Joel Hoekstra and Brandon Gibbs – Bannermans – Edinburgh – 11th April 2023

Back into the Scottish capital for an acoustic heavyweight set from Joel Hoekstra (Nightranger) and Brandon Gibbs (Cheap Thrill, Devil City Angels). 

Edinburgh is the 1st stop of this UK and Ireland tour and what an opening night it was too. The sound was fabulous and the crowd was ravenous. The setlist was garnished with absolute belters from Brandon Gibbs albums and Joel Hoekstra’s 13  records. There were so many highlights from the show. But the biggest one was the acoustic guitar solo from Joel Hoekstra. It’s no wonder this guy was chosen to play for Whitesnake, Cher, and The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The audience was in fine voice and lifted the roof off Bannermans especially when Brandon and Joel broke out  Every Rose Has It’s Thorn by Poison, The Doors, Love Me Two Times and the Whitesnake standard Is This Love. It was incredible. 

Brandons vocal is outrageous. So much power and passion. It’s easy to see why Poison gave him a call to cover for Brett Michaels on their stadium tour for a few shows. 

After rattling through track after track of classic tunes from both artists’ repertoire they finished with a tremendous version of the Whitesnake classic Here I Go Again, Joel and Brandon left the stage to rapturous applause. 

Joel and Brandon are 2 guys that love what they do and have been screwing around with each other for the past 6 years. The acoustic gigs showcase these outstanding musicians perfectly. 

The support acts were top-notch as well.  Mario and Markie Morávková were firmly out of their comfort zone as a stripped-back duo. Taking tracks from Aliah Temporahs albums Prismatic and Dragonfly Effect as well as tracks from Marios The Darkstar Calling album. I look forward to seeing Markie and Mario back with their full band but I certainly wouldn’t hesitate in seeing them acoustically again. I literally had shivers from her voice

Having recently just heard the album The Abandoned Parade from The Mariana Hollow I was intrigued to see how such a hard-hitting album would be transposed acoustically. Turns out it’s really well. Admittedly it was a full band with just the guitars being acoustic, they were still stripped back and sounded great. Fingers crossed a few acoustic tracks will be recorded live as they’re so good. 

This was a spectacular 1st night of the tour and everyone attending on the following tour dates will be floored.
12 Apr; IvoryBlacks Glasgow,
13 Apr; The Underworld Camden-London,
14 Apr; The Brickmakers Norwich,
15 Apr; The Music Room – Ipswich,
16 Apr; Patriot Home Of Rock-Newport/Crumlin,
18 Apr; The Station-Cannock,
19 Apr; Trillians Newcastle,
20 Apr; Yardbirds Rock-Grimsby,
21 Apr; Whittles Oldham-Oldham/Manchester,