TOM TOMS & THE BLACK SEA GENTLEMEN
Awaking later than I wanted with a splitting headache made me think arriving home the night before and sharing numerous vodkas and aftershock shots with Abbey’s flatmate was not such a great idea, though they say hindsight is 20:20. A slap up hot breakfast and a few episodes of Coronation Street later and we were back to normal and ready to take on the sights and sounds of Edinburgh.
Unfortunately it was already 3pm so we had precious little daylight with which to do so. Hence we headed straight for the jewel in the crown – and the home of the Crown Jewels – Edinburgh Castle. Making our way there we hit crowds of tourists on the main street and in the parks, voraciously snapping everything from Jenner’s on the high street to perfectly tended roses in the gardens that sprawl below the Castle. The journey up the side of the cliffs to the Castle from the park is an arduous one, and I’m instantly glad we opted to see this and not Arthur’s Seat, which is 10 times steeper and longer. Though the journey may have been hindered by the ice creams we were devouring whilst tackling the incline.
Edinburgh Castle is set high upon cliffs that tower over the city. It’s a beautiful old structure full of medieval delights such as original churches, prison cells and wooden doors (some of which still bare graffiti inscribed by those doomed by fate), and of course the precious Crown Jewels. The Castle itself is a fairly modest stone structure compared with its spectacular placement atop the cliffs. Clear views of the city, the sea and Arthur’s Seat make it worth a look in for the scenery alone. Couple that with an imaginative and intricate depiction of Scotland’s trials, tribulations, triumphs and monarchs and you have yourself an educational fun day out. Once done with the Castle you can also catch the famed Military Tattoo which takes place in a kind of mock-stadium set up at the entry, however this is hated by most locals and is purely for kilt loving tourists. We opted to give it a miss and head straight to the Royal Mile, a cobbled stoned pedestrian street dedicated to all things historical and Scottish. Of course a million other tourists had the same idea so once I got the gist we scuttled off towards the Udderbelly to meet friends for a show.
Abbey working on the festival meant she knew which shows were hot and which were not, and the Australian act Tom Tom Crew had been getting rave reviews. We took our seats for what was to be a show of the unexpected. They’ve been described as a hip-hop circus but I feel this description does them no justice, however I doubt my description will be any better! A DJ and drummer open the show mixing samples and beats under a camera which feeds onto a screen used as a backdrop so you can see how the DJ works. A great idea for those in the audience who have no idea what Djing and mixing involves. Eventually a troupe of gymnasts and acrobats are introduced to perform bone-breakingly gravital feats to the aforementioned beats. Then comes Tom – crew leader and beat boxer extrordinaire. What followed was an amazing array of entertainment including prop-guided acrobatics, various instrumental interludes with instruments I’ve never seen before, sample and beat box recording, playbacks and mixing – all done right there in front of you by a sickeningly likeable group of artists hailing from almost every Australian state and territory. They’d sold out every show at the festival so far and it was easy to see why. If you get the chance I highly recommend seeing them.
From there it was a cheap but tasty Indian meal on the University side of town and we were off to the next show. Legging it to the Assembly Halls just down the hill we were just in time to see Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, another Australian group. This was a black comedy cabaret show lead by the charismatic Mikelangelo backed by a group of well-dressed well-trained Gypsy musicians. An excellent show full of beauty, love, sex, death and the spookiest, funniest songs I’ve ever heard – definitely my favourite of the festival so far.
With 2 shows under our belts we decided to devote the rest of the night to drinking at the Underbelly bar at the Grass Markets. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur but I know I had a whale of a time, frequented many Edinburgh bars, met various friendly locals and didn’t get to bed until around 8am – or thereabouts…
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