Twenty first Century Boys and Girls Join the Fun at Ingliston

★★★★★ (5/5)

FRED AGAIN HEADLINING DAY TWO AT CONNECT FESTIVAL 2023
PHOTOCREDIT: STUART WESTWOOD

The sun joined the fun for Saturday. Warming up the crowd which had grown considerably from Friday and, curiously, also seemed much younger. There was a real festival atmosphere as the crowds enjoyed the wide ranging music, the food and craft stalls but also just wandering around the Showground in the sun.

After the nineties and naughties flavour of Friday, Saturday’s music was all about now. The early music mirrored the weather, the sweet jazz vocal of Cara Rose, the energy of Biig Piig’s, Jessica Smyth and the bouncy soul pop of Rachel Chinouriri.

BIIG PIIG PERFORMING AT DAY 2 OF CONNECT FESTIVAL 2023
PHOTOCREDIT: STUART WESTWOOD

The heat on the main stage was ignited by pop diva, Róisín Murphy who attracted a large crowd. Sweeping onto the stage to the electro-pop ‘Can’t Replicate’, cloak sweeping as she strode across the stage playing to the media cameras as well as the fans. The set went well, with the ex Moloko singer enjoying the response from the passionate crowd.

It was a home gig for Edinburgh’s Young Fathers and a large and passionate audience gathered to see the local heroes, Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings. The band walked on to a stripped down set and went straight into ‘Queen is Dead’. Aggressive and discordant, the song set the scene for a high energy and intense performance. The reaction was immediate, the audience singing, dancing, shouting, jumping. The sound was astounding and seemed to come from everywhere. The vocals emanated from seven voices varying from darkly rough to honey sweet constantly swooping around each other.

YOUNG FATHERS PERFORMING AT DAY 2 OF CONNECT FESTIVAL 2023
PHOTOCREDIT: STUART WESTWOOD

The sound was both discomforting and beautiful, a cultural melting pot of influences, styles and cultures. The Young Fathers are known as a trio but this set was truly an ensemble piece, everyone singing, playing instruments and interacting in a myriad of choreographed ways. Massaquoi, Bankole and Hastings were at the centre but the four other members were intrinsic to the performance but they went un-introduced. Songs like ‘Ululation’ couldn’t be performed without the incredible performance of the female singers.

The quality of the set was almost universally high with the crowd getting more and more involved, but some songs stuck out. Their 2018 single ‘In My View’ and the band’s latest single ‘Rice’ got the crowd really involved. The Spectator described the Young Fathers as ‘The most exciting live band in Britain right now’ and you can see why.

The set came to its peak with ‘Shame’ with the crowd chanting along with the band, the straight faced Hastings demanding more. They ran into ‘Toy’ from their ‘Cocoa Sugar’ album. The band and crowd were as one, the music thumping as the crowd chanted out the lyrics. The band left the stage one by one to the cheers of the delighted audience.

The set turnaround was very smooth at the festival, with thirty minutes between artists. There was a changeover of crowds too, and a younger, crowd swam to the front like salmon swimming upstream against the retreating Young Fathers’ fans. They were here to see Fred again.. - the highlight of the weekend for many.

Fred again.. is an artist at the peak of his powers. Musician, producer, DJ and songwriter Fred Gibson is a 21st Century polymath. His tunes mix, spoken voice, sampled tunes, and thumping beats were set to layered video content and amazing lighting to give the Edinburgh crown a unique immersive experience.

The audience was there to party and the dancing kicked off with ‘Kyle (I Found You) which Fred and co-pilot ‘Tony’ built slowly and took the audience with them as the energy built. It was the start of a symbiotic night with Fred and his crowd feeding of each other’s energy. Bleu (better than you) built the energy even further with camera phones in the air and beer spray filling the air. The atmosphere was immense with the audience immersed in an all-encompassing experience.

Current single ‘Adore U’ gave the crowd a chance to catch its collective breath. This beautiful song which Fred recorded with Nigerian musician Obongjayar was joined by the Showground’s huge, passionate choir. Extraordinary!

But it didn’t take long until we were back to maximum energy. Fred himself seemed immersed and totally committed, often catching his breath when speaking at the end of a tune. He was sampling, beating and singing, he was all-in. So were his audience.

Fred layered his tunes, adding and mixing as he went. Like ‘Carlos (Make It Thru) / Danielle (Smile On My Face) / Kyle (I Found You) / Homies’ where he mashed 5 tunes together.

The set climaxed with the heartfelt ‘Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)’ then Billie (Loving Arms) which sampled 90s Billie Ray Martin’s ‘Your Loving Arms’. The crowd, hands and phones in the air, were at full voice in their singing and in their cheers at the close. Fred seems sincere in his thanks to the adoring crowd. And the audience walked away, happily singing and obviously delighted. It was a real experience. As the spoken voice on his track Danielle says ‘I knew we were going to dance so hard – but not that hard!’