Van Tastik

Van Tastik is an impassioned one-man-blues-band mixing American Blues and Folk with hypnotic rhythms; far-out instruments and raw vocals in a Nick Cave stylee.

Whether Van Tastik is delivering a visceral A Capella number, a heavy garage-rock, blues or a sweet, fluttering Appalachian and Bluegrass melody, he will capture and hold the attention of his audiences with his unique musical stylings.

The Van Tastic voice and looks will take you back and pull you south to the Delta where the blues began, but with his own modern twist on the old-fashioned.

After a hugely successful run of festival appearances at Kelburn Garden Party, Eden Festival, ButeFest BlueGrassmarket, Sofar Sounds Edinburgh and a live performance on the Janice Forsyth show for the BBC at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he won over fans throughout 2017.

He has released an excellent two-track single, Drag Me To Hell which Brian is playing on the Radio KC Indie Show on March 11th. Look out for Van Tastik live in the UK, Germany, France and Holland following a short tour of New Zealand plus the release of his first album later this year.

May 17th      Van Tastik    Thurs 19:30

Edinburgh Blues Club

The Dark Jokes

So Ralph's wandering along Edinburgh's Princes Street whilst on tour at the The Fringe when, instead of the sound of the usual piper at the foot of The Mound, some gritty, bluesy notes were ringing out and being of an inquisitive nature it called for investigation.

Doing a busking session were young Edinburgh band The Dark Jokes, and judging by the size of the crowd that had formed and the amount of CD's they were selling, they were the ones that were laughing!  They describe themselves as a band with brooding sounds, bold words and big ideas.

The Dark Jokes are, Aaron Dennington up front orchestrating affairs and brother Paul on drums with Jamie Hogg on bass and instrument juggling cellist and keyboard player Matthew Thornton.










If they can create a passerby stopping sound out on the street, I can't wait to catch a live show.  Sadly Ralph's time in Edinburgh was limited to 5 days and fully committed, so I was unable to catch them at shows later in the week, however I'll be keeping an eye on their gigging with a view to a live review.  In the meantime I can't recommend their debut EP 'Low Winter Sun' highly enough prior to the release of their album.  Their sound is well crafted, gripping and belies their relatively tender years.

I like the darker, almost psychedelic feel to 'Over And Out' and 'Garden Path' compared to the Scottish Alt Rock feel of 'Low Winter Sun' - the obvious choice for a single.  It's release was followed by a very accomplished, atmospheric video by innovative director Jack King and features a cameo performance by Neil Leiper, who starred in the Ken Loach film 'The Angel's Share'.  

They've had a busy time doing gigs and festivals this year, including a tour of Europe and South America!  They even performed at the 17th Cultura Inglesa Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil which last year featured Franz Ferdinand and The Horrors.  Rest assured given the critical acclaim The Dark Jokes have received so far we'll be hearing much more from them in the future.

Stanley Odd and The Electric String Orchestra - Live Review from The Queens Hall Edinburgh

One of the highlights of Ralph On Tour at the Edinburgh Fringe was the first night at Queen's Hall where Stanley Odd and the Electric String Orchestra were performing.  When it comes to Stanley Odd I'm a wee bit (OK a lot) biased, so by way of neutrality I met up with my man in Scotland, the inimitable Mr Malcolm Parry and he accompanied me to check out the gig.  What I will say is that it's as real, raw and exciting live as I'd expected - some say 5 star I'd say 6 - however in the interests of even handedness I'll let Malcolm take up the story...

After reading all about this Edinburgh band being nominated for best Scottish album at the SAY Award, friends recommending them and then finally being blown away after hearing 'Reject' it was a pleasure to be asked to review Stanley Odd live.

At this years Celtic Connections in Glasgow Stanley Odd played a gig with accompaniment by The Electric String Orchestra, tonight in Edinburgh for one night only they repeated the unique experience and I have to say I was pleased to have witnessed it.

On the night an 8 piece orchestra take to the stage and perform an Odd Overture followed shortly by Solareye aka Dave Hook and his 5 -piece musical posse - Veronika Electronika, Samso, AdMac, Scruff Lee and Tlo.

