Touring With Saskwatch

First Show - Late 'N' Live - Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Rolling into Edinburgh Airport after 36 hours of traveling, no sleep, and more than a couple of beverages; we're all in high spirits. It's been a huge year for Saskwatch, and everyone can't wait to hit up sunny (wait...) Edinburgh.

Piling nine people (along with appropriate luggage, instruments and our manager Bernadette) into three taxis, we head off to find our accommodation, only to end up at the wrong address, on the wrong side of town, due to various accent misinterpretations. Ah well, mood is still high when we arrive at our luxurious apartment in Lothian Rd, Leith. 

With everyone's internal body clock already out of sync, we decide to hit the town. Visits to more than a few of Edinburgh's late night joints result in the inevitable: Sam Boon serenading the natives with his spellbinding version of Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street on his Alto Saxophone well after sunrise. Bed. Show Day. For our first week in Edinburgh, we're playing the historic Late 'N' Live slot night after night. Late 'N' Live, now in it's 26th year at the Edinburgh Festival is the most notorious of all late night comedy at the Fringe.

Involving two hours of comedy from 1-3am (a mix of world famed and up-and-coming comedians), followed by two hours straight of music (us) from 3-5am. It has been a proving ground for comedians worldwide since inception, and the crowd is a notoriously brutal one, devouring comedians whole, and completely derailing even the most experienced ones. But it has also been a measuring stick for bands as well, most notably in Australia for our own Cat Empire (who slayed Late 'N' Live for three successive years in the early 2000's). 

So understandably we're all feeling a little nervous watching some comedy, and preparing for the show. It's also somewhat of a new experience (despite the musician's late night stereotype) to be playing a show at 3am. Apart from playing Melbourne's Pony 2am slot once, I've never really encountered any show as late as this.

After seeing an unnamed comedian slaughtered mid-set at the hands of “Eddie” in the front row, who after stealing the microphone from the comedian and rallying the crowd to chant “Eddie, Eddie” - he saluted his victory and the comedy was over; we were on. 

Playing a surprisingly supportive audience, we went over quite well. Highlights including George from Cheers being in the audience, Nic emptying a prop fire extinguisher on band members, a rider of Fosters and actually making it through the painstaking two-hour set. One down, Six to go... 

Album Release Day

Friday August 17. Album release day. After a hectic week of playing at Late 'N' Live, sleeping patterns are fractured at best, but luckily the shows have been building night to night, gradually gaining momentum despite the insanely late hour. The festival is in full swing, with literally thousands of shows, be it comedy, theatre or music, on around the clock - and adding to it, it's our album release day...Vibe is up.

Recorded live to tape at Woodstock Studios in Melbourne with good friend Cam Trewin earlier in 2012, our first record Leave It All Behind'has been nearly three years in the making; beginning from loose busking sessions outside of Melbourne's iconic Flinders St Station gradually forging our own material over countless shows in the last few years. So naturally we're excited to be finally putting it out! To celebrate, we head to the park for a party in the rare Edinburgh sun, put on by our new friend Simon. Downing a few Red Stripes in the sunshine and listening an eclectic mix of Tropicalia, Salsa and Cumbia from an amazing customized golf cart/DJ booth, all is good in the world. 

Back to work 

Inspired by our recent shows with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and in an attempt to woo some would-be punters down to the shows, we've go back to our old ways, and busk on the street with the four horn players and drum-kit, playing stripped down instrumental numbers to passers by. It's been really amazing the difference it makes, with people coming up and saying hello, buying a CD and then ultimately coming down to one (or most) shows.

Late 'N' Live's large comedy programme means that in preparation for each show that night we only have a quick line check earlier in the day, and as soon as the comedy concludes, we're thrust into our first number. Production-wise it isn't ideal, but aided by some great venue staff, it's a great attitude and camaraderie that happens to make the best show possible. The show that night is solid, the long two hour set is a really good chance to road test new material as well as thrash out a couple of old favourites - finding out what is good and what isn't. The night (morning) ending in the now ritual wait for Tesco's to open at 6am for an early breakfast and bedtime. 

Back at The Spiegeltent

Halfway through our little UK jaunt, we switch our attention to playing another week of shows, this time at The Famous Spiegeltent. Built in Belgium in 1920, the tent is one of a series made in the early 20th century and used as traveling venue for places that didn't have major halls. The tent is actually the reason we are in Edinburgh in the first place. We played at the venue in Melbourne during their last season, and were invited over to the Fringe as a result. For those newcomers, The Spiegeltents, literally “Mirror Tent” is a spectacularly glamourous and decorative venue, steeped in a long tradition of cabaret and music. For me, it is simply one of my favourite venues to play in the world. 

So understandably, everyone is in high spirits about returning to the tent. As we play the first couple of shows (this time in the more body-clock friendly time of 5pm) fortunately the crowds continue to grow day to day. With 10 minute changeovers, shuffling the acts in and out, the camaraderie of the staff and performers and as well as the other Australian acts over here as well (Flap, Mikelangelo), the atmosphere really is a supportive and positive experience. 

Apart from a few technical glitches (reverb units that don't work, broken pedals and trumpets), the shows start off virtually without a hitch and it's hard not to feel comfortable playing night in, night out in such an amazing space.

Club Shows + More

As the festival has gone on, we've received more and more offers for shows at various club nights and other festival shows. Most days we have been doing two or three shows with the occasional rest day thrown in. We've played a few shows for the BBC compound set up at the festival, on top of the Spiegel shows, stripped back acoustic shows and busking.

Probably the highlight for me though has been the opportunity to play a handful of shows at some of Edinburgh's music clubs. I've always heard so much about the UK's vibrant soul/funk club nights, but it was great to actually be involved, and in a couple of cases, play shows very similar to those we have been doing at various venues back home. 

One such night was the 'Favela' night at The Bongo Club where our new friend Francis brought us in for his night. Despite a false start where Tom (our bass player) broke a string to a crowd of 300, didn't have a spare, and rushed off to get a replacement...we restarted 10 minutes later and it literally brought the house down. For me it was such a great event, as I couldn't believe we'd come halfway across the world and could experience shows like that in a totally foreign place. Edinburgh, what a city.  

End of the tour

After a whirlwind three weeks and a grueling but rewarding 20+ shows in Edinburgh, it was time to move down to London for the final show of the tour. But not before struggling to climb Arthur's Seat just on the outskirts of the city, and then going to see Paul and Dan Kelly play as a part of the festival. The intimate show in Queens Hall was really special, with incredible interpretations of Paul's songs and Dan's great guitar work - very inspiring to see half way across the world. The following Spiegeltent afterparty was terrific was well. But on to London via train.

Our show was at Bedroom Bar in hipster central Shoreditch, East London. A really nice place, it was great to see the bar packed with friends and friends of friends over here coming down to see the show - which was another highlight on a tour full of them.

Huge thanks to everyone that helped us out in the UK: David and The Famous Spiegeltent, Late 'N' Live, Francis, Simon and everyone we forgot! We'll be back next year for sure. Sweet times!

www.saskwatch.com.au