Po Na Nas last week gathered a few known names on the Edinburgh music scene for a Battle of the Bands, where the winner of the event will play at a new Indie night, ‘Edit’, when it moves to the Liquid Room on Sundays.
Despite the competition for such a prestige prize, there was a clear camaraderie between the bands as they hopped on and off stage.
The bands involved (without wanting to leave anyone out) were: Six Storeys High, Dirty Modern Hero, The Banter Thief's, Jakil, The Merchants, and Run/Lucky/Free.
All the bands appeared to have established a firm and varied fanbase, with much of the audience either knowing the musicians on a personal basis, or had certainly seen them perform before. With lots of friendly faces it was a positive atmosphere, providing the less seasoned attendant with an insight into the young, up-and-coming Edinburgh band scene.
At one point it was pretty hard to pinpoint whether some of the lead singers were losing the fight against their own bands noise levels or whether it was something to do with the sound technicalities.
However, that seemed to be remedied towards the end of the evening with many of the other bands triumphing with clearer vocality. All bands were comfortable onstage and very well rehearsed in providing a real gig experience for their audience.
The stand out, at the end of the night, was Run/Lucky/Free. The band took the title with overall support of the crowd.
To say Run/Lucky/Free were leaps and bounds ahead of all the other acts would be unfair, given that the other acts were just as competent. However, their songs and their line-up helped them stand out.
The band have a ‘folky’, electro indie sound, lead by a female vocalist Rachael Cormack. Certainly, their sound was unique to the gig, but similar to that of Florence and Ellie at present dominating the airwaves.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and insightful evening. All the bands involved are worth keeping an eye on, the winners of the evening particularly deserving more attention over the coming months.