As August approaches and another jamboree of music, comedy, dance and theatre comes Edinburgh’s way, Mika, Dizzee Rascal and Plan B are just some of the headline acts confirmed for this years Edge Festival.
This year’s event, running from 5 – 31 August, features a host of major artists and marks more than a decade of dedicated popular music programming during Edinburgh’s festival period.
With four UK number one singles under his belt in the last nine months alone, Dizzee Rascal returns to Edinburgh to play the Corn Exchange on 26 August at the top of his game, while multi-million selling pop elf Mika appears at the HMV Picture House just a few days before on 23 August. Fresh from his appearance in the recent acclaimed Michael Caine feature Harry Brown, UK hip-hop star Plan B also performs at the Picture House on 20 August. Urban music is further represented by US R&B high-flier Jason Derulo, Hip-house wunderkind Professor Green and UK grime star Tinchy Stryder.
Also featured on The Edge line-up are enduringly popular US miserabilists Eels, all-rock luminaries Modest Mouse and indie-folk darlings Beirut. There’s also the swirling scouse psychedelia of the Coral, the intelligent chamber pop of The Divine Comedy as well as a possible last chance (for the time being, at least) to reconnect with the melancholy northern souls of Doves.
Scottish talent at The Edge comes via ex-Beta Band frontman Steve Mason and Colin McIntyre aka Mull Historical Society, as well as up and coming acts like The Phantom Band, Pearl & The Puppets, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Kassidy and Broken Records.
There’ll also be gigs from Rhode Island folk-rock trio The Low Anthem, country and blues legends Little Feat, indie-pop upstarts General Fiasco and Gomez multi-instrumentalist Tom Gray. French synth-rockers Phoenix bring some Gallic flair to proceedings while electroacoustic marvels Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and current misty-eyed alt-pop favourites Stornoway also feature, and the ever popular SOMA night returns featuring Slam, and Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip,
One particularly special performance will come from Michael Rother, one half of legendary seventies Krautrockers Neu, performing works from his exemplary back catalogue as Hallo Gallo 2010.
This year’s Edge Festival also features a new addition to the venue roster, in the shape of the 250-capacity Electric Circus, while the much-loved Liquid Room is welcomed back into the fold after missing last year due to fire damage.
Edge Festival promoter Dave Corbet says, “This year’s line-up continues the Edge Festival’s ethos of reflecting the eclectic spirit of the Fringe by bringing together current chart-toppers, established favourites, leftfield acts and ones-to-watch on one diverse bill.
Tickets for all Edge shows are available by calling 08444 999 990 or logging onto www.theedgefestival.com.