The Blueswater : A Belated Review

THE BLUESWATER
A Belated Fringe Review

This review was originally written for Fringe Guru as a response to 'Blues', the sell-out, award-winning show put on by The Blueswater at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012. As it happens, the review was never published (nobody can say why) and yet it's been sitting here, unedited on my computer ever since. I kind of feel that I even want to write a new one in lieu of their performance on Friday 21st September at the Jazz Bar, but you'll probably have to wait a bit longer for that. The tweaking process has now been finished and only a month too late you have it, you heard it here last: The History of Blues!

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There are a few things that a different about a city like Edinburgh and one like New Orleans. Born between piracy and prostitution, the Crescent City seems hardly comparable to the Athens of the North. It’s a city where the languorous Louisiana drawl lilts along its story like flotsam drifting on the Bay whereas Edinburgh’s brogue rambles with purpose. New Orleans is loud and effulgent, burning with the promise of hundreds of deadly cocktails in takeaway cups and glittering plastic beads whilst Edinburgh’s shadow looms over us, buzzing with voices and vitality and all the secret places that are waiting to be discovered. But both cities contain a little bit of magic, histories steeped in myth and folklore, music that beats the same rhythm as your battering heart. It’s true, maybe you haven’t discovered it yet, but if you think that you need to cross the Atlantic to hear some of that ole fashion'd Nawlins sound, you might want to think again.

You don't need to buy that $800 ticket with American Airlines. You don't have to spend fourteen hours sitting around an airport, cramped into economy class seats or battling through more drunken tourists than you've ever wanted to know existed on the ever-buzzing Bourbon Street. Instead, if you can survive the crush of the Royal Mile, fit through the doors of the Space on Niddry Street and leave all liquids over 100ml outside the theatre, you can taste the Creole spice as the Blueswater practice their own brand of voodoo-hoodoo. For a measly £7 you can stop sniffing round the door after the faint scent of a sazarac and experience a 12-piece band performing a synopsis of blues music across the decades, spanning from B.B. King to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Jimi Hendrix to Muddy Waters.

It’s an iconic opening – the simplicity of this first performance, completed by the luxurious trips of the harmonica (Gordon Jones) and guitar, keeps the crowd rolling into their seats, murmuring, wondering whether they should be silent or if this relaxed atmosphere is what they can expect. With eyes that follow his audience, Felipe Schrieberg’s rendition of R.Johnson’s Me & the Devil transforms the black, expressionless stage into a space full of anticipatory welcome. When the tune comes to a close a satisfied smirk tugs at his lips, the tension rises as he launches into the origins of the song and the style and the singer. Here is a man that can captivate an audience and keep them, spellbound even before he brings out his inner witch-doctor for a wild-eyed version of I Put A Spell On You.

Schrieberg and Jones are quickly joined by a roguish brass section, their wry-smiling guitar duo, a cheeky looking drummer, nodding bassist and three enchanting ladies on keys and backing vocals. Among this motley selection of characters you have the charismatic Luc Klein on trumpet, whose ability to just-keep-on-playing-that-one-note has you breathless (when he’s perfectly fine); you have Rebecca Sneddon whose saxophone makes sounds I didn’t know could be made on a saxophone; you have the stick-twirling drummer (Paul Archibald) whose arms go so fast you wonder if they might fall off and you have Charlie Wild whose ‘guitar-hero’ status moves the show out of the realm of the delta blues and into rock’n’roll. All of the group bring something intrinsically theirs to the mix, nurturing the music as if they’re playing it for the first time but with so much skill and togetherness that it belies their dedication. Even when they lose that tightness, they remain organic, rolling with shifts in tempo and catching up when additional verses appear. They are skilled and obviously passionate about what they do.

It’s impossible to stop that enthusiasm from catching. Feet tap out the beat, secretly jiving along to the rhythm whilst the lady in front lets her shoulders roll and sway. One couple actually jumped up, moved to the side and broke out the swing dance. Despite the show being partly educational, the energy never drops. The ‘history’ itself, this fifty-five minute synopsis of the blues is humorous and quick and for the layman their coverage is ideal. Including names and songs and references that appeal to those with only a rudimentary background in the genre, they explain chords and reveal facts then open up the next tune and invite you to get your mojo working.

You don’t need to know much about the blues. You don’t need to be craving gator-on-a-stick or have a penchant for a mint julep. You don’t even need to be oblivious to the rest of Edinburgh’s musical scene. This is a show that you will be able to claim as your Fringe highlight at the end of the night. You’ll probably also leave singing and bemoaning the lack of a proper dance floor, ready to spill out into the revelry and head down the Cowgate. You won’t find anything quite like the Bluewsater though, so luckily for you, you can acquire their cd and sign up for their mailing list and rest assured that they’re playing in Edinburgh again soon.  

You’re a fool if you don’t see this show.

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Listen to them here: http://soundcloud.com/blueswater-collective

Buy their CD on iTunes!

Je serai poète et toi poésie, 
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