| 12 August 2011
The Twoks are pretty unusual, pretty and unusual. Xani Kolac plays the electric violin like a siren. I mean, she’s a siren, like bohemian Karen O meets Joanna Newsome. She writhes around the stage in a one-piece bodysuit, howling out enchantment. She’s a maverick, playing her instrument with a looping pedal she controls with her toes, swelling the melodies into rhapsodic choruses. Mark Leahy’s drumming is dotingly merged into the rapture. I joked, “Jeez, he’s good to be able to work with that” because Xani can go off on an impromptu detour, but he really is.
It’s the chemistry between the two that’s such a tickle – it reminded me of an early Dresden Dolls set. (Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls also has show’s this festival, coming back solo and with Evelyn Evelyn. anyone who likes them will like this.) Like an Amanda Palmer set, each night they do a cover of a chart hit by the likes of Destiny’s Child. Thankfully the earlier songs made me itch for a dance so badly I had already snuck to the bar at the back.
They’re already generating somewhat of an ardent following. I’ve already gone to two of their gigs this festival and will be at a third tomorrow – they’ll be playing a set at Foodies Festival in Holyrood Park. As soon as word gets out, I think The Twoks will be massive. Last year they won the Adelaide Fringe Best Newcomers Award. Now they’re in Edinburgh plugging their set in the Dans Paleis, the soundtrack to my Edinburgh Festival 2011. Buy tickets now so you can say, “Yeah, but I saw them in 2011 before they were famous here.”
The Twoks, Assembly George Square, 15-22 Aug, 10.30 pm
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