No time passed before Solareye is jumping up and down like a hip-hop toy powered by extra strength Duracell, breaking in to the new album's opening tune 'This Is Stanley Odd'. He introduces us to 'Killergram' (a great upbeat sounding tune with a 'killer' chorus) saying it is hard finding the track on Google as you get directed to some suspect sites (I tried, he's right). An entertaining MC with poignant, clever wordplay and his trademark political wit, he jumps, smiles, acknowledges fans in the crowd and tries to get some of the crowd jumping with him but by no fault of his, at this point everyone’s just lukewarm and nodding along? 



His beautifully soulful sounding backing singer Veronika E trades off and adds warmth and depth to the vocals without being overpowering. By 'Sonarcotics' the crowd are moving with him, shrugging back and forth, arms aloft, Solareye feeds off their vibe and commences his 3 feet high pogo-ing. Some of the audience nod in agreement to his political jibes as if he is the head of a new party, he shouts “You all feeling it” and the appreciative crowd shout “aye“ back.

He asks on 'Headspace' if we wouldn't mind singing back to him “Get off ma headspace” and it's 1-2 we all do!

 'Join The Club' which we are told is about a pub crawl around Edinburgh/Glasgow cleverly fitting in names of  venues from both cities perfectly flows into 'Carry Me Home' with beautiful backing vocals from Veronika. 

He tells us this is his apology to his band for making a fool of himself and drinking too much too often. The orchestra give it a real moody cinematic feel on this track and 'Day 3' which could easily be used for a movie like 8 Mile - maybe he could make one about a pub crawl in the capital and call it 'The Royal Mile'.

Mid set me and the crowd are all feeling the rhythm  so much so I have to jump up and down with them, many sat on shoulders of pals are all won over by Mr Eye. Tonight’s set is very 'Reject' heavy, with a  Morcheeba sounding 'Day 2' and the funky 'The Numbness' lifted from first album 'Oddio'. For the encore Solareye treats us to a one man political Eminem style rap rant 'Marriage Counselling', playing both sides of the English Government/Scottish Independence argument which is absolutely captivating to watch. Very poignant, very clever and very real!

We're treated to two more tunes revisiting 'Oddio' again with The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air tinged 'Think Of A Number'. He then tells us all about the new album 'Reject' being honoured in the SAY Awards and that it is out on vinyl, proceeding to throw a copy in to the audience. He finishes with a epic tune asking the crowd to jump with him – we all jump and  asks to make some noise - we do, a lot!

Tonight I gave witness to a true Edinburgh talent and gifted natural front man who has a lot to say and cleverly expresses and delivers it through song. If the music business doesn't work out a line in politics surely beckons and judging by tonight’s reaction the fellow 'rejects' in the audience would definitely vote for him.

Piff The Magic Dragon and Mr Piffles

So a dragon that does magic and a dog for a partner, what's not to like!  Given that I'm a Jack Russell with a 20 second attention span I find magic acts amazingly - magic, and despite his protestations at his Edinburgh Fringe show that he's trying to lose his magical ability Piff The Magic Dragon has got it in spades!

I first caught Piff and his friend Mr Piffles (rescued from Dundee) on Penn & Teller a few years back and have followed their career with interest ever since.  Now, reluctantly assisted by the sullen Amy Sunshine they're Edinburgh Fringe favourites so when I had the chance to get up for some shows this year they were top of the list!

Piff The Magic Dragon has a droll, deadpan style in a Tommy Cooperish stylee that makes you laugh from his first almost reluctant stroll onstage.  As for his magic, it's as skillfull as he is funny, ably assisted by the worlds only million pound chihuahua, the adorable Mr Piffles.

The running trick throughout the show involved 52 playing cards signed by members of the audience as they queued 
( yes Ralph was one of them ) for the show. 

Piff cleverly uses them to try and lose his magic Midas touch constantly employing audience participation to increase the mirth levels. If proof were needed that Ralph was at the Fringe here's his magic card as used in the show - ta-daaah!

Me and Piffles have a bit in common 'cept I can't levitate or had my paw broken ( you have to see and hear it to believe it ) on stage!  Laugh - I nearly wee'd myself - fortunately I'm house-trained!





Don't take my word for how funny and talented he is go see for yourself.  Piff The Magic Dragon, Mr Piffles and the sultry ( sorry - sullen ) Amy Sunshine are on until the 28th of August in the Pleasance King Dome, Edinburgh followed by a run in the Solo Theatre, London from the 15th to 27th October.  Go see him - or the dog gets it!