Something For The Weekend: The Prodigy, Acid’s Reign and Coyote Vs Acme

AROUND TOWN

If you’re in Glasgow this weekend then head to Fairfield Social Club in Govan for a two-day party celebrating the 15th birthday of Night School Records, a celebrant of Glasgow’s underground. Expect experimental pop, shoegaze, drone rock and punky sounds from the packed line-up of local and international musicians.

In Edinburgh, if you’ve just about had enough of the old town throes, take a wander down to Embassy Gallery in Leith. The artist-led organisation is celebrating a different festival this August with Culture Vultures, an archival exhibition and programme of events inspired by Craigmillar Festival. This Friday 28 August, join them for a live broadcast on EHFM, Edinburgh’s community radio, and a collective reading of the titular ‘Culture Vultures’ musical, first performed as part of the 1977 Craigmillar festival.

MUSIC

Inexplicably, it is the final weekend of a concerningly warm summer. Rather than dwell on the unrelenting passing of time and our march towards climate armageddon, let's look ahead to a very busy weekend of music.

The Edinburgh Summer Sessions series is bowing out on a spectacular note this weekend, as The Prodigy bring their acclaimed ‘Warrior Dance’ show to the capital. Joining the high octane group at the Royal Highland Centre is a frankly ridiculous supporting crew, including Ibiza legend Carl Cox, dancehall veteran David Rodigan and the ever-topless Japanese selector, Yousuke Yukimatsu. One to look out for in Ingliston this weekend is local techno producer E.DN, who will be performing in Arcadia’s mammoth bug-shaped stage. See you in Autumn!

STAGE

Closing August with a bang, it’s time to celebrate with cabaret, comedy and the magic of the Fringe. Sparkling on to the stage, Relish Theatre’s Acid's Reign (until 31 Monday August) are dishing out drag cabaret to tackle climate change with high-energy vocals and fierce queens and kings dressed to impress.

Kwami Odoom and Jack Henry are keeping us sane in Support Group (until Monday 31 August) by discussing their own problems amidst audience quick-fire queries, including ways to overcome the terror of audience participation. With their sharp and masterful comebacks, this is a great chance to catch quick-witted comedy before the sage advice runs out.

It would be remiss to go out without a bit of magic. Back for their fourth Fringe with every type of magic, from illusions to lasers and slick card tricks, Cameron Gibson, Elliot Bibby and Luke Osey present us with 1 Hour of Insane Magic (until Monday 31 August) to match the vibe of the Royal Mile at 5am as the festival sees out its last hours.

SCREEN

Let me be straight with you: I hate An American Werewolf In London, perhaps because its tale of a feral young man causing chaos in an apocalyptically bleak city centre reminds me too much of a night out in Dundee. But there’s no doubting it has a wildly enthusiastic fanbase, and those transformation scenes remain a tactile delight. Shaw Reel Cinema Club, a community cinema at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall, will be screening the cult classic on Friday 28 August (appropriately, when the moon is full).

As part of The Falastin Film Festival, Edinburgh’s Filmhouse will screen Gaza: What Still Grows (Friday 28 August), three films set against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The screenings will be accompanied by a Q&A with directors Mai Saad, Ahmad al Danaf and Youssef (co-founder of the Free Gaza Circus).

Finally, Looney Tunes revival Coyote Vs Acme is still flying under the radar at every multiplex. A shame, because it is excellent, quirky fun. Initially shelved as a tax write-off by Warner Bros, the fight to have this slice of silliness into cinemas has been a dismaying controversy of corporate mismanagement. Well worth a watch if you want to (sort of) stick it to the man.

EAT & DRINK

My first stop this weekend, on route to a final few shows, will be the newly opened Noodle Meets Chanh’an on South Bridge. Specialising in Shaanxi cuisine I’ve been looking forward to trying these hand-pulled Biang Biang noodles all week.

In Glasgow, Meyhane opened last weekend at 88 West Regent Street to much acclaim, with plenty of balloons, and I’m keen to take friends for Turkish mezze and good times. I also want to get to Dream Ground Coffee & Co., a new cafe and social enterprise in a renovated church in the Southside. It opened last month and those floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and squishy couches are calling my name.

Finally, one for the smallest foodies as Cook Stars cooking classes launches this weekend at McLarens on the Corner in Morningside, offering a year-round programme of cooking and baking workshops for children ages 2-17. First up, chocolate and vanilla swirl marble cake.

VISUAL ART

Time for another Edinburgh Art Festival missive from my home office in drizzliest Glasgow, where it all feels pretty distant to be honest. But look, I spent two days there, got flu from a Fringe audience, and came back with stories.

It's a strong showing for photography this year, between Sandra George's documenting civic life across the capital (see last week's round-up), to Del LaGrace Volcano's historic shots of queer nightlife and community building in Scotland and beyond. But the single sequence that got me in the gut more than any other was by South African photographer Jillian Edelstein at Stills.

As an unofficial artist to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which held perpetrators of Apartheid to account after 1994, Edelstein captured the psychological after effects of losing family members and loved ones to extrajudicial kidnapping, murder and torture. Many of her subjects seem to stare down the barrel of the lens with the same look: a kind of famished intensity. Edelstein is a lively portraitist too, but the commission shots are the ones that will stay with you.

THE HOT SEAT - Fringe Special

As we enter the final weekend of the Fringe, this week’s Hot Seat is being occupied by our reviewers (a tight squeeze, so let’s imagine it as more of a Hot Bench), and a selection of the five-star reviews they’ve penned this month. One of the first fives we doled out was Acid’s Reign, an eco-conscious musical with a vivacious flair. Then there’s Bog Witch, a theatre piece which Afreka Thomson claims ‘feels like Fleabag if she’d wandered into the countryside’. In comedy, Brendan Scannell: The Abyss earned our rare five-star plaudit for his catty stand-up stylings and a show which brims with catharsis. Finally, Not For Glory is a conversation with Scottish culture through the medium of dance. You can still catch all of those shows before the Fringe ends on Monday.

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Something For The Weekend: The Prodigy, Acid’s Reign and Coyote Vs Acme