top of page
Search

Du Blonde, The Mash House, Edinburgh 22/01/25

Writer's picture: Danny CDanny C

A Quiet, A Simple, A Pretty, A Better Type of gig? No, no, yes, yes and Perfect!


When I was racking up gigs through the end of 2024 and looking forward to a few quiet(ish) weeks in January, Du Blonde at The Mash House was always one I was looking forward to and expecting to be a cracker - and it was. The fact it was upgraded quickly to a bigger venue from Sneaky Petes to The Mash House and that most of this tour has sold out shows it wasn't just me thinking this way. There were a fair few of the One-A-Week crowd (a lot of chat about craft ales and beer pre-gig with “where exactly is Beavertown?” being the highlight), bumping into @Garfife on the way in, a large Edinburgh Gigeratti contingent and even music celebrities in attendance too (we heard Nadine Shah and maybe Callum Easter weren’t far from where we were in the venue) as well as a whooping, ultra-supportive young crowd too.


Even though this was the first night of the tour, their first live gig in about five years and, as Beth Houghton explained in between songs (and also written songs about), the fact that her struggle with getting back outside after Covid & lockdown had been difficult to overcome it was a solid, bouncing set. Also, an admirable effort by support band bigfatbig who went straight into playing backing band for Du Blonde and while not without opening night gremlins, it was a great set, mixing a good number of tracks from their excellent latest release Sniff More Gritty and older material kicking off with Perfect. Great harmonies and the sing-along hooky lyrics had the majority of the front crowd singing, swaying and arm-waving right from the start.


 They rocked through Take One for The Team, Solitary Individual, and Live Wire Punk keeping the crowd bouncing along. A few slightly slower songs after that (Lucky, Angel and Yesterday) giving them time to bring some chat into the set. They thought they might be over sharing at times about hair chewing, wedgies on stage, teddy bears, personal hygiene on tour (or lack of) and ghosts - all relevant to the songs being introduced or having just been played at that point in the set, but entertaining and as if the music wasn’t enough, endearing us to them all the more.

 With a killer version of the earworm/anthem I’m Glad That We Broke Up bringing a mini break for the rest of the band to head off stage for a bit we were treated to a few solo acoustic tracks. Coffee Machine got a Du Blonde self-congratulatory fist pump at the end for getting through it and getting a huge applause, as ***SPOLIER*** this is a bit of a tester for a potential solo acoustic tour later in the year (Yes please! And Edinburgh again if you can, thank you!). Pelican Canyon gave them a few challenges as it involved singing two parts and the randomness of Sam Herrings lyrics did confuse them when learning his lines on this co-wrote classic. Blame rounded off the acoustic section and got the crowd back up for the band coming on and Beth, again, endearingly open about herself, shared how nervous she was about the tour, playing and being back on the road (all acknowledged but dismissed by the crowds cheers of support and love for what they do).


After raucous versions of Buddy and Ducky Daffy, time-management took a bit of hit as the usual 10pm end point for gigs at The Mash House was passed still with half a dozen songs to get through. A quick poll for what two tracks they had time left to fit in turned into three and the set was rounded off wildly with TV Star, Dollar Coffee and Radio Jesus.


These live versions were quite different in style and sound from the recorded tracks we’ve come to know but no less enjoyable or entertaining (tonight more so I think). Playing these different live gave Du Blonde the chance to show off her incredible range of vocal talents. The vocals are only part of what makes Du Blonde so enjoyable, the lyrics are storytelling (often humorous) and the overall sound and style of the music ranges from ragged, fuzzy raw punk through stadium anthem mass-singalongs to melancholic ballads and all with incredible heartfelt, moving melodies throughout.


As I also said at the start an honourable mention to Sunderland-based bigfatbig for playing a lengthy support slot and then going straight into backing Du Blonde (about two hours all in). Their rocky, energetic sound went down well and, for me, some of the tracks vocals contrasted that as they reminded me of the 90’s legends The Sundays’ singer Harriett Wheeler at times. Apologies to the opening band The Farting Suffragettes who we didnt get in on time to see, but will be checking them out too soon.


If you haven’t heard or heard of Du Blonde yet, you’re missing out. Some gigs left on this tour – if you don’t already have one and you’re fortunate enough to get a ticket you can thank me later. If you do have one, you’re in for a treat. And if you don’t and can’t get one check out their music through the links below and make your music collection so much better and brighter.


16 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page