Hannah Wicklund/Lydia Lutudi - Speakeasy at The Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh 19th October 2026

Monday was a great night to celebrate women in rock music in Edinburgh with a double-bill of empowered and impassioned ladies putting on a very fine show indeed.

I was not aware of Lydia Lutudi in advance, but I was very impressed. Great name, great voice, great hair, great songs and a very good band – happy days! The daughter of a missionary, Lydia is on a mission to make rock funky again and her Psychedelic Millennial’ EP is an excellent mission statement.

Lydia made her entrance and a big impression with a shoe-stomping, booty-shaking rendition of ‘Mama I Wanna be a Rock Star’ that packed a big funky punch. Between songs, Lydia explained that she was from North Carolina and Leicester by way of Ghana.

Although comparatively inexperienced in terms of touring, with a really good band behind her, Lydia delivered all of the songs from her 6-track EP in fine style.

‘Something About Being a Woman’ was sexy but empowered and powered by a sultry bass, ‘Money’ was right on the money and ‘Crocodile Ride’ was excellent, including a brief lyrical nod to ‘Mustang Sally’. Lydia and the band got a chance to show off on a mash-up of ‘Three Little Birds’ / ‘I Shot the Sherrif’ / ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Hey Joe’ which tells you a little bit about what goes into the melting pot for this musical jambalaya. Definitely one to watch and check out.

They say “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and Hannah Wicklund has been feeling righteously pissed-off at the way her intertwined personal, musical and business relationships turned to shit last year. They say if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade, but after life gave her shit, Hannah has turned it into shit-hot music in the shape of a new album ‘War on Women; Calling All Good Men’ which was on sale tonight in CD form but is only being released on streaming services in instalments timed to coincide with the full moon cycle. The album includes some of the most ferocious fuck-you sentiments since Alanis released ‘Jagged Little Pill’ but musically it is psychedelic, bluesy and original.

Ironically – and I’m sure Alanis would agree - the majority of the audience is mature gentlemen, but of the ‘good men’ variety and they and the good ladies present are rewarded with a mesmerising performance. Although her most recent song-writing is angry, Hannah is actually sweetness personified in person, with beguiling Southern “y’all’ charm befitting her origins in South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island.

She starts with a lengthy instrumental guitar piece, which establishes her chops and musical credibility, along with Paul Winter-Hart on drums and Gary Kilminster on bass. Always stylishly and eclectically dressed, tonight Hannah is wearing a blood- red evening dress, with matching face make-up visible through her trade-mark waist-length hair, giving off a bit of a ‘Carrie’ vibe.

The songs are drawn from across her four studio albums, including the sparse atmospheric blues of ‘Ghost’, five from the new album including ‘Red Gorilla’ and ‘Marionettes’, and a cover of CSNY’s protest song ‘Ohio’ and you can hear a touch of Crazy Horse in her excellent guitar playing throughout the show.

‘Witness’ from ‘The Prize’ is a stunner. On stage, it is lacking the Tori Amos-ish piano intro but the vocals, guitar and vocoder are all top-notch, as is the following track ‘Strawberry Moon’ from the days of Hannah Wicklund and the Steppin’ Stones.

‘Bomb Through the Breeze’ and the blues rock of ‘Mama Said’ wrap up a comparatively short but sweet set from an original and very talented young lady. Watch out for new music at the next full moon and I hope Hannah enjoys a much more enjoyable year next year.