Murphy had Bannerman’s sweating at the seams, the early part of his show reliant on jazz, as opposed to the funk banner he was billed under. You could easily close your eyes and convince yourself it was Unknown Mortal Orchestra or the calmer moments of Tame Impala – a pretty good return considering you were in the backroom of an Edinburgh pub. Seemed a good lad with the chat too.

Then there was Helicon. Wondering how they’d handle a 25-minute set was reason alone to push up, and they didn’t disappoint, chiming and droning in a way that connects easily. It wasn’t the set they’ll drop at King Tuts in September, but there was more serenity than you’d expect from the gang. The mood suited ‘Permo’ perfectly, blissfully gliding along, snaking around a crowd that grew larger, and closer to the front, with every song.

Haiver was the final act, the final refuge from the downpours and the wind. There’s no denying the history draws many people to them, with a lot of well-wishes in there too, but the songs stand in their own right. The Scottishness spills through every song, marrying melancholy, realism and hope in near-equal measure. Like Fright Years, you expect them to feature prominently on major line-ups in the next few years.

Three venues and eight acts in less than four hours meant something had to give — clashing sets and packed rooms meant Azamiah and Tom Campbell Trio didn’t make it into this review, through no fault of their own.

You can’t control the weather, nor which way people walk in front of you as you dart across Edinburgh during the Fringe, but if this is the range and quality of acts being served up in Scotland these days, things can’t be all that bad.

Made In Scotland Gigs

All photos: Andy Reilly