Glissando/The French Quarter (Trampoline night) @ Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh 21.09.08

Hailing from the perhaps unlikely location of Tilicoultry, the six members of The French Quarter generate an assured wall of sound which reverberates around the red walls of Edinburgh’s Wee Red Bar. Keyboard-heavy, their sound is enlivened by xylophone, and their approach is so convincing that the vocals seem almost a distraction. A shortish set sees material taken mostly from their debut EP “We’re Not French”, typified by the shimmering loveliness of “Shed Away”. It will be genuinely interesting to watch these guys and see what they do next. 

A fan of Glissando since hearing the haunting and ethereal sounds of their debut album “With Our Arms Wide Open We March Towards The Burning Sea”, I was nevertheless intrigued to see how their complex sound would translate onto the stage. On this tour, the two core members of the band, Elly May Irving and Richard Knox, have been bolstered by Tim Hay on bass and Sophie Green on violin. These additions seem to expand their sound and bring their remarkable album to rich, resplendent life. Key is the gorgeous voice of Elly May Irving, here given the space to breathe in a live setting. And the music itself almost seems to be a living, breathing entity, cocooned within the comforting surroundings of the Wee Red.

Glissando

Opener “With A Kiss and a Tear” begins with a mournful piano, and this, as all their songs, seems to resonate with pain and loss, and the arresting imagery of fire and flames never seems to be far away. The highlight of their set, which the whole evening seems to be building up to, is the almost unbearably poignant “Floods”. With another piano-led introduction, the track escalates towards its triumphant conclusion, as all four band members join in with the refrain “you were on fire as they ran to hold the flames / we did not see / so the water never came”. It’s gut-wrenching stuff, and as the song crashes out, it seems as if the silence reverberates around the room. Another triumph for Trampoline.

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