Live in Edinburgh This Week – 3rd January 2010
Why does it always seem tougher to return to work after the Christmas holidays than any other holiday? I suppose there must be something about that end of year exhalation which makes it feel like your travails are wholly and entirely finished, which makes the resumption of hostilities with normal everyday life seem like a ruder awakening than usual. Certainly, I’ve been in stranger places for much much longer and found it less of a pain when that alarm rings on Monday morning and I’ve had to drag my bloated carcass out of bed and back to the desk once more.
Still, there’s plenty of non-worky things to do as soon as I get home – eagleowl session to edit, New Year’s house gig videos to edit, promotional material for the Trips and Falls and the Maxwell Panther releases to send out… all the usual jollity! And fortunately, this particular week there seems to be little to get in the way of that. I can’t really find much happening in Edinburgh this week, as everyone’s wallets and livers attempt to emerge from the blind coma they were battered into by the Christmas period.
The Mill is going on at Cabaret Voltaire on Thursday, which is free if you are happy to surrender your mobile number and can stomach Miller lager, which is all they’ll sell you. I’ve not really heard of either band this week, so here are the MySpace pages for The Void and Penguins Kill Polar Bears (which of course they don’t because polar bears are fucking huge, and it would take a terrifyingly large swarm of penguins to bring one down – and even then it would take hours for them to peck one to death and the spectacle would be so unpleasant it doesn’t bear thinking about, frankly) so decide for yourselves.
Incidentally, I did a podcast a while back (one of the least popular of all time, funnily enough) about bands with birds’ names, but you could probably do a similar one based around bands with bear names, but I don’t know what category I’d put Penguins Kill Polar Bears in. Probably birds, seeing as the penguins seem to have the upper hand in the particular scenario their name suggests, but it’s far from clear cut.
Anyhow, my personal recommendation for the week would be to pop along to Out of the Bedroom, downstairs at the Tron on Thursday night. Out of the Bedroom is an open mic night, and as such can inevitably be a little patchy, but it’s friendly, downstairs at the Tron is actually a pretty nice place for a pint (despite the rest of the place being an unspeakable shithole) and you’ll probably find that pretty much every musician you like in Edinburgh has played there at some point or other. I used to go when my friend Scott ran the night, but I stopped when they moved to the rather unwelcoming basement of the Canon’s Gait, but seeing as they’re back somewhere nice again it would be a good time to start popping along.
The Counting Crows – Start Again
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.


You’ve never seen a ninja penguin then…
Plus, polar bears are big softies. I could take one with my back tied behind my arms.
I reckon regular penguins could take a polar bear too. They have to verbally abuse it first, weaken it, make it feel smaller. Then they’d surround it and…
They could also poison the polar bear. Penguins are clever and evil remember.
Basically, never trust a penguin.
Ahh, the one week the ‘LIVE IN EDINBURGH THIS WEEK’ post means anything to me (I’m up in Edinburgh on Thurs and Fri) and there is bugger all going on.
We’re (last battle) playing on Wed at The Jazz Bar (weirdly) on Chamber St (how are we all going to fit on that stage?) with
Freemoore, Matt Norris & The Moon and Aaron Wright & The Aprils. I know nothing of any of those guys ‘cept one of them plays alt country stuff…anyway it’s only £3 and starts at 9pm (we are on 9.45)……wheres Bart when I need him?
Bart’s been eaten by penguins.
Perhaps when they say Penguins Kill Polar Bears they mean in the same way that booze and fags kill people.
One or two in moderation and you’ll probably be okay, but if you over-indulge you’ll pay for it in the end!..
Wark on Friday, Gav?
mussels
Mussels eat penguins.
and polar bears
Apparently, the Leg and Adam Stafford are playing in the Voodoo Bar on Thursday.
That’s bar, not rooms.
It’s in Haymarket.
Apparently.
That’s the best I can do.
and barts!
That would put Bart down toward the bottom of the polar food chain, he won’t like that.
If he grew his beard back he would be invincible again. If somewhat less well camouflaged in a polar landscape. That Scottish milky-white skin tone is useful for something at least.
Happy New Year, lovelies! Nothing to say about penguins and bears and such, just making my appearance after an incredibly crazy holiday season, xoxo
Oh, and I’m happy to see that Dame Satan album on your list, Matthew. That was an unexpected surprise and one that would have made mine if I’d gotten around to it earlier. Much of my New Year’s weekend was spent in it’s company. Gorgeous thing!
Polar bears and Penguins live on opposite sides of the earth.
way to spoil the party mr. logic. douche.
I seem to remember someone being corrected in Primary 3 for drawing a Christmas card with penguins on it, for that exact same reason.
Father Christmas would be so much more awesome if his sleigh was drawn by a horde of angry polar bears. The good children get presents and the bad children get slathered in mustard and told to run for their lives!
Santa would be EVEN MORE awesome if he was real.
Stop living in the past.
Grr.
Yeah but Bart lives on opposite sides of the Earth too.
So glad that someone else shares my opinion of the Tron – unspeakable shithole indeed, never understood the popularity of the place.
Downstairs is okay though apart from the dire beer selection and the proximity to the smelly toilets – might give it a go though as OOTB can be great and I have also avoided it of late due to the Canon’s gait basement being a poor venue.
No one said Hi to Tart!
Happy new year Tart!
Happy New Year, Dylan xox
After a quick google search:
‘Wark’? Is that ‘The King’s Wark’?
There is but one true Wark.
(Yes, that’s the one Gav. The official Song, By Toad pub.)
Come on Gav, that would be ace. Best food in the city, too.
Oh and, fuck, sorry, Happy New Year Tarticles.