Edinburgh's Hogmanay Music Guide

As if your liver won’t come under enough strain, having spent Christmas Week pickled in mulled wine and Bier D’Or, the organisers of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations have decided to extend the festivities. New Year will now be rung in for just the five nights, from 29th December to 2nd January. The entertainment is designed to offer something for everyone, so naturally, some of it won’t be to your liking. But those willing to lay down their turkey drumsticks and jingle bells may find themselves rewarded with some decent live music. You just have to know where to find it.

Kickind off on the 29th Off Kilter will be combing live music and dance in the premiere of “an exhilarating new dance anthem for Scotland” mixed by DJ Dolphin Boy at the Festival Theatre.  They promise snippets of Franz Ferdinand, The Rezillos, Calvin Harris and Hugh McDiarmid to accompany this unusual performance.

Calvin Harris plays a DJ set in the HMV Picturehouse on Wednesday 30th, but if you want to save yourself for New Year’s Eve then we suggest getting yourself down to the Vic Galloway-hosted Waverley Stage which is the clear highlight. The organisers have obviously been paying attention to the aural demands of the natives, pulling in Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Stanley Odd (some of the best new acts on the Scottish music scene) with Coventry rock band The Enemy at the top of the bill.

Madness and The Noisettes play sets at the Concert in the Gardens, on West Princes Street, and for those prepared to don their dancing shoes, The West End DJ Stage will feature performances from Mylo and sets from Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody and Tom Simpson, and Belle and Sebastian’s Richard Colburn.

All in all, there should be enough to keep everyone entertained. Happy New Year, folks.