A massive weekend for live music is coming up in Fife with the return of the Outwith Festival.
Last staged in 2019, the Dunfermline extravaganza has more than 30 happening bands and solo artists – many of them from the kingdom – playing at seven city centre venues tomorrow.
Big name line-up
The line-up at PJ Molloys is being headed up by West Lothian crooner Luke La Volpe, with Planet, We Cry Wolf, Cara McBride, Lewis McLaughlan, Red Vanilla and Raab also performing from 4.15pm.
Over at Monty’s, it’s Eve Davidson, Sophie De Rose, Berta Kennedy, Gravelle and headliners Eleven12, while Lourenzos hosts big names Fatherson, Be Charlotte and Kirsten Adamson, as well as Connor Fyfe and Moonlight Zoo.
Fire Station Creative has acoustic duo The Laurettes plus Shorthouse, Dovv, Dancing On Tables and Russell Stewart, with Leeds headbangers Pulled Apart By Horses the main draw at the Brasshouse.
They’ll be joined from 5.45pm by Lemon Drink, Foreignfox, Amy Papiransky, Sunstinger and Medicine Cabinet.
Dunfermline troubadour Kieran Forbes, Toastie, Plasmas, Black Wolf Trap and Silvi play the Amorist, starting at 7pm, and it’s TamanFaya, Pleasure Heads, Jupiter Strange, PG Ciarletta and Liz Lawrence at 1703 Bier Helle from 7.30pm.
Day tickets covering all seven venues are available at outwithfestival.co.uk.
Star-studded music
Still in Fife, there’s a star-studded music event at Molloys on the way on Wednesday.
Veteran punk and prolific music writer Jon Robb, known for his work with The Membranes and Goldblade, is being joined at the Canmore Street venue by radio favourite Vic Galloway to co-host a two-hour discussion on Dunfermline’s musical heritage.
The pair are being joined by such illustrious kingdom-born guests as author and serious muso Ian Rankin, Big Country guitarist Bruce Watson, Nazareth bass legend Pete Agnew and Rezillos and Countess Of Fife frontwoman Faye Fife.
Meanwhile in Dundee
In Dundee, Make-That-A-Take Records has a triple-bill worth checking out at Conroy’s Basement tonight.
The Meadowside venue is hosting heavy-duty hometown noiseniks The Blood Red Moon, along with alt-country siren Nicola Madill and ultra-young riffmeisters Portable Heads.
Meanwhile, Beat Generator has a couple of highly rated tribute bands dropping by in the coming days.
First up tomorrow are Weller, Foxton and Buckler homage The Absolute Jam playing a long-awaited rescheduled show, with hard rock copyists Boot-Led-Zeppelin lined up for the North Lindsay Street venue on Thursday.
On a similar theme, Church has a two-hour show from Rush tribute Moving Pictures tonight, with special guest drummer Jamie Dunleavey set to attempt to emulate late sticks legend Neil Peart.
Sounds in Perth
Before yesterday’s floods, there was a chance to catch outdoor sounds in Perth tomorrow – and the return of one of the Fair City’s most famous musical exports – in the shape of the first Craigie Hill Fest since 2019. Of course, all could be well again by tomorrow.
The golf club-based event kicks off with a set from hometown outfit The Crom – named after their Cromlix Road stamping ground – with the likes of Bohemian Monk Machine, My Pet Rocket, Vinyl Tap, Floyd Tomlinson, The Big Light and Stevie Wood also featuring in the early part of the event.
Later in the day there are sets to look forward to from the likes of Perth folk duo Mad Ferrett, as well as The Curtains, The Revivals, Katie Whittaker, No Class, Zennira and Catch 22’s.
Undoubtedly the main draw at the Cherrybank venue, however, will be a performance from ’80s hit-makers Fiction Factory, whose original line-up is reforming especially for the festival.
To check whether all is going ahead as planned, visit their Facebook page on www.facebook.com/craigiehillfest.
Long time between gigs
The (Feels Like) Heaven legends haven’t played together for 35 years, although interest in the band’s work has been revived in recent years thanks to occasional appearances from 62-year-old frontman Kevin Patterson at retro events like Rewind and Let’s Rock.
Elsewhere on the gig front, two further ’80s legends will be in Scotland next week for a tasty double header.
Both big favourites at Rewind Scotland down the years, the most-charted British female artist of the decade Kim Wilde and Liverpool synth-popsters China Crisis are heading north of the border again after missing this year’s Scone Palace bash.
They’re going to be playing a rescheduled gig at the O2 Academy in Glasgow on Tuesday as part of Kids In America songstress Kim’s greatest hits tour, which had originally been due to take place back in 2020.
