T On The Fringe After Party at The Caves
Edinburgh’s The Caves venue played host to the Tennents T On The Fringe after party on Tuesday 28th August. The Edinburgh Blog was there to see live performances from Amy Macdonald, The Dykeenies and a DJ Set from The View.
The T On The Fringe After Party was an invite only event. Attendees of ‘paid for’ T On The Fringe events or visitors to their website could enter a competition to win a place on the guestlist for themselves and four friends. The T On The Fringe After Party was held at The Caves venue on Edinburgh’s South Niddry Street. This really is a great venue; with a bar area more or less at street level and the actual caves including the intimate main room, with stage, down some steps. Little ‘mini caves’ hang off the main cave and here you can get a drink at the bar or sit in a tiny alcove.
Doors were open from 9pm and we arrived around half past. Everyone was given a wrist band on entry and a voucher for a free pint of Tennents at the bar. For those not fond of Tennents draught lager it was get your wallet out time. Which brings me to my first point - Tennents are the sponsors of T On The Fringe and all supposed VIP guests (the invite stated “You and four friends are going VIP all the way on August 28th”) could be afforded was one free pint of Tennents lager. If this was a true ‘VIP’ experience you would have expected a free bar, especially when it’s the brewers party!
The Caves weren’t exactly busy when we entered and I would be surprised if all competition winners turned up: it was a Tuesday night. Pint of complementary Tennents in hand we made our way to the left-most room on the base of the Caves where a photographer was taking promotional pictures of a T On The Fringe logo stuck to the floor. Another less equipped photographer offered to take a Polaroid of our group pretending to be The Magic Numbers - we refused, deciding it was far too early to put our heads through holes on painted bodies of the Magic Numbers. If there is ever an appropriate point in the evening for that type of thing.
At approx. 10pm Amy Macdonald entered the stage to greet a sort of busy crowd. She flew through her set, which I enjoyed, and did a nice acoustic version of The Killer’s Mr Brightside. Twenty or so minutes later and The Dykeenies, drinking from Stella cans (not Tennents!), began their performance. The sound from the left speaker was so distorted it was hurting our ears so we moved backward from our front of the crowd position. They were also decent, and I suspect, fairly drunk. You did get the impression it was hardly the performers favourite gig of the year though.
The main problems were the day of the week, so very few people were going to be up for a large night. And the audience were there for a party not with specific performers in mind, so I doubt if Amy Macdonald’s or The Dykeenies’ biggest fans were present. So the crowds enthusiasm was a little lacking as was the atmosphere. Infact most were stood still while the bands were on, apart from the occasional swaying in time with the music. Which is a shame, as with the right crowd matched to the right music The Caves would become a magical venue. The View’s DJ set started promisingly with Oasis Cigarettes and Alcohol, Kasabian and The Libertines Can’t Stand Me Now opening things up. Their enthusiasm was, thankfully, very evident; with lots of thursting arms in the air and gesturing to the crowd.
It was all happening later on in the gents toilets: one guy urinated in the sink instead of the urinal and another dropped his glass into the urinal. How very rock and roll; well a bit pathetic actually - more like drunken students who should be tucked up in bed.
About 1am we left; receiving a cheaply printed free T-Shirt as we left. Overall it was a OK night, but it’s not an event you should be sorry or disappointed to have missed out on if you didn’t win tickets through the competition i.e. it was nowhere near the billed “Edinburgh’s most exciting party”.
