Fringe by the Sea: Tinderbox Orchestra with Kathryn Joseph
Big Top, North Berwick, 1/8/26
Tinderbox Orchestra
Kate Young, violin, vocals
Kathryn Joseph, vocals
With the enthusiastically eclectic Tinderbox Orchestra, anything goes. As long, evidently, as it is excellent! I am so glad to have discovered this band, though they are no strangers to FBTS.
Onto the stage strode a long youthful line-up of flute, clarinets, sax, vocals and strings, in denims and light summer blues. They remained on their toes throughout. Behind them ran a dais with the rock band elements: percussion, guitars and keyboard. Over a dozen all in all, to be joined along the way by various other performers; collaborators rather than just guests, as Tinderbox always take time to contribute and combine their own talents with their visitors’.
They can afford to use many artists because they are the showcase of non-profit Tinderbox Collective, which nurtures young musical talent all through Scotland and who state that their “vision is a creative, ambitious and inclusive youth culture – one that cuts across social and economic divides, brings together diverse influences, and is listened to and valued by society.”
If I was slightly concerned the show might thus come over as “worthy”, I was shamefully wrong. They ooze talent and confident professionalism. They don’t simply alternate a mix of ceilidh, rap, indie pop, rock and more, they weave them together with what seems like effortless élan to produce a sum greater than its parts. Like the orchestra, the audience was unseated. I was dancing so much from the outset that the notes I made are largely illegible and I apologise for gems unmentioned. There was staggering guitar playing from Rhys Gilchrist, the sort that leaves you gaping. And I was struck by how accessible both rappers were to someone not usually drawn to rap. A particularly moving number was “Tribes”, a filmic piece in excoriation of all hatemongers. Thomas Murray raps, the orchestra strikes ominous chords, lunging in unison, enacting the bully. They build layer upon layer until it resembles a film score – Jeff Wayne’s 1978 musical release of ‘War of the Worlds’ sprung to mind, with Murray sounding progressively less like a rapper and more like Richard Burton.
Too rare a treat on stage are singing violinists. As such Kate Young was ideal for Tinderbox, with a sweet and quirky song ‘I am a Dandelion’ – identifying with the plant in true tune with FBTS’s 2026 theme of biophilia. The main and final collaborator was Kathryn Joseph, whose recording won the Scottish Album of the Year in 2015. She sang three songs in her haunting, tremulous voice, showing power through her vulnerability – a captivating performance. Then the whole orchestra struck up to sign off as they had opened, with a joyful strathspey.