The Edinburgh International Festival is expanding this year, with sixteen consecutive gig nights being hosted for the first time ever at the Leith Theatre.
Dubbed ‘Light On The Shore’, the programme will run the full creative gamut from folk to indie and punk to electro to krautrock, and has been curated (we’re assured) by “those at the coalface of Scottish popular music.”
Well then.
In terms of lineup there’s some heavy-hitters involved: The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai, King Creosote, Django Django, Joan as Policewoman, Anna Meredith & Southbank Sinfonia, and excitingly Michael Rother from krautrock titans Neu!
The dates, which will run from August 9 – 25, will mark the long anticipated return of Festival activities to Leith, a part of the city very much associated with artists and the modern creative scene.
“Many of the bands that are programmed will have found their band mates, collaborators and colleagues in Scottish communities like Leith.” says the press release.
“With that, Light on the Shore aims to celebrate the art of community, collaboration and music-making; embracing the synergy of the Scottish music scene.”
The Leith Theatre itself is a fine symbol of the area’s resurgence. When the burgh of Leith was forcibly merged into the larger city administration around 1920, the theatre was presented to the people of Leith as a gift. It ceased operation in 1988, but reopened last summer as a hub for local creatives to put on shows and network.
Light on the shore will kick off on August 9 with a performance from King Creosote (plus special guests) and wrap up in glorious fashion on August 25 with actor Alan Cumming’s lively, ribald ‘Club Cumming’.
Full line-up below. Tickets are avialable from the EIF website
09 August, 7pm King Creosote with special guests
10 August, 7pm Django Django + C Duncan + Happy Meals
11 August, 7pm Anna Meredith + Southbank Sinfonia present ‘Varmints’
11 August, 10.30pm Numbers Showcase + special guests
12 August, 7pm, Neu! Reekie! presents Michael Rother (Neu!) + Fire Engines + Lydia Lunch
13 August, 7pm Celtic Connections presents Le Vent du Nord + Julie Fowlis
14 August, 7pm Hidden Door presents The Jesus & Mary Chain + Honeyblood + Spinning Coin
16 August, 7pm Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook
17 August, 7pm Neu! Reekie! presents The Vaselines + The Pastels + Linton Kwessi Johnson
18 August, 7pm, Lau-Land with Joan As Police Woman + LAU + Nadah El Shazly + Rona Lightfoot and Brighde Chaimbeul + James Holden with Animal Spirits + Alasdair Roberts + Whitburn Brass
21 August, 7pm The GRIT Orchestra presents Martyn Bennett’s Bothy Culture
22 August, 7pm Mogwai
23 August, 7pm Mogwai
24 August, 7pm Carla J Easton presents Since Yesterday with Sacred Paws + Bossy Love + The Van Ts
25 August, 4.30pm s t a r g a z e present Boards of Canada’s first EP Hi Scores
25 August, 10pm Club Cumming with Alan Cumming
