QR Music: Jeremy Loops at La Belle Angele, Edinburgh
Two weeks after releasing his second album 'Critical as Water' Jeremy Loops embarked on his second world tour. A 31 stop tour including his home town of Cape Town, right through Europe, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. On his 9th stop he was welcomed to Edinburgh with a legion of fans for his debut Edinburgh show.
To start the night was Jordan Mackampa with a short set, his relaxed, chilled vibes were well received. He's joining Jeremy for his UK and Ireland part of the tour. A definite artist to watch for the rest of 2018!
George Mackampa and his band opening the night
La Belle Angele allows for a very intimate performance, which was ideal for Jeremy's style on music, a mix of upbeat crowd jumping tunes to slower more reflective tracks. Jeremy started strong, his band mates (or Loops Squad) coming out, building the hype, he started with Higher Stakes from his debut album released back in 2016 - much to Jeremy's genuine amazement the crowd knew every word, providing him the reassurance of his choice to stop in Edinburgh!
Jeremy Centre stage with Mr Sakitumi (right) and Hiram Koopman (left)
"It's the tricky thing when planning a world tour so soon after releasing your second album, you never know how you'll be received, you have that anxiety that no-one will turn up" Jeremy says after opening, "It's reassuring to hear you singing along".
Jeremy continued with a mix of songs from both his debut album and his latest follow up. Particular highlights included;Sinner, Waves, My Shoes, The Shore, Underwater Blues and Gold (to name a few). With a bit of chat in between, it would appear like any other gig. But when you hear Jeremy speak about his music, speak about his tour you can see how genuinely humbled he is by the support.
For me the highlight of the night was Underwater Blues, a song Jeremy wrote late one night after lying in bed having "one of those downward spiral evenings" thinking of everything wrong with the world he says, the rise of global anti-establishment politics, fascism, racism and a world feeling it's heading backwards not progressing forwards. The way he describes his music allows everyone to find a way to connect with him, relating to the emotions behind each lyric.
I can't write this review without mentioning the Loops Squad, from Mr Sakitumi on bass, Hiram Koopman on Sax and Motheo Moleko rapping. It sounds like an odd mix, especially when you know Jeremy is also on harmonica but this group compliment each other well on stage, and in the music. The friendly banter on stage makes the audience feel like they know them all - a difficult thing to achieve on a world tour.
From right to left; Motheo Moleko, Jeremy Loops, Hiram Koopman and Mr Sakitumi
Having left the stage after the final song of the night (See I Wrote it for You) everyone, in typical Scottish fashion began chanting "ONE MORE TUNE". A baffled Jeremy appeared back on stage, checking with his tour manager he could in fact perform one more tune. Jeremy announces he'll finish with an acoustic version of Thieves a stellar track from 'Critical as Water'. Whether it was improv. or rehearsed improvisation the band rejoin him on stage bring sick harmonies to this already class version of the song. When Jeremy and his band left the stage for the final time it was evident of how pleased they were the gig was a success.
On a whole, it was an amazing gig, with a range of Jeremy's tracks - it really did show just how good a following Jeremy has over here in Scotland, here's hoping he's back again soon!
All photos by Scott Duffield
By Scott Duffield