Edinburgh Fringe

[rattle]

Duke is playing the Edinburgh Fringe on August 9th apparently (according to the Festival Programme) - The Spiegel Garden •
George Square Gardens.

http://edfringe.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/Fringe2010.pdf (http://www.edfringe.com/node/294)

[Mrfizzy]

Sounds good rattle - your link says "access denied" though - any other source?

[rattle]

Whoops, I've edited the link - see if that works. It's a large file so give it a few minutes.

Himself is listed on page 185.

[rajkid]

this like might work
http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/music/duke-special

[Dublinram]

Excellent - think I shall be working in Edinburgh that day.

[jodieaitken]

Edinburgh, again? OOOH!!! I think I'll have to find someone that'll take me!!

[gazbo]

It seems there is a problem with the Spiegeltent siting and an alternative venue may be needed.

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburghfestivalfringe/Edinburgh-Festival39s-Spiegeltent-at-risk.6221181.jp

More info please, Duke, Stephen?

[jodieaitken]

Oh poo! Really hope there's no problems now, my tickets are bought!!

[jodieaitken]

The Fringe date isn't showing up on Duke's upcoming gigs bit on the site. Is this cause for panic, or has it just not been put up yet?

[Stephen]

By coincidence, I just put it up there now along with a few more summer dates.

[jodieaitken]

Ah phew :) Cheers Stephen :)

[Dublinram]

I've been struggling to buy a ticket online, anybody else had problems?

[Steetsie]

I think I've left it too late - tickets seem to be sold out :-(

[jodieaitken]

They are? Wow... That's a shame, would've been nice to see another boardie there.
My tickets have been bought and paid for, but they've not arrived yet I don't think. Hopefully they'll get here soon.

[Guildford Ghost]

Jodie - I'm there for a week later in the month. My tickets were ordered within 48 hours of the borchures being published and I've had nothing either as yet.

[jodieaitken]

My tickets have arrived :D

[gazbo]

I made some enquiries re tickets for this show and have just had an e-mail from Justin Boschetti who informs me that the Fringe only had an allocation of 25% of the tickets and more have now been released and should be on sale at the Fringe website.

Good news for those who thought they'd missed out. :o

I've just ordered my tickets!

[Steetsie]

Yes! Tickets now booked (for three generations of the family). Our annual trip to the Fringe will be extra Special this year!

Thanks very much, Gazbo.

[rajkid]

I'm having trouble finding any of my friends who are still around Newcastle in August, so could yous wave or something at the start of the gig so I have someone to talk to please?
Also if anyone lives between Newcastle Airport and Edinburgh I am willing to give yous a lift.

[alice]

I always thought "Yous" was an NI thing! Hopefully not Rajkid - or are you from here originally?

[rajkid]

I always thought "Yous" was an NI thing! Hopefully not Rajkid - or are you from here originally?

It's not just NI, it's geordie as-well we still differentiate between you singular and plural.

[jodieaitken]

*bump*
Who's all going then?

[Salmon Leap]

*bump*
Who's all going then?

Mr & Mrs Salmon Leap will be there, as early as possible to get to the front of stage. Any word yet on support acts, start time etc?

[gazbo]

It says on the Fringe site that the performance only lasts 1 hour and 10 minutes from 7 o'clock. Seems a bit odd unless something else is on at the venue later on.

Staying overnight in Edinburgh so will have time to hang about and meet the Duke and anyone else.

[Salmon Leap]

[QUOTE=gazbo;60265]It says on the Fringe site that the performance only lasts 1 hour and 10 minutes from 7 o'clock. Seems a bit odd unless something else is on at the venue later on.QUOTE]

Glad you spotted that Gazbo - I had assumed it was doors opening at 7pm with support act etc. Looking at the 'Spiegeltent' website it's now clear that they have different events on throughout the day and night, so I guess the Dukester needs to fit into a definite time slot. Oh well....7pm until 8.10pm it is then!

Hope Peter enjoys the atmosphere at the Fringe and can take in a few shows. It's the sort of place an eclectic artist like himself will enjoy.

