The Edge Festival @ Various Venues (Edinburgh), 7-31 Aug

Article by Gillian Watson | 15 Jul 2009

The organisers of Edinburgh's Edge festival have started well by securing several big-name revival acts: ex-Talking Head David Byrne, post-punkers Magazine, and - their biggest coup - '90s alt-behemoths Faith No More, playing their first Scottish gig in over a decade. Retro junkies have an embarrassment of riches to choose from.

Look further down the bill, however, and it seems that The Festival Formerly Known As T On The Fringe isn't sure what it wants to be. The organisers' commitment to variety, understandable for a citywide venture sprawling across an entire month, matches up some odd musical bedfellows. Britpop fogeys (ex-Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie and LOLWTF addition The Bluetones) sit curiously next to homegrown favourites (Biffy Clyro, Frightened Rabbit) and US alt-pop darlings (Andrew Bird).

Upcoming local acts Unicorn Kid and Young Fathers will joint-headine at Cabaret Voltaire, while the Your Sound event promises to showcase quality unsigned acts. But little else will excite lovers of brand new music. Instead, as the East Coast produces limitless numbers of fascinating new bands, all Edge offers in opposition to Glasgow's musical powerhouse is established talent. While this festival looks set to serve up some quality gigs, don't patronise us with that Edge chat: this line-up of crowdpleasers isn't exactly razor sharp.

Other acts playing at Edge include The Streets, Amanda Palmer, Mum, Broken Records and Calvin Harris. For further details of ticket prices and venues, visit www.theedgefestival.com.

http://www.theedgefestival.com