WRITTEN WITH THE SUPPORT OF EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
P H O T O :
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G E N E V E V E S T E V E N S O N
EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED
Lau
The Edinburgh International Festival is to take over Leith Theatre in August with a range of infl uential Scottish musicians in tow.
Arusa Qureshi looks admiringly down the bill
T racing the origins of Scotland’s contemporary music culture will take you on an eclectic and colourful journey, from its roots in folk and the early days of pop and 1950s rock’n’roll to the explosion of punk, new wave and indie. It’s a story that spans decades, genres and audiences, interwoven within a musical heritage that remains as rich and vibrant today as it did 50 plus years ago.
Engaging with the nation’s diverse history of music- making, Light on the Shore is the Edinburgh International Festival’s new season of live music, which aims to draw attention to this creativity and individualism that’s seen throughout Scotland’s music scene. The season has a host of Scottish artists, bands and collectives co-curating the 16-night bill, with the intention of highlighting the collaborative nature of Scottish popular music and its wide- ranging and celebrated reach across the globe.
‘When the National Museum said they were doing the Rip it Up exhibition, it got us thinking about how you tell a story that is, on one level, so collaborative and on another, so individually tribal,’ says EIF artistic director Fergus Linehan. ‘We then started thinking about how you can’t just tell that story from one perspective, and so we started up all kinds of conversations with people like Donald Shaw from Celtic Connections, Lau, and the Neu! Reekie! guys, which was an interesting way for us to curate the festival.’
Light on the Shore is not only unique in its inclusion of a wide array of ensembles, bands and composers, it also represents a signii cant move in the attempts to reinstate Leith to its rightful place in the city’s cultural scene. Leith Theatre, where the season will take place, hasn’t been a part of the Festival since the 1980s. ‘It’s one of the most amazing venues I’ve ever come across because not only does it have a great layout, it has soul to it,’ Linehan explains. ‘There’s something about a venue that has had performances since the 1920s and you can feel it in the walls.’ Leith Theatre is a venue that takes the Festival away from its bustling hub in the centre of Edinburgh, allowing it to extend to an area that remains culturally relevant. ‘What is really great is that the EIF, as such a recognised international institution, is increasingly embracing its hometown,’
musician, composer and Lau accordionist Martin Green notes. ‘Lau was born in [i ddle player] Aidan’s l at in Leith, we did our i rst ever gig at Leith Folk Club, and our studio is still down Easter Road. So to be able to do this with the resources and scale of the Edinburgh International Festival and for it to feel like we’re doing it at home is wonderful for us.’ Lau will be bringing a special Festival edition of their Lau-Land to Leith Theatre, with a number of friends and collaborators joining in including American singer- songwriter Joan As Police Woman, Egyptian electronica artist Nadah El Shazly and electronic DJ James Holden. ‘The ethos of Lau-Land is all about sharing musicians that have inspired us,’ Green says. ‘Lau collectively listen to lots of music and Lau-Land was born with us going, “wouldn’t it be great to get some of these remarkable humans that we’ve met in some of the same places at some of the same times?”’
This interconnectivity within Scottish music is certainly evident across the Light on the Shore programme, with partners like Neu! Reekie! bringing us some of the country’s most inl uential bands like the Pastels, the Vaselines and the Fire Engines, while Carla Easton of TeenCanteen is inviting friends from Sacred Paws, Bossy Love and The Van Ts to join her onstage in a celebration of empowering female musicians. Elsewhere, the bill also includes Mogwai, Django Django, Anna Meredith & Southbank Sinfonia, Karine Polwart and Alan Cumming. Light on the Shore will do much to emphasise Scotland’s inl uence on popular music while delving deep into the characteristics that make the nation’s music so exceptional. ‘Some of these line-ups are really eclectic and some people are going to be bumping up against bands that they never would have gone to see in a million years,’ Linehan adds. But this is exactly what makes the season such a welcome addition to the EIF programme. As Green effectively summarises: ‘it’s more music for more people more of the time.’
Light on the Shore with Edinburgh Gin Seaside, Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 9–Sat 25 Aug.
1 Jun–31 Aug 2018 THE LIST 53