Words: Lisa Thomson.
Continuing on from the recent streak of success sparked with the phenomenal self-remixed ‘Tokyo Talk’, last month BWANi announced their next mission: a night of recreating and putting their stamp on an already iconic album.
At first I thought, “This is risky… how do you present a classic album, without falling into the trap of becoming just another cover band?”
Photo: Annie Tuite.
Putting it to their fans via an online poll, Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ came out on top, over ‘London Calling’ by The Clash, ‘Led Zeppelin III’ and ‘My Aim is True’ by Elvis Costello. With the band’s already established staple African tones (hugely due to lead-guitarist Dan being taught his trade by his counterpart in legendary Zimbabwean band the Bhundu Boys), this pairing was predicted to be an absolute belter. This was before local accordion legend PHIL CUNNINGHAM was announced to join the lads, alongside beautiful vocalist Gill Turnbull, super-talented Pocion de fe Horns and the amazing Street Rat (Davie Luhunga), a singing percussionist all the way from Malawi. With an eclectic mix of performers and a solid opening act in Whitley Bay’s Lisbon (great band, check them out below), it’s no wonder that this gig was a sell-out!
However, the night didn’t start off well, with the band struggling to even make the stage, due to the sheer number of people clambering to the front to bag a decent view point. Opening with traditional African tribal sounds, the boys, along with their special guests, eventually managed to take to the stage with an energy that was contagious. Kicking off with ‘The Boy in the Bubble’, lead singer Rory Fairweather effortlessly had the crowd singing and dancing along in no time.
All previous worries about ‘just another cover band’ were long gone by the time the ensemble started playing ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ and ‘You Can Call Me Al’, clearly crowd’s favourites! Constant cheers, with the occasional “C’mon Phil”, were silenced on request for a remarkably flawless rendition of ‘Homeless’. All too soon it was encore time, but not being allowed to finish with ‘You Can Call Me Al’, the band succumbed to the age old Scottish tribal chant of “one more tune”. I didn’t think it was possible for the atmosphere to get any more electric but it did. The band played their true encore of ‘Graceland’ to one of the most incredibly buzzed crowds I have ever seen. Who said Edinburgh’s music scene was dead!?
Falling in love with BWANi all over again, Friday was one of the best gigs I have been to in a while. Don’t worry if you missed it though, rumour has it the show might be repeated early next year at a major festival in Glasgow (that’s supposed to be a secret though!)
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