Electric Wires / Luca / Jeanice Lee - Bannerman’s Edinburgh, 8th October 2025

First up was Jeanice Lee – a band who are one quarter Italian thanks to lead guitarist and co-writer Marco Morelli, although after several decades over here and with a thistle tattoo on his arm, we’re actually claiming Marco as one of our own these days. That goes for Jeanice too. Originally from Hong Kong, she’s been here for a while as well, and with Marco forms one-half of Edinburgh’s premier rock power-couple. With Tony Hodge on drums and Jamie Hunter on bass, both local lads, the band are tighter than ever and have some exciting new music to share with us. A new album has been recorded, that’s the fun bit, but there is still a lot of work for them to do before it actually comes out.

‘Overhaul’ was a great set opener from the ‘Urban Legends’ album but the big focus was on two new tunes ‘Displaced’ and ‘Cradle to the Grave’ – both inspired by current events. Nobody does impassioned indignation quite like Jeanice and she poured all of her heart and soul into delivering these well-crafted howls of outrage on stage in a dramatic and riveting performance.

Everyone I spoke to agreed that ‘Cradle to the Grave’ should be an absolute game-changer for the band. It is an extended epic piece and moves through several musical movements, punctuated by some laser-sharp guitar work by Marco, but above all, it really feels like a “band track”, with all four of the players locked in and performing at the top of their game. The song is tabbed to be the lead single in due course, possibly with a promo video, so keep an eye on the band’s socials for release information.

Early October is probably too soon for a Xmas song right? Oh no it isn’t! That’s a cheesy panto joke I used in my Xmas film-themed review of their 2020 festive song ‘Xmas in C Minor’ (surely the “2nd saddest of all keys”?) which Jeanice was kind enough to reference in the song’s intro. It’s a gothic masterpiece and still definitely the bleakest Xmas song you’ve ever heard, although Jeanice wrapped it up hilariously with a cheeky and entirely unexpected “yippee kay yay motherf***ers”!

The last song of the set was apparently written by Jeanice before she and Marco got together – I believe they might have first met on a song-writing seminar – but they have spruced it up and finished it now. It’s called ‘Gone Too Soon’ and is about loss and bereavement. As we know, Jeanice doesn’t do “happy” songs, so if you’re hoping for an album of Air Supply covers, you’ll have a long wait.

Incidentally, if you are looking for an album of interesting retro-covers; Derek Mitchell of veteran Edinburgh rock heroes Vantage Point was at the gig, and they’ve just released ‘The News: A Tribute to Huey Lewis’ – available on all good streaming sites (and some crap ones too). Check it out if you’re hip to be square in a rocking kind of way.

Next up was a familiar face making a welcome return. Luca Negro has played Bannerman’s many times as a member of bands such as Temperance, COEVO and Revenience, and it’s always good to see him. This time he’s performing a solo project, accompanied by drum wizard Alfonso Mocerino. They have released an instrumental EP called ‘Azalea’ under the name ‘Luca’ and their very welcome short set shows that you don’t necessarily need a singer to make great music.

We are used to seeing the handsome and hirsute Luca on bass, but it turns out he is also a fantastic guitar player. He uses the instrument to deliver what Lord Coverdale of Saltburn-on-Sea might have called “sonic tapestries” – but not “from hell”; these are fragrant compositions; tuneful, intricate, atmospheric and elegant, and probably ideal for a film or TV score.

Compositions is definitely the right word too, as there is a contemporary classical feel in the air. Alfonso is integral to the project. He had a hand in the writing and tonight delivered some fine solos; not least when playing along to a piece that I think was Rossini’s ‘The William Tell Overture’. He’s worked with Robin McAuley and Jerome Mazza among others too. Other highlights from the EP included ‘Three’ and ‘Intra’ – the latter being introduced as a “love song”, in what was a very pleasant and enjoyable musical performance.

Electric Wires are an Italian power trio who performed instrumental post-rock and prog-metal sounds from their recently released CD opus ‘Mastodonic Pig’. Their cleverly constructed music meanders through heavy riffing into tender interludes and soars off into majestic prog odysseys. At times it was jazzy and even danceable – especially on what I think was their eponymous track ‘Electric Wires’ - a funky groove monster which inspired bouts of riverdancing and shoulder shaking in front of the stage and we didn’t even have to ask for more cow bell.

The three guys in the band are all exceptional musicians. Alessandro Di Virgilio is a classically trained guitar virtuoso who has a big reputation in jazz and folk circles as well as rock. Paul Zogno, resplendent in a Magic Johnson Lakers shirt, is an in-demand session player on bass, and Ciro Iavarone is similarly proficient behind the drum kit. These guys really know what they are doing and the combination of their skills brought energy and a fusion of styles to the stage.

This run of three shows is a UK premiere for Electric Wires’ music. Their specific skill set puts them firmly in a niche category and an evening of instrumental Italian prog is a difficult ‘sell’, but the fans who attended were enthralled by the close-up magic of the show.

Not all of the pieces were introduced but ‘Another Planet’ was. It started with a quiet intro but before long the space-jamming started and they were off space trucking all over the musical universe. There was another song inspired by the romantic vampire movie ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ and there was also a song, presumably inspired or written by the drummer, called ‘Ciro’s Diet’. The song was heavy as fuck but he’s not!

All in all, it was a very interesting evening. I hope the lads from Electric Wires have enjoyed their trip. I’m sure Luca will be back in one of his guises, and I’m really looking forward to the release of the new Jeanice Lee material in due course.

Yippee kay yay!