When Justin Currie strikes up the first song with his Del Amitri bandmates at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh next Thursday it will be an emotional moment.
Not only will it be the first post-lockdown show, it will end the longest period that he hasn’t been on a stage since he was 15.
Thursday will be the first of three nights of The Whole World Is Quiet, stripped-back acoustic shows that marks the band’s first appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe.
For Justin, it wasn’t only the chance to perform with his band before heading out on an extensive tour in September, it also gives the band a chance to revisit the songs and play them in a quieter way and in a more relaxed, intimate venue.
“There have been so many hopes raised over the past year, only to be dashed again,” says Justin.
“So when it was presented to us as socially distanced show, first two metres but now one metre, with the audience at tables, we knew that it could happen.
“We have to think like that just now. There have been so many disappointments; a festival we were headlining was just pulled a couple of weeks ago for example.
“However, the biggest attraction was being able to do something a bit different from our usual electric rock show.
“I think we have the licence to do things a little bit differently.”
Making Fatal Mistakes
It will also be the first time the band has a chance to play anything from Fatal Mistakes, the album that was released last year, and their first since 2002.
“The show will be a mix of the greatest hits and new songs,” says Justin.
“Taking it back to acoustic does mean a lot of rearrangement, which is a lot of work, but it’s been good for us to do that.
“We are going to keep things as unplugged as possible. There is a real piano there, which is a proper luxury.”
Del Amitri have played the Queen’s Hall before, in 1990, but Justin feels that the acoustic approach works better in this venue.
“I don’t think the rock show worked there, because of the nature of the room. It’s quite an ambient room, maybe because it’s a church.
“It means you can make what you do a lot more spacious; a lot less dense than a usual full band electric show.”
‘Wanted to be in a band called Del Amitri’
Justin knows pretty much every venue the length and breadth of the country.
The band formed when Justin was still a schoolboy, but the Del Amitri most of us know began when Iain Harvie joined in 1984 as a replacement for original band members who gave up the music dream for academia.
Justin and Iain have been the centre of the band since then.
Following six albums, four that reached the top 10, and a successful run of singles, the band went on hiatus in 2002.
Justin stayed busy, with four solo albums and other collaborations, but he says he “just always wanted to be in a band called Del Amitri”.
When the band reunited for a tour in 2014, they found that the audience was still there and although they initially concentrated on touring, work began in 2019 on the album that became Fatal Mistakes.
Recording was completed the night before the first lockdown in March 2020.
It’s clear that being back as part of Del Amitri is something that pleases Justin.
“Even when it gets down to something like putting setlists together.
“It’s such an important part of how the audience reacts to the show.
“You really might miss a song out. It’s completely obvious to everyone else that it should go in but it just goes over your head. Sometimes you’re too close to it.
“Even when I was ‘the boss’ doing solo shows, you need to collaborate. That’s the best bit.”
There are some tickets remaining for Del Amitri The Whole World Is Quiet at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on August 26, 27 and 28.
Tickets can be bought on Ticketmaster or from the Queen’s Hall website.
The album Fatal Mistakes is out now. There are UK live dates from September to December, including Perth Concert Hall on Thursday, October 14.
For more information visit www.delamitri.info.