On Wednesday, Italian electro-swing four-piece Swingrowers brought the party to Fibbers but not before it was started by local septet Grinny Grandad.

By Graeme Smith

Wednesday’s show was full of firsts for Grinny Grandad. It was their first performance as a seven-piece and the first time they performed fully live tracks without a backing track. It was the extra members that gave them the freedom to do the latter and it definitely brought a fresh feel to their set.

Adding brass and woodwind to their line-up gave them a big band feel and the result was a lively, funky cocktail and energetic front-woman Alanna was completely captivating throughout.

In fact, charismatic front-women was the theme of the night with headliners Swingrowers lining up in a similar way. Singer Loredana was, sadly, suffering from a bad back on the night otherwise, as she assured the audience, she would have been jumping and dancing across the stage. It didn’t stop her giving her all though and you could tell she was really feeling the music and wanted to move.

Joining her on stage was a trio of musicians on decks, sax and electric guitar which really gave them a euro-rock sound. Again, jazz, swing and electro was the order of the day, though they weren’t shy of a big rock riff or two as well, particularly in new song Tit For Tat. The biggest crowd reaction of the night was reserved for their medley of covers, starting with Technotronic’s Pump Up The Jam and finishing with Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).

All in all it was a great excuse to celebrate hump day in style but then who needs an excuse for a party?

Grinny Grandad and Swingrowers played at Fibbers on Wednesday 7 March 2018.