Review: Midnight Marauders

Oh, this is a glorious parade of the Fringe’s finest freaks. With a line-up that changes every night, Midnight Marauders is a riotous rumpus of anarchic acts and filth likely leave you covered in glitter and booze. 

The nightly turnover means that your experience will differ every visit. However, this sampler evening’s menu featuring chem-sex themed cabaret from Sex Shells; Amanda Palmer leading a mosh pit; and a sing off with a theremin courtesy of Ali McGregor, gives a pretty fair impression of the tastes catered for. The treats that the marauders have plundered from across the city are punctuated with sleazy rock 'n' roll. 

Madame of ceremonies Carla Lippis is the epitome of butch-camp – a riot grrrl with the throaty punk vocals to back up her swagger. She is our Voodoo priestess leading the revels with her skull topped staff (a warning maybe of what happens if you displease our host). Hyper sprite of a keyboard player Victoria Falconer is Ariel to Lippis’s sexy Prospero, keeping the changeovers quick and the energy high.

The magic of the marauders is that in a festival that can sometimes feel exclusionary, everyone is invited. If the foggy streets of Edinburgh are looking a bit quiet come the witching hour, you know where to find the best of the weirdos.