Bill Bailey : En Route to Normal, Playhouse

 Two hours of Bill Bailey and my chest muscles ached.  That's the best possible sign of a good comedy gig.

Of course he walked on to huge applause from a sold out Playhouse audience, desperate for live entertainment, as we still are after the past couple of years.  But he immediately endeared himself further with a five minute rant about eh UKGov cabinet and the bizarre nature of it's occupants.  Truss as the human incarnation of Error 404 struck the perfect note.  He loathed them all, and so does Scotland, so he was on safe territory.  A Boris randomiser popped up from time to time as a reminder.

While his stated primary theme was the return to some kind of post pandemic normal, and the subject did keep cropping up, the show is largely a vehicle for Bailey's surreal imagination and musical inventiveness, kept fresh through audience interaction.  Subjects included saving the Polynesian tree snail, a musical about cockneys climbing Everest, skydiving in Oz with a forgetful fan, adapting pop and rock songs to a ragtime style, a French Eurovision entry and the awkwardness of meeting Chris Martin after slagging him off.  Every story carries the listener into some alternative universe, every musical episode shows off his skills.  There are some deeper moments, on the reality distortion of fame and threats to biodiversity, there if you want to find them.  But the roller-coaster of laughs always remains dominant.

His achievements on Strictly got a mention, and it's clear how much his innate musicality and gift for physical humour must have been assets.  Five stringed instruments, three percussion, three keyboards, a theremin and an iphone.  A tableful of cowbells and an array of car horns.  Music dominates the Bailey universe, and if he doesn't have the greatest of singing voices his diction makes sure the lyrics aren't lost, while his playing is often impressive.  Who couldn't love Nessun  Dorma on cow bells?

I'd love to be able to pick up on some faults, to demonstrate that I was being a critic.  But I was laughing far too much for that.  

 

Frigg, TradFest, Traverse

 A fun-loving, frolicsome Finnish folk formation, with a four fiddle frontline. Behind the bowing quartet there's upright bass, guitar and cittern/mandolin. Undeniably Nordic in style, but, even in the material written by the band, pulling in influences from all over.  Asturian folk tunes, AC DC inspired rock, bluegrass and Scottish music, all mixed into a complex interplay between the fiddlers, and constantly changing rhythms from the back three.  Exuberant, funny, and keen to get the audience involved, Frigg are wonderful entertainment.

Come All Ye, Tradfest, Traverse

 The gig opened with Phil Alexander and the Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin' Big Band. Phil on accordion, two other tutors on fiddle, 3 kids on fiddle plus flute, harp, guitar and bass. A nervy start suggested this might be something to be endured. But that soon gave way to enjoyment, with some good solos on flute and harp. Promising group.

The Come All Ye project was started by Phil as a celebration of the diversities of culture in modern Scotland. featuring new compositions mixed with folk tunes from around the globe, the band featured Phil, an Englishman with Polish roots, and musicians from Brazil, India, Jamaica, Nigeria, China, Hungary and Kurdish Syria. With Mr Alexander playing piano and accordion, there was a huge mix of stringed and percussive instruments, both the familiar and the strange to our Scots eyes, and excellent vocals from the three women in the line up (representing Jamaica, Nigeria and China). An incredible mix of styles and sounds melding together, giving the whole show a sense of unpredictability and built in excitement. Highlights included the middle eastern tones of the oud, and a Chinese song that increased in intensity and speed as it built up. Wonderful stuff.