TOP TIPS: WEEK 1 Top Tips | FESTIVAL MUSIC

Music highlights from the first week of the Fringe, arranged in a handy chronological guide

9AM

BACH FOR BREAKFAST Royal Scots Club, 6, 8, 13, 15, 17 Aug, 9.30am, £15 (£12). A very civilised way to start your day in the company of a selection of excellent young classical musicians performing a programme of Bach.

11AM

NICOLA BENEDETTI Queen’s Hall, 4 Aug, 11am, £11–£34. Scotland’s violin superstar with an early performance of baroque classical along with the Academy of Ancient Music. Featuring works by Vivaldi and Telemann.

NOON AFRICAN RISE

Assembly Checkpoint, 4–27 Aug, 12.30pm. £13 (£12). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £10. Time to get moving with Afripella. As the name suggests acapella African music, song and dance.

3PM NATIONAL YOUTH CHOIR OF

ELSA JEAN MCTAGGART: SCOTLAND

HEBRIDEAN FIRE theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 4–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 12.35pm, £7 (£5). Preview 3 Aug, £6 (£4). Elsa Jean McTaggart returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018 to launch her well-known folk and Scottish music show, Hebridean Fire. The show will feature Elsa’s original songs on guitar and tunes on the fiddle and penny whistle while incorporating well-known Scottish songs and tunes.

Usher Hall, 5 Aug, 3pm, £15. Christopher Bell directs this young and extremely talented choir with a programme of Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs, Tippett Five Spirituals (Child of Our Time), Thea Musgrave On the Underground Set No 2 and Eric Whitacre When David Heard.

CHRIS DIFFORD Assembly Checkpoint, 6–12 Aug, 3.30pm, £16 (£14). Aka Some

ELVIS: STILL YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL Elvis was the King of Rock’n’Roll and there are hundreds of impersonators around the world, but most focus on his Vegas jumpsuit years. Oliver Harris brings to life the young Elvis, when he was still a true heartbreaker, playing his early hits including timeless classics ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘My Baby Left Me’. Frankenstein Pub, 2–27 Aug, 3.45pm; 2–12 Aug, 7.30pm, £8 to guarantee entry or Pay What You Want.

Fantastic Place, My Life in and Out of Squeeze. Songs and stories from the Squeeze frontman, in the company of Boo Hewerdine, to mark the release of his autobiography.

6PM

BELLY OF A DRUNKEN PIANO Assembly Rooms, 2–26 Aug, 6.15pm, £15–£16.50 (£14–£15.50). Previews 2 & 3 Aug £11. A tribute to the darker end of the singer- songwriter spectrum as Stewart D’Arrietta plays the music of Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Ian Dury and more.

DOME NIGHTS: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON INSPIRED BY THE

MUSIC OF PINK FLOYD

Dynamic Earth, 3–27 Aug, 6.30pm, £12 (£8). Inspired by the music of Pink Floyd, this dome spectacular features the 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon in explosive surround sound. With spellbinding abstract projections on the dome, audiences will be surrounded to create a truly astonishing visual and aural experience.

7PM

THE MAGNETS: NAKED 80S VOLUME 2

Assembly George Square Gardens, 4–26 Aug (not 20), 7pm, £15–£17 (£14–£16). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £12. The hit a cappella show of the Edinburgh Fringe 2017 returns to present the 80s remixed. Like Pitch Perfect with shoulder pads, vocal harmony supergroup The Magnets strip away the synths to honour the decade of big snares and bigger hair with their voices alone.

#PIANODROME LIVE Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Pyrus Lawn, 3–26 Aug (not 6 & 7, 13 & 14, 20 & 21), 7pm, £15 (£12). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10. S!nk host a nightly cornucopia of new music, movement and more in the world’s first ever #Pianodrome. This bespoke 100-seater amphitheatre in the Royal Botanic Garden is made entirely out of upcycled pianos is free for all to play on, in and around during the day, and animated by night with special performances.

8PM

THUMPASAURUS A big punk funk party band from LA, self-proclaimed ‘intergalactic dance gods’ Thumpasaurus approach their music with a sense of humour but the slap bass grooves are seriously infectious as they prepare to unleash their debut album The Book of Thump. You can also catch them with Norwegian-American comedy duo Zach & Viggo for absurdist funk opera Where Does The Love Go?. Underbelly Cowgate, 3–5, 10–12, 17–19, 24–26 Aug, midnight, £10; Where Does The Love Go?, Underbelly Cowgate, 4–26 Aug (not 8, 13), 9.20pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6.50.

007 VOICES OF BOND BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN

theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 3–25 Aug, 6.50pm, £13 (£11.50). There have been some cracking Bond tracks through the years from Adele and Sam Smith to Carly Simon and the queen of them all, Dame Shirley Bassey. Vocalist Phoebe Katis pays tribute to the best theme tunes in the movies. Queen’s Hall, 8 Aug, 8pm, £27. Texas singer-songwriter who has written for all the country greats including Willie Nelson, Faith Hill, Waylon Jennings and Mary Chapin Carpenter alongside hits for herself. Support comes from British Americana singer Robert Vincent.

1–8 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 101