I think that Del Amitri’s 1989 album Waking Hours was the first CD I bought after moving to Scotland after secondary school. (It’s a long time ago.) It’s definitely an album I listened to a lot. I definitely remember listening to a tape of it on a portable cassette player on a long overnight bus ride between St. Andrews and London.
I never saw the band live until recently. My parents moved to North Berwick a few years ago, and North Berwick hosts a little offshoot of the Edinburgh Fringe festival every year: Fringe By The Sea. They’ve hosted some big (Scottish) names in the Big Top venue: Texas, Travis, and in 2024 Del Amitri. I had hoped that my parents could come along to see them as well, but the disabled access is limited and there were no suitable tickets left. My dad got me a ticket, and I went along on my own.
It was a pleasant evening in early August. I got to the Lodge Grounds way early. I was pretty much first in line when the stewards gathered people for the queue, and I got a great spot right in front of the stage. When my mental health is in a good state (i.e. not 2023/24), I like getting to a gig early and spending the time to enjoy the opening act(s), because they’re a great way to find new music I’m likely to enjoy. I’m thinking Bleu (opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket in Boston in 2003), Zoë Keating (opening for Imogen Heap in 2006), Thumpers (opening for Chvrches in 2013), etc. I can add Mandrake Handshake to that list. I don’t think they’re destined to be huge, but I loved them. They played a lush, groovy, modern psychedelic set that had me swaying along to their rich orchestration and easy rhythms. Honestly, the evening could have ended after them and I would have walked away happy.
Del Amitri came on later, and played a long, wide-ranging set full of favourites and crowd-pleasers. Lead singer Justin Currie has Parkinson’s, and from close up to the stage I could see a tremble in his hands when they weren’t actually playing his bass or holding the microphone. His voice is not as strong as it once was, but when you’ve got 2500 people in the crowd singing along to the familiar choruses, you can afford to hold back a little and roll with the room.
Set list:
- Musicians and Beer
- All Hail Blind Love
- Always the Last to Know
- Opposite View
- Kiss this Thing Goodbye
- Not Where It’s At
- Mockingbird, Copy Me Now
- Driving with the Brakes On
- Move Away Jimmy Blue
- You Can’t Go Back
- Roll to Me
- Here and Now
- Tell Her This
- Lonely
- The Ones that You Love Lead You Nowhere
- Spit in the Rain
Big encore:
- Missing Person
- Be My Downfall
- Nothing Ever Happens
- Gone in a Second
- Stone Cold Sober
Being close to the stage I got some nice photos of the bands. (I had rented a Fujifilm X-H2 for this week I was over in Scotland, because I was taking a boat trip out to the Isle of May to see the puffins and other sea birds. I didn’t have a press pass, so I didn’t bring that to the gig with me.) My favourite photo of the evening, however, turned out to be a sideways shot of a steward, lit by the setting sun falling through the open flaps of the big top tent.
