SPRING FESTIVALS

At a time when it feels like so many of Edinburgh’s venues are closing down, the reopening of Leith Theatre is much-awaited, and the vocal support the venue gets from its patron Irvine Welsh has been a boon to its proi le. Back in the day, it regularly hosted huge artists on tour: Kraftwerk, Thin Lizzy, John Martyn, Slade, Dr Feelgood and AC/ DC have all played there. It was even used as a regular Edinburgh International Festival venue, until its closure in 1988. The signii cance isn’t lost on its upcoming performers. ‘I feel very privileged to have been asked to play,’ says Hawk. ‘I must admit it’s a dizzying prospect, following the likes of Kraftwerk and AC/DC onto the stage; it’s a real honour to be playing such a beautiful space. To see it reopen will provide a huge boost to local artists, and to be a part of that is really exciting.’

‘Growing up in Edinburgh,’ he adds, ‘it’s easy to fall into “the grass is always greener” mindset. It’s not uncommon for local artists to feel the pull of either Glasgow or London, and I understand that completely, but the more I play in Edinburgh these days, the more I can feel a tangible shift having taken place. More so now than ever before I feel Edinburgh is building something bright and new of its own, and festivals like Hidden Door are part and parcel of that something new. It makes me very happy to have witnessed that change growing up.’

And Martin feels that tide turning too. ‘I’m pretty sure that Hidden Door is now here to stay; it’s time we started believing in that ourselves. It just feels like a bit of a fairytale because we’ve literally made it up, with no backing, no resources, no business loan, no nothing. But it’s a great city to play in and there’s a huge amount of interesting partners and creative practitioners to work with. I think it’s dei nitely going to work out.’

Hidden Door takes place at Leith Theatre, Fri 26 May–Sun 4 Jun, hiddendoorblog.org

T T O C S

I S R H C

: O T O H P

From top: Leith Theatre; the i rst Hidden Door event at the Roxy in 2010; Hidden Door festival at King’s Stables Road

P H O T O :

C H R S I

S C O T T

‘Edinburgh is building something bright and new of its own, and festivals like Hidden Door are part and parcel of that’

HI DDEN HIGHLIGHTS

OPENING PARTY IDLEWILD

FLINT & PITCH GRID IRON

SQIFF

Idlewild play a full live You’ll know Jenny

WITH ANNA MEREDITH

Everything’s coming up Anna these days, from

her Scottish Album of the Year award win for the truly excellent

Varmints to the

storming live sets she’s been blazing a trail with all this year. Alongside i rst-rate support from Bossy Love, Bdy_Prts

show on the Leith Theatre stage on

Saturday, with trusty support from local lad

Hamish Hawk (he’s got a song about

Goldenacre, y’know), Glasgow/London trio Dama Scout and the excellent Manuela, the new project from Manuela Gernedel

Lindsay from her time with fab spoken word cabaret Rally & Broad (RIP). Her latest venture Flint & Pitch is growing in stature, and we’re super happy to see it on this year’s Hidden Door bill. Watch this space for a sure-to- be excellent lineup of poetry pals. Sun 28 May.

and Marnie, this is an opening party you won’t want to miss.

and her husband Nick McCarthy, ex of Franz Ferdinand. Sat 27 May.

Fri 26 May.

32 THE LIST 1 Apr–31 May 2017

Based in Glasgow, the Scottish Queer International Film

Festival is one of our favourite i lm events of the year, and now it’s crossing the M8. At Hidden Door, SQIFF

will be screening little-shown i lms and challenging inequality in its own special way.

Fri 2 Jun.

Whether they’re performing at

Summerhall, the Barony Bar or in

Debenhams (it’s true: they did this in 2005), multiple Fringe First winners Grid Iron are consistently one of Edinburgh’s most

exciting theatremakers.

At Hidden Door,

they’ll be performing a work-in-progress,

South Bend by Martin McCormick. Tue 30

May-Thu 1 Jun.

RIOT JAZZ BRASS BAND

Riot is right: there’s nine of these noisy guys, and they’re all

set to make you move

with their infectious blend of hip hop, jazz,

funk and soul. This

night’s been curated by the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, and also

features saxophonist / MC Soweto Kinch

and drum’n’bass experimenters

gnabgnab. Fri 2 Jun.