[jodieaitken]

I'm pretty sure the venue is perfect for a Duke gig. I've seen pictures, and it's fantabulous. I hope it won't just be 1hr 10mins, but if it is I'll still be happy. I should be easy to recognise by the way. My tshirt has my username on it :D

Doubt Dukester could resist such a thing as the fringe. The energy in Edinburgh is completely mad at the best of times, add in a festival that's known all over the world and you've got yourself one awesome city!

[jodieaitken]

Been back home for a while. Gig was much shorter than the one on the tour, but it was fantastic! Got Hector Mann songs first (Hearth and Home, Wanda, Tango Tangle, prop man, Mister Nobody, Country Weekend and Scandal) followed by Applejack with a lovely sounding guy singing the snake part. Don't know his name but I like him! Then we got some songs from mother courage! (Prelude, Mother Courage, Eilif, Yvette, Great Capitulation, soldiers song, cook's song, Mother Courage finale) Someone's phone went off just before a song. It had the annoying nokia ringtone. Duke said to that; "This next song goes like this; *sings nokia tune*" which got a big laugh :D Encore time! We got a cover song. 'Love will Tear us Apart' by Joy Division, so I'm told ;) Next he played 'Our Love Goes Deeper than This' which made me grin even more since it was the first Duke song I ever heard. Third encore song was 'Salvation Tambourine' which is SO FUN live :D

My definite highlight of the whole night: Peter spotting me at the merch stall and saying, before I had said anything to him, "Oh hello Jodie! How are you?" and I nearly exploded with excitement. Got a signed songbook, so I'll be learning some of them and (hopefully) doing one for my standard grade music exam when it comes!

[Mrfizzy]

My definite highlight of the whole night: Peter spotting me at the merch stall and saying, before I had said anything to him, "Oh hello Jodie! How are you?" and I nearly exploded with excitement. Got a signed songbook, so I'll be learning some of them and (hopefully) doing one for my standard grade music exam when it comes!

Lovely write up of your experience Jodie - thanks :)
When you think how much Duke tours and the sheer number of people he must meet every day it's phenomenal that he remembers so many names - I'd be struggling to remember my own name with his schedule.

We'd travel to see him perform anyway but it's massively endearing that he obviously appreciates his fan support and chooses to give up so much time to meet us. Those of us who have met him will surely agree that he is as Special a person off-stage as on :)

[Mrfizzy]

Tweeted by simonlittle (http://twitter.com/simonlittle) 10/8/10 @4pm
Great 5-star review of the @dukespecial (http://twitter.com/dukespecial) show at the Edinburgh Fringe last night from Edinburgh Spotlight
http://www.edinburghspotlight.com/2010/08/fringe-review-duke-special/
:o

[gazbo]

There was an amusing incident at the Fringe performance when Duke was using a book as prop in his Mother Courage set. The book fell open and he hastily removed a glossy picture and quickly discarded it on the floor. Duke was for a moment disconcerted and his band were highly amused.

[jodieaitken]

Ah yes, that was quite funny :) He looked a bit embarrased :) He also opened a bottle on what I think was a speaker and spilled lots of it on there which was amusing :)
Anyone else see the big cameras? Huge, expensive looking cameras... What was all that about?

[Salmon Leap]

I was already worried that this was only planned to be a 70 minute performance, so when Duke appeared and announced that the evening would be split into two parts - Hector Mann and Mother Courage - I have to admit that my heart sank. Although I love these songs, I was concerned that this would merely be an abbreviated version of the show I saw in Glasgow during his recent tour. I had hoped that we'd get the chance to hear his wider repertoire / back catalogue.

Needless to say...I shouldn't have worried. The Dukester delivered - as he always does.

The songs were performed with more energy than last time, with slightly different arrangements. I also thought the bass player's backing vocals were excellent and really added something. I didn't catch his name, but I'd never seen him perform with Peter before.

The crowd really came to life during the encore, with the spine-tingling cover and two Duke Special favourites.

I look forward to seeing the great man again next time he's up North, but deep down I hope there'll be some new material to hear OR a greater variety from his extensive repertoire.

