Edinburgh Under Surveillance: June

prepare for an emotional breakdown y'all...

Feature by Dave Kerr | 15 Jun 2006

June is a month of comebacks from the brink and a venue loss equivalent to some heinous Greek tragedy for the capital; prepare for an emotional breakdown y'all...

First, the good news; making a surprise return (for one night only?) are Degrassi who look set to deliver an evening featuring numerous of the band's previous players as well as Last Great Wilderness mainman Larry Lean lending a hand at Bannermans on the 2nd. Here's hoping they stick around for a while but in any event this is one not to be skipped in favour of another bland-assed episode of your favourite soap.

Also, in tandem with the Balboa-esque training montage theme they adopted for their Edinburgh 'fairwell' gig in April, the boys from O.B.E tell us that they've decided to slug it out for at least a few fights more after the resounding success of their T Break heat at Tuts last month, huzzah! Now I'll shut my pie-hole on the matter for a bit and let the tunes do the talking.

Meanwhile, The Very are set to attack with their first long player on the 26th and will initially make it available from their website (http://www.thevery.com – duh!). Keep an eye on our own website for one of the first reviews of the duo's recorded serving of garage rock par excellence.

If you like your music caked in whiskified ambience, the recently launched Sunday spectacular Jack Of Diamonds at the Bongo Club could be just the caper. Kicking off at 8pm and finishing early enough for you to get home and iron your pants for work the next day; the night offers the finest in live Blues, Folk and Electro-Soul with appearances from the likes of the Beefheart-flavoured Miyagi and acoustic freestyle from Danny Mullins.

Finally, this month marks the closure of one of the city's finest as The Venue is unfairly shown the door amid the burgeoning of a property-related hyper inflated price bonanza; a faithful gig-goers loss is a developer's gain it seems... As well as being a relentless power for showcasing local talents over the years (most of the above noted have graced its stages), The Venue has housed them all, charting the formative gigging days of The Stone Roses, Radiohead, The Strokes, Muse and Franz Ferdinand to the more recent escapades of Nine Black Alps, DeathFromAbove1979, Tom Vek and of course kindly hosting The Skinny launch ho-down last year. The man has had his way. They may take our venues, but they will never take our freedom! Take a look at our live music listings for details of the last shows to take place within The Venue's walls and get your tail down there for a royal send off. Sad news dudes. The times they are a-changin'.

Send all Ginsters pasties and other miscellaneous savoury snacks to Dave, The Skinny, The Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG.