Caught Live: Lindi Ortega @ The Mash House, Edinburgh (23/1)

If Lindi Ortega hadn't included Lemsip amongst her thank yous at the end of the show, you would never have guessed that she was, and has been, suffering from a cold for much of the first half of her UK dates. With her band laying down the beat, Lindi bounded onto the small Mash House Stage promptly at half eight, setting a high energy level - that'd be impressive sans cold - from the get go.

The large crowd, crammed into the small room, welcomed her with rapturous applause. This crowd was diverse and dedicated, with a wide age range and with many who had travelled far to be there - such as the gentleman who told me he faced a three hour drive home- and many who had either been to see her already on this tour or were going to other dates. Some had, of course, seen her on her other visits to the UK but for others, including myself, it was the first time seeing her live - and she didn't just live up to all the good things I had heard about her live show; she completely smashed them.

The opener, fast paced and catchy 'Rundown Neighbourhood', was the first of many songs from her most recent release Faded Gloryville, the album that this tour was in support of. 'Half Moon', a lullaby to the moon, sounds gorgeous recorded but is a song that is even more gorgeous live, a perfect showcase of Lindi's unique and brilliant vocals and she showed off more of her musical talents when she toook briefly to the drums during 'Run Amuck'.

Songs from other albums were mixed in the set, including the fan favourites 'Tin Star' - with added twang - and 'Cigarettes and Truckstops', both from the albums of the same names and both proved especially popular. Three covers also featured: Lindi's take on The Bee Gees' 'To Love Somebody' (that also features on her most recent release), a stunning version of The Eagles' 'Desperado' and a brilliant cover of the Cash classic 'Ring of Fire' to close the night.

Between songs, she chatted about away about her love of Primark and haunted toilets as well as breaking into an impromptu Jazz song or two with her superb lead guitarist, 'Champagne' James Robertson (her backing band, comprised of Robertson, drummer Noah Hungate and bassist Ryan Gavel also just have to be mentioned as they were fantastic the whole night). An assured performer, Lindi looked completely at home on stage the whole night and, like the audience, seemed to be having a ball on stage, breaking into wide smiles at numerous points.

A big voice with a big talent, it's always a treat to see an artist and their band of such a high calibre at such intimate venues - that evening was no different. And if that was Lindi Ortega with a cold, then I'd love to see her without one - as she has already set some very high standards for all the 2016 concerts lined up in my calendar.

Still touring the UK, there are still chances to catch her on the following dates:
January 26 - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
January 27 - The Cluny, Newcastle
January 29 - East Village Arts Club, Liverpool
January 30 - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
January 31 - The Globe, Cardiff
February 2 - Thekla, Bristol
February 3 - Komedia, Brighton
February 4 - Islington Assembly Hall, London

CAUGHT LIVE: John and Jacob @ The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh 19/11

John Davidson and Jacob Bryant, of John and Jacob, have just finished touring in the UK as the special guests of the brilliant Striking Matches but their Edinburgh date, a remnant date of their own headlining UK tour that unfortunately didn’t happen, was proof that these guys – as well as the other 3/5ths of the band – should and will be headlining more dates very soon.

They brought their guitars, trademark suits and a lot of passion to a dreary Edinburgh.


With only one full album to their name – their self-titled debut, John and Jacob – one could be forgiven for thinking that this would be a set on the shorter side…but one would also have been very wrong. Their set lasted over an hour and a half and was comprised of album tracks, EP tracks, covers and some pretty special songs from their next album – some material that the boys themselves confessed they were playing for one of the first times. ‘Norway’ was one of the new songs and looks likely to be the single they’re going to lead their new album with and it had the room captivated. If you haven’t been lucky enough to hear this track on their travels then definitely keep an ear out for it in the future…this could, and if all is right with the world, should be a very big song for these guys.



‘Be My Girl’, arguably one of their most popular songs – no doubt, in some respect, thanks to the TV show Nashville- went down a treat and ‘I’d Go Back’ had everyone one in the audience united in one big, and beautiful choir. But the highlight of the night was when the boys unplugged their guitars, jumped off the stage and took to the floor to perform ‘Breaking the Law’ in the middle of the crowd. It was loud and it was rowdy and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this night. And I had only paid a little over £12 to be a part of it…I would have happily paid much, much, much more.


Afterwards, as always, John and Jacob took time to talk to everyone, take photos and to sign. A class act both on and off stage and it’s hopefully only a matter of time before we get the full band over here.

Support Act: It’d be mad NOT to mention the support for the evening, which came from Holloway Road a band that, admittedly, I was only really familiar of the name and not their music. But after their decent sized set (it’s really nice when a support act gets longer than 15 minutes and I think these guys got a little more than double that) I will definitely be checking out more of their stuff and you should too. They’re yet another very welcome addition to the growing UK country scene.