[gazbo]

Anyone else see the big cameras? Huge, expensive looking cameras... What was all that about?
I saw on the BBC (Scotland) that they are having festival highlights program so surely they'll have some good footage of the Duke if that was indeed the BBC?

[Stephen]

There was an amusing incident at the Fringe performance when Duke was using a book as prop in his Mother Courage set. The book fell open and he hastily removed a glossy picture and quickly discarded it on the floor. Duke was for a moment disconcerted and his band were highly amused.

The lads like to slip little gems into Duke's books from time to time.
Keeps them entertained and Duke on his toes! ;)

[Stephen]

Anyone else see the big cameras? Huge, expensive looking cameras... What was all that about?

Some footage from the gig will be used in a BBC program.

[Mrfizzy]

The songs were performed with more energy than last time, with slightly different arrangements. I also thought the bass player's backing vocals were excellent and really added something. I didn't catch his name, but I'd never seen him perform with Peter before.

The crowd really came to life during the encore, with the spine-tingling cover and two Duke Special favourites.

I look forward to seeing the great man again next time he's up North, but deep down I hope there'll be some new material to hear OR a greater variety from his extensive repertoire.

The identity of the double-bass player came up in the Tall Ships thread Salmon Leap and it was the most excellent Simon Little (aka "The Undertaker"). Due to their other work commitments, Johnny Kensington (aka "Casino Johnny") played double-bass for the UK leg of the three album tour and Simon covered the Ireland gigs and recent shows. Both of them contribute well with backing vocals and have their own distinctive style of playing double bass and as you have noted the Mother Courage and Hector Mann songs are delivered with great verve.

Don't worry about a lack of new material from Duke! He has said that he has used the opportunity of writing the pledge poetry to develop a whole new major song project. We heard two of these as drafts of during the three album tour and I think we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months! We'll be reserving as much time as we can to hear the new songs on tour in Ireland early next year :)

One of the delights of seeing Duke and the band on tour was the fun way they interact with each other on stage and the photographic ambush for Duke is pretty typical!

[jodieaitken]

BBC? Oh that'll be AWESOME!
I can't wait for the new material! Don't know if I'll be able to get to Ireland though... If I do, it'll make it even more incredible :D

[Salmon Leap]

Cheers Mr. Fizzy - that's good to know.

To be honest, I'd pay to hear Duke Special sing the telephone directory set to his piano. He has such a wonderful voice and an endearing personality.

I just think that if someone was hearing him for the very first time, they'd be captivated by his 'other' material (and covers) but possibly less so by Hector Mann & Mother Courage, which are perhaps less accessible. I actually heard someone in the queue behind me say as much - they'd bought SftDF and loved it, but had bought Hector Mann and it didn't do it for them.

Can't wait for the new material.

[Salmon Leap]

Applejack with a lovely sounding guy singing the snake part. Don't know his name but I like him!

That was 'Jack L' Jodie. He's playing the Speigeltent every Monday night during the festival. Agree - he had a lovely deep voice which complimented Duke perfectly. He was also very eccentric - which makes him an ideal musical partner.

[Delly]

To be honest, I'd pay to hear Duke Special sing the telephone directory set to his piano. He has such a wonderful voice and an endearing personality.

Yep, I'm with you there Salmon Leap! He has BUCKETS of charisma and quite frankly he is the yardstick by which I measure all other live music. Most people don't even come close.

[jodieaitken]

He has BUCKETS of charisma and quite frankly he is the yardstick by which I measure all other live music. Most people don't even come close.
That made me smile :D I'm not the only one!
I agree that the Hector Mann/Mother Courage/Huckleberry Finn stuff isn't as accessible(sp?) but I love them all. I would have loved a gig full of the older songs and the ones we're all so familiar with, but it was still fantastic :) When introducing Duke to someone, start with the older stuff, then go in to the newer stuff :o

@Salmonleap, I'd pay just to hear him speak. Let me tell you, if something in my school were taught by him, I'd be an expert in that subject :P

[Joy84]

http://www.edinburghspotlight.com/2010/08/fringe-review-duke-special/
:o

Has the comment left infuriated everyone else.

