Edinburgh international festival, Edinburgh Park
The local lads’ first post-lockdown gig in Scotland moves from tentative to rapturous by the final tune
From the second the Snuts step on stage, the crowd is a coiled spring. It was always a big ask: could these home-town heroes, just months after they become the first Scottish band to debut an album at No 1 in 14 years, really keep everyone still in their socially distanced seats for this, their very first Scottish gig post-lockdown? The four-piece’s surging, nostalgic alt-rock anthems are born to be held aloft by rowdy fans, and these particular fans have spent the past few months frustrated, watching on as the band performed shows south of the border.
At first, peace seems possible. The Edinburgh international festival’s brand new “purpose-built outdoor venue” looks and feels like a wedding marquee on steroids: a lofty white tent, seating laid out in prim rows, a wooden floor that feels sprung for slow-dances, even drinks delivered to your chair by tray-carrying staff. Fair to say this is not the Snuts’ natural environs: the Whitburn band’s steady rise to the top of the charts is thanks to six-odd years of frenetic, sweaty basement gigs.