Electric Penelope, EdFringe 2011

I write this while sat watching London, Birmingham, Bristol and supposedly Liverpool go up in flames. So please excuse me if it is a bit shit/rambles off topic slightly.

At last, The Edinburgh Fringe 2011 is here. A whole year since the last one, too long in my view... Friday 5^th August was my first visit to brand new Edinburgh venue, The Dissecting Rooms. An old university veterinary school makes a very interesting place for a venue. There's an odd atmosphere when you get inside, you can sense the kind of thing that used to go on in here. The images plastered all over the walls add to that queasy feeling, which miraculously disappears after a few visits to the bar (which was less expensive than I expected to begin with, but the prices seemed to rise every time I went back for the same drink, odd ey). I'm sure it'll become a Fringe favourite over the coming years.

I had made the journey up to see Berwick band Electric Penelope for the first time. What a great night. After seeing the band just this once I have to say I'm totally hooked. They're offering something completely different for Berwick, something which I've never seen in a Berwick band before. Yet, I can't quite put my finger on what that is. Perhaps it's the fantastic presence lead singer Anna Emmins has on stage, Jimmy's guitar playing or the easiness they seem to have. It all seems so natural to them, especially Anna, you can tell she loves it up there by the way she chatters on between the songs. It's great. The fact I'm not really sure why I like them so much, probably makes me like them even more... I think I may have descended into talking in riddles now.

At this stage in writing this, it stopped raining, so I thought the dog would appreciate a little jaunt down to Spittal. It would also be a chance for me to get a break from the incessant coverage of the riots and looting. Strangely I bumped into Anna, and got talking about how fantastic friday was. Like her, I think the only thing that would have made it an even better night,was if more people had turned up to watch them. 

a.) Obviously more people would be introduced to this awesome band, and 

b.) the general atmosphere, and apparently also the sound would have been that little bit better.

I learned a little about acoustics while I was there you see; when you have a lot of hard surfaces (like there is in The Dissecting Rooms) the sound bounces around more, not what you want. But if you fill the place up a bit, there's more soft surfaces for the sound to be absorbed. I think. Always learning you see.

Look out for lots more from Electric Penelope on the web pages and printed pages of The Trip, specifically Issue 02. And pop down to Spittal on sunday to catch them live at the Seaside Festival too. Smashing.

Trip out.