[Mrfizzy]

Has the comment left infuriated everyone else.
This comment wasn't there when I first saw the review - it seems to be largely concerned with excessive volume and a poor audio set up - I wasn't there and can't comment but I'm very interested to hear about the experience of others that were there :confused:

[gazbo]

I'm very interested to hear about the experience of others that were there
I was standing quite near the front to the left of the stage and didn't think it was especially loud. The Mother Courage song is trying to convey the chaos of war and is for that reason loud, harsh and discordant. I think the commenter perhaps had been expecting a piano / vocal set.

[helen]

Just catching up with everything and there are a couple more comments on that Edinburgh review now to balance things up. One, very well written contribution, is from a Jodie. :)

[jan]

That was 'Jack L' Jodie. He's playing the Speigeltent every Monday night during the festival. Agree - he had a lovely deep voice which complimented Duke perfectly. He was also very eccentric - which makes him an ideal musical partner.

Second that comment about Jack L, Salmon Leap (what a brilliant username!)
Wasn't remotely there but have heard some of Jack L's work and he's amazing.
All who were lucky enough to catch Duke at the Fringe must have had such a glorious time. I'm still coming to earth from the Tall Ships Fest. (Hartlepool doesn't have such a poetic ring to it) on Sunday.
xx
PS Just read the review which was totally positive and would ignore the distracting comment....obviously a Telegraph reader not used to live music:(
It's the only potential downer......sorry mate....you pays your money, you takes your choice.

[Steetsie]

Photos from the Famous Spiegeltent, hopefully (!)

[jodieaitken]

Stunnin'! I took a couple, but they were on my mobile so they're crappy... Got two that have Jack L in them though, who I'm really starting to like! You must have only been a little bit away from me, I was just behind a couple who were right in the middle of the front :D What a night...

[Steetsie]

...and some more (can't seem to rotate them though)

[Steetsie]

Stunnin'! I took a couple, but they were on my mobile so they're crappy... Got two that have Jack L in them though, who I'm really starting to like! You must have only been a little bit away from me, I was just behind a couple who were right in the middle of the front :D What a night...

Thanks Jodie. I've got a pretty basic camera and these are the best of the bunch. The ones I took of Jack L were a bit blurred as he was moving around a lot! I've just got back from Scotland today, so now I'm back online I'll check out Jack L's website.

[jodieaitken]

Listen to 'Rooftop Lullaby' but make sure you have some tissues with you, I cried just reading the lyrics! He's really, really good.

[jan]

Love the pics folks! Shame the BBC Culture Show didn't air any of the footage last week even though they featured the Speigeltent in the programme. That was possibly the limit of their Fringe coverage but I'll be watching subsequent programmes just in case.
It all looks fab in any case...wish I'd been there.
xx

[jodieaitken]

The bit of footage of Mikelangelo singing was from the gig. He was quite good :)

[jan]

The bit of footage of Mikelangelo singing was from the gig. He was quite good :)
Good ad hoc presenter too.
xx

[Steetsie]

This is me testing MrFizzy's method of posting pics:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs225.snc4/38601_10150250456255355_752755354_14203786_3369749 _n.jpg

[jan]

This is me testing MrFizzy's method of posting pics:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs225.snc4/38601_10150250456255355_752755354_14203786_3369749 _n.jpg

It works!!
xx

[Fizzy]

Great photo Steetsie! Thanks :)

[Mrfizzy]

Yup - Great stuff Steetsie! - always a joy to see the wonderful Phil Wilkinson at work - the drum kit is so often way back :)

[Steetsie]

Tango Tangle (pics I've just uploaded from my phone)
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs275.snc4/40100_10150252680600355_752755354_14277315_4475883 _n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs292.snc4/40940_10150252680650355_752755354_14277318_4447694 _n.jpg

[Mrfizzy]

I'm beginning to wonder just how tangled they are going to end up at this rate!

No stopping you now on the picture front Steetsie - fabulous :)