On the Rocks festival officially opened on Friday with Music is Love for a celebration of local creativity and talent in the Byre theatre. Set to be an exciting night of live music, film screenings and exhibitions, two of the biggest creative forces in St. Andrews’ joined in ranks to give us exactly that.
Impressively, every element of the Byre’s spacial capacity was used. The event was ticketed into two sections: a £2 ticket, ensuring entry to the plethora of acts in the main bar, including London based Nick Edward-Harris and performances from Jazz and Folk society, stalls by St.Art, Hearing Aid, Stereoscope and merchandise sales on the middle floor and access to screenings of anthropological films tailored especially to the event. Like a three-tiered cake of artistic creativity, the whole of the theatre was in full swing, and no matter which ticket you went for, no-one lost out.
However, it was the main acts in the auditorium that were the clinchers. First on was Jemimah Thewes, with husband Tim in tow, playing an eclectic set on ukulele and tongue drum. The pair were quirky and folky and provided an easy-going set that warmed the crowd. After a short break, where it became quite hard to move in the bar, up and coming Inti Rowland performed with a five-person ensemble including cellos, violins, a trumpet and drums. With his unique brand of finger picking and falsetto voice, his music is nothing but wholesome and good-for-the-soul. And finally came Eagleowl, playing to a backdrop of silent films of nature and the earth.
Eagleowl were intensely beautiful. Their set was interchangeable, with their multi-faceted (and multi-talented) band of instrumentalists and singers, no two songs were the same; quiet, moody, loud, short, female, male… but nothing short of quiet perfection. If Music is Love were aiming to shock, that they did; as everyone was so stunned at the end of the set by the simplistic beauty that radiated from the songs played on the stage that it took a few seconds to register whether it was finally over. And when it was – a void was left to be filled. There was a sense of an experience being undertaken, and at its end, a desire for extra fulfilment, be it in the form of a drink or a kiss or simply another dance. And luckily, with the Moodroom set at the end, we weren’t denied that.
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In short, a very well done to Music is Love and On the Rocks. If this opening launch was anything to go by, STAR can’t wait to see what the rest of the festival will hold.
WORDS: Carla Jenkins
PICTURES: Music Is Love
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