GIG REVIEW | IDLEWILD | ASSEMBLY ROOMS EDINBURGH

Image by Laura Muraska

It was the night afore Christmas and quite aptly so, the night afore concert was on, and I got to go! What am I talking about you ask, well it was the night before New Years Eve and I got to go to the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh to photograph and review a band that have been one of Scotland’s favourites for many years. The wonderful Idlewild!

When I arrived, the queue was coming out the door and there was a buzz in the air, as the crowd gathered for the cloakroom and at the bar, before the gig started. I think people were extra excited as it had just been announced that Edinburgh’s famous Hogmanay Street celebrations and garden concert had been cancelled due to the weather, so this gig was one of the only major events happening over New Years.

Image by Laura Muraska

Supporting Idlewild was the enchanting Jill Lorean (also known as Jill O’Sullivan) who is a singer/songwriter born in Belfast, brought up in Chicago, and now based in Glasgow. You can really see her varied cultural background come through in her music. Jill has been a member of bands Sparrow and the Workshop, Bdy_prts and Three Queens in Mourning and featured on tracks by many bands and artists, like Scottish band Frightened Rabbit.

Image by Laura Muraska

I would say her music can best be described in the folk and indie genres, and the set she performed this night was no exception, as she opened with an acapella tune about her grandmother kneading dough. The whole crowd remained silent while Jill’s voice carried through the huge main hall. The rest of the set was Jill and an acoustic guitar which she played, no fan fairs, no surprises, but enjoyable none the less. I would perhaps say it was a slightly unusual choice for a New Years celebration concert, before heavy hitters Idlewild who are very much more, along the Indie Rock category, but the crowd received Jill well. I have since listened to other tracks by the artist and realise there is definitely more to Jill’s repertoire which is worth a listen, especially if you want something easy to listen to.

On to the main band of the evening and the brilliant Idlewild took to the stage, the hall was now bursting with people standing in doorways, against walls and filling all corners! After all it has been quite a while since they played a hometown show. People of all ages and generations had come so see them, which I imagine was a nice sight for the Scottish rockers who’s fanbase is probably made up more of my age group, the 35-50 crowd, being at their height in the late 90’s to mid-00’s.

Image by Laura Muraska

The band formed in 1995 in Edinburgh by singer Roddy Woomble and drummer Colin Newton, started out playing small venues in Edinburgh such as Subway to a few friends, and quickly shooting up the ranks after their single ‘Self-Healer’ was favoured by Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq at the time. In 1997 Idelwild played their first London shows, shortly followed by a UK tour in 1998 after signing to Food Records/EMI and being featured in big mags like Kerrang and NME. Two of the bands first recorded singles ‘A film for the future’ and ‘Everyone says you’re so fragile’ set up the path for their debut album ‘Hope is Important’ which was definitely more punk and rock sounding than the bands later material. Their earlier albums are my personal favourites.

Back to the Night A’Fore concert and Idelwild brought all of the nostalgia right back for the adoring crowd, every song being a hit and people singing and dancing along like they were 18 again seeing them for the first time. Roddy (singer) commented on the grand hall and how it wasn’t very Rock and Roll, but made the crowd chuckle when he said how middle-aged the band are now, and that they aren’t very Rock and Roll anymore anyway. I would beg to differ, as they didn’t disappoint, although Roddy did keep leaving the stage in between songs, whether this was to catch his breath or just for dramatic effect, who knows.

Image by Laura Muraska

The band went on to play songs like ‘You held the world in your arms’ ‘American English’ one of my favourites, and El Capitan, ending the set with ‘A modern way of letting go’.

The crowd, however, hadn’t had enough and after a short period of cheering and clapping the band returned for their encore, playing fan favourites ‘A Film for the Future’ and ‘In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction’.

Image by Laura Muraska

It was a great night, an epic set from Idlewild as always and an amazing start to the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations. The organisers did well booking such an iconic Scottish band for this, can they top it next year, I’m not so sure!