Music at the Festival Fringe

Strolling around the streets of Edinburgh during festival season, you cannot help but be drawn by the many talented musicians who pop up and play on the High Street, on The Mound - indeed anywhere they can find a spot to get out their instruments and delight us with sounds from an assortment of musical genres. Men, women, even children, have us clapping our hands and tapping our feet, whether it be to the strains of the classics, pop, rock, jazz, the blues ........ it's all here, played well, played not so well, but nonetheless drawing us in, encompassing us in a moment of musical relaxation.
It is not just the music that is varied, but the instruments played. Everything from the saw to the saxaphone, the exotic to the ordinary send notes echoing around the ancient streets, reverberating from architectural wonders, buildings of columned greatness, to more modern mixes of shop and restaurant. Magic fingers create a cauldron of sound, entrancing, mystifying, melancholy, fast-moving, melodious. You have to stop, have to tarry awhile and listen to musicians playing on the world's most accessible stage, a stage free to all who love music, free to all with a desire to entertain, to showcase their talents, to bring happiness to the streets. Classical guitar, drums, trumpet, xylophone, some I don't know the name of, some I should know the name of but can't bring to mind, they are all here. Individuals, groups, crazy folk dancing and playing at the same time, all bring a multi-cultural melee of music to the streets of the capital city.
Vocalists, too, angelic voices, strong voices, beatbox, the whole range is here to raise the roof - or should that be the sky - reeling us in as we pass by, daring us to continue on our way without pausing to listen, to enjoy, before going on our way, elated, a spring in our step that was not there before. And boy can some of them sing. A delightful young lady, and she was young, held her audience spellbound as they gathered at The Mound to wonder at such a mature voice on such young shoulders. Didn't catch her name, but she is pictured with the pink flower in her hair. If you spot her, stop. It is well worth a few minutes of your time and you won't be disappointed. I loved her!
Many of the shows at the Fringe are musical, and many take advantage of that wonderful performance space that is the High Street to give passing audiences a taste of all they have to offer. Nowhere else will you find such variety, such a mix of comedy, classic, new, traditional, bizarre, baffling, as here in Edinburgh right now. Choirs, a capella groups including the amazing Out of the Blue, African drummers, rock, piano recitals, Bach, the big band sound, if you like it then it's probably here in one form or another. In fact everything is here, absolutely everything. So don't go around muttering under your breath there is nothing here that you like. You are obviously not looking - and you don't need to look very hard! If you love music, you will love something. And if you don't, you may well find that you do. Samba, samurai, harps, organs, ukeleles, traditional bagpipes, the weird and the wonderful - go seek them out and be amazed. Rick Wakeman is here .... yes, THE Rick Wakeman. Now you must know him ....... musical legend playing his music interspersed with amusing anecdotes. Comedy and keyboards in one show. What more could you possibly want. You do want more?

Well read on!

Love vocalists, love opera, love musicals? All this is very much in evidence as well. Funny, serious, new, old, improvised, nothing is left out. Purcell, Ivor Novello, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sinatra ..... well-known musicals including Godspell, Grease, Les Miserables, and Oliver are filling stages and filling seats. And of course, this being the Fringe, there is a whole splattering of the bizarre, the unusual, new takes on old favourites, and some quirky titles to boot. Could you possibly resist such oddities as Zombie Prom, Much a Shoo be Doo About Nothing, King Kong the Musical, Almost Eurovision, and Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens ..... hmmm. Curiosity aroused? Taste buds tickled? Then you are as strange as me, but in a nice, fun-loving way.

Okay, so now you know all about music at the Fringe. Can't afford tickets, tickets all gone? Then get out there onto the streets of Edinburgh and listen for free. It costs nothing but your time - and maybe a few coins to toss in the performers' hats. See you there .........