Gone Native

In a month when the city opens its hearts, tills and wallets to performers and visitors from across the globe, seasoned folksters Kevin Gore and Robert Nicholson present an hour of song that’s as solidly Edinburgh as the Castle Rock. It’s a show of two halves, one more successful than the other, but still a fine way to pass the time with a pint or a dram of whisky in hand.

Gore is a knockout. His songs balance beauty with fierce rallying cries for social justice. Opener ‘Berlin Suicide’ eloquently describes his dismay at the rise of far-right street protestors like the Scottish Defence League, while ‘Freedom Fighter’ considers the role call of great men once decried as terrorists who the world now acknowledges as models of resistance and integrity. 

Nicholson has the tougher job, as while elegiac protest songs are thin on the ground at the festival, observational comedy is not. He’s an attractive character, cheekily charming in his flat cap and he works his audience well, but few of his songs deliver the goods, despite some strong premises. Only ‘Go And See The Pandas’, extolling the dubious virtues of bamboo-munchers and tram construction alike, hits its mark. 

Luckily it’s brought to a close with a sublime duet of ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ that leaves you wishing they’d spent more of the running time as a pair. Regardless, it’s a welcoming and sincere hour in a venue that feels like the perfect bolt-hole from the noisy discord of the Fringe.