Saturday 28 September 2024.

Saturday 28 September 2024. SKIPINNISH live at Shepherds Bush Empire. One of Scotland's most beloved traditional music bands will play a milestone performance in London, marking the band's biggest ever gig outside of Scotland, a highlight of their year-long 25th anniversary celebrations. They have headlined big gigs like Edinburgh Castle and Glasgow Barrowlands back home in Scotland. They are pretty much unknown in England. In the late 1990s / early 2000s there was a Scottish band called RUNRIG who were big in Scotland , but not so much in England. I saw them four times at Hammersmith Odeon from 1989, when i worked front of stage security at Hammersmith Odeon --------------------- Level 2 is half empty and Level 3 is closed tonight. Maybe 1000/1200 tix sold. A couple of kilts were spotted in this crowd , that would mostly I presume have Scottish connections . JAMES STEWART came on at 7.50pm for 40 mins. Scottish singer-songwriter and his guitar, struggled a bit with so many folks chatting loudly , but a nice cover of 'Dirty Old Town' quietened them down a bit. SKIPINNISH were on at 9pm for 1 hour 45 mins. They opened up with a bagpipes led song. For some songs there are ten musicians on stage, including TWO bagpipers . There’s something of The Pogues feel about them at their most poetic, the yearning for a mythical Celtic land, as whistle, fiddle, guitar , bagpipes and accordion join in the drum propelled Scottish folk anthems. While the music ticked along nicely, the Scottish crowd were amazing , as the stalls are swaying and jigging away all the way back to the mixing desk. Arms around each other, and on top of friends shoulders , and singing loudly along. Even when the band finished , and the house lights went up, for a further 10 mins then crowd were singing Scottish anthems like ' The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond' until security had to get a loudhailer to get them to exit the venue. ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Friday 27 September 2024. FURNACE AND THE FUNDAMENTALS live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Lively Australian party covers band are back in London after selling out The Electric Ballroom . Musical chameleons with a sense of humour, the band is tight, energetic and engaging. Furnace and the Fundamentals are guaranteed to live up to their reputation as the most epic, ridiculous & energetic party band ever. ----------- Levels 2 and 3 are closed , and plenty of space in Stalls and Level 1 so maybe only 600 or 700 folks here . An indication of how the evening will proceed , is that the support act is two rubber dolls for a DJ battle , elbowing each other etc , which was pretty funny. FURNACE AND THE FUNDAMENTALS arrived on stage at 9pm for their 1 hour 45 mins set. Six of them in stage in matching jacket , shirt ,.tie. A bit ambitious for a covers band to play this venue, but they are are a full on party band who know how to put a good show on , that had everyone dancing and singing and smiling all through the evening. The songs are all classic pop from the last 50 years , although most seem to be from the 1980s. Some are a minute long and some are full length. There is a big screen showing original artists music videos as well as their own comedy skits. The band are moving around the stage non-stop . The crowd are dancing and singing non-stop. The confetti cannons start pretty early, and 20 mins in , we get 'Its Raining Men' and a dozen male plastic blow up dolls are thrown down on to the crowd from Level 2, along with 100 balloons. The pyros are going off often too. We get great versions of ' Teenage Dirtbag' and 'Tiny Dancer', along with Bon Jovi , Blur, Oasis, Beatles ,Nirvana, Shania Twain etc. After 85 mins the singer is sat astride an inflatable Swan as it floats over the audience heads. We have a conga for 'Hot,Hot,Hot' and the final song of the main set is 'Sweet Caroline' which took the roof off, and the encore was 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. They were very entertaining indeed. If you were getting married and had some spare cash for the ideal wedding party band, then this lot would be perfect.

Posted 28th September 2024