VERSAcoustic @ The Bongo Club

These "month of Sundays" gigs across Glasgow and Edinburgh are set up to be the perfect antidote to the excesses of the night before: entry is free through a competition in the Sunday Herald; the lights are down low, the music for the most part is soft and soothing and you can also sample free pints of a new beer, providing your hair-of-the-dog refreshment. There we have the ambience, but what about the tunes?

Providing support is upbeat jazz combo Das Contras (3/5), whose number may be cut to a trio today, but this only highlights the virtuoso playing of their pianist and an eternally smiling saxophonist. Lead singer and guitarist Sher Watson's Latin-inflected vocals may make him sound like he's from the barrios rather than Fife, but we can allow them this conceit, as at least the music itself rings true.

Glaswegian folkie Alasdair Roberts (3/5) plays up to the low-key nature of the event by barely playing any of his own numbers, instead playing a selection of his favourite traditional folk songs, including a haunting ballad about the dark prince by Duncan Williamson that couldn't help but send a shiver down the spine. The darkness of the material seems appropriate for the dimly-lit setting, and even a wailing baby in the crowd can't scupper the brooding power of Molly Bawn with its tragic tale of mistaken identity. [Barry Jackson]