The Commoners / Madison Galloway - The Caves, Edinburgh 26th July 2024

She opened with ‘Freedom’ from the new album and the EBC crowd were immediately taken with the quality of her voice and guitar playing, backed up by the talented and handsome Nik Hirst on keyboards, who is also a singer-songwriter in his own right. As you would expect, most of the album gets an airing in a fairly short set, with the sultry and salacious ‘Love Like Yours’ definitely being one of the highlights.

Madison is a wee lassie but she’s got a big talent and a big voice, and for ‘The River’ she straps on an absolutely enormous guitar, which she uses to great effect. She’s also got a song called ‘Whiplash’ but, unlike the great movie of that name, she does not abuse the drummer, which in this case is George Love. Must have been her tempo! They perform as a three-piece, with the noticeable absence of a bass player, but they do make a fine sound in the ancient brick-built venue.

There was a bit of a Black Crowes vibe going on all night and Madison took it all the way in her set with a great take on that band’s ‘She Talks to Angels’, alongside her own angry ‘Devil at my Door’, before wrapping up a fine set with ‘Open Your Eyes’ from the album. Overall, this was an impressive debut Scottish performance and I hope that Madison’s enterprise and initiative is rewarded with increased recognition at home and abroad.

The Commoners have been down this road before, of course. They have built a very solid following with some impressive support slots in this country, so with an excellent new album ‘Restless’ to show off, this is a fine time to put their brand of bluesy, classic roots-rock at the top of the bill. Their songs make them sound like they must be from Muscle Shoals or Nashville but they are actually from Canada too and they seem glad to be here, with singer Chris Medhurst noting that “this room is older than my country”. There were five hairy and talented Canadian musicians on the stage and they certainly filled all of the high-ceilinged room with their big harmonious sound.

They kicked off with the booty-twitching good-time romp of ‘Shake You Off’ followed by ‘Who Are You’ and it is immediately clear that they are among friends who appreciate their music. In contrast to Madison’s gigantic guitar, Medhurst occasionally whips out a contrastingly tiny instrument, but as he said “it’s not about the size, it’s about how you use it”! His big, ballsy voice is particularly impressive on the radio hit ‘Devil Teasin’ Me’ and also ‘Body and Soul’, which touches both of those things in a satisfying and consensual kind of way. ‘Too Soon to Know You’ is another cracker. It starts out with some lonesome organ and builds up to an awesome guitar freak-out, courtesy of Ross Hayes Citrullo, who displays great tone and feel throughout and also acts as the band’s producer.

Maybe, after many more years on the road and a few platinum albums under their belt, these guys might get fed up with each other and start travelling in separate Winnebagos, but for now they are a rock-solid collective and a band of brothers. Medhurst introduced each of them as “one of my best friends and he’s so talented” and he’s not wrong. The band have been together for a while and it shows. They’re tight, interact instinctively and display an easy on-stage chemistry. Each of them contributes to the between songs chat and, more importantly, to the song writing, creativity and harmonies. Apparently, the ladies’ favourite is “Sweet Baby” Ben Spiller on the bass and his song ‘Gone Without Warning’ is one highlight. Their 14-song set is full of great original tunes like ‘Restless’ and ‘Fill My Cup’ and they finish with an encore cover of ‘Feelin’ Alright’.

Except, on this night, they are not quite finished. Chris Medhurst lingered on-stage with his bandmates in the wings, to add a spine-tingling one-off acoustic rendition of the ‘Restless’ album’s emotional closing track ‘All That We Have’ in tribute to one of their supporters in the Scottish rock media who is sadly having to face the final curtain. I have never known a room that Darren was in to be so quiet and this genuinely touching and poignant moment will stay with some of us for a very long time.

The Commoners were absolutely brilliant on the night, which came as no surprise to those who had seen them before. They are a proper hard-working band with an abundance of charisma, talent and great songs that will surely take them to the top and into the hearts of folks all over the world who appreciate good music. They will certainly always be welcome in Scotland but I think we’re going to need a bigger cave.