Finnegan’s Wake has been a venue long-targeted by Big Tuna and after a few delays in getting a gig there – not least because of the big Kushi fire in December 2008 which closed the venue for over a year – on Thursday (21 Oct), the band made its debut at the Grassmarket pub on Edinburgh’s Victoria Street.
The newly refurbished pub is amazing, done to a very high standard and the new band stage area is ideal: big enough for a 4-5 piece band but intimate enough for a mid-sized venue like Finnegan’s.
Thursday saw a decent crowd flowing into the venue and by 11.30 the punters were in full swing dancing to Big Tuna’s vast array of rock covers with music from the likes of Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, The Darkness, The Kinks and The Proclaimers. It’s a very lively but also very civilised crowd, ideal for a band with Big Tuna’s repertoire and, judging from the comments of many of the patrons after the performance, it was also an ideal fit for the Finnegan’s crowd.
Big Tuna plays Finnegan’s Wake again on 3 November. Also look out for new dates at the venus in 2011.
