Black Cat Bone - Dreadnought Rock Bathgate, Friday 2nd May 2025

A short jaunt to West Lothian made an ideal double-header for me; Edinburgh Monarchs speedway at Armadale first and then a short dash to the always excellent Dreadnought Rock in Bathgate for some swampy indie-rock blues from redoubtable Edinburgh band Black Cat Bone on their ‘Up to No Good’ Scottish tour.

A home win for the Monarchs was a good start but a few crashes delayed proceedings a bit, so I sadly missed what was apparently a typically great set from another rising band The Devil’s Forfeit. The borders-based band have new music on the way and a few gigs lined up, so I will look forward to seeing them again on another night.

Headliners Black Cat Bone were already four songs deep into their set when I arrived, fortunately just in time to hear what I recognised as ‘Up to No Good’ from the band’s excellent furry cos-play video which we shared on Rockfiend recently. It is their latest and greatest song – a riffy groover with bad boy swagger that quickly got the ladies up on the floor in front of the stage for a wee boogie. If you’ve not heard BCB before then this video is a good place to start.

Singer - and like me, a former resident of Buckstone – Ross Craig is a captivating performer with a few good stage moves. On ‘Blue for You’, he whips out the maracas which, combined with his static shuffle and indoor sunglasses makes him look a bit like a blind Bez! He does a great job though and oozes charisma.

Their current album ‘Tales of the Amplified’ is a belter, combining retro-blues with modern indie-rock stylings, perhaps incorporating some influence from Oasis producer Owen Morris who also did the honours for the Edinburgh boys. ‘Let it Breathe’ is one of the best songs on the album, coming on with a vintage Rolling Stones vibe, and it is even better live, with the hairy Ewan McKenna adding nimble bass lines and exquisite backing vocals alongside the shit-shirted Jamie Beaton’s nifty lead guitar solo. With Kai Wallace on cool cap and drums, overall, the band are tighter than Tam from Still Game.

Ewan whips out a violin bow for some atmospheric bass noise to introduce the strange ways and strange days of ‘Hang or Hold On’ which Ross embellishes with some primal shamanistic lizard king yowls. After ‘Freak Machine’ and ‘Shake It’ from ‘TOTA’ the short set ends with a last chance to dance to the infectious groove-rider that is ‘Loose Juice’; Ewan loses control with a bit of Ian Curtis dancing and he’s joined by an enthusiastic throng at the front who can’t wait to shake their baby-makers to this absolute banger.

Black Cat Bone have now wrapped up their Scottish tour but will be appearing at The Mash House in Edinburgh on Saturday 24th May 2025 and at PJ Molloy’s in Dunfermline on Friday 19th September.

This was my first visit to Dreadnought Rock this year and usual there was a warm welcome from Alan and his team. The Dread makes excellent use of multiple video screens and there is always a good sound mix and a good pint, so it’s a great place to go for a gig. This show was wrapped up by 10:30 but came with complementary admission to the upstairs rock club which was open until 3AM. If only I was forty years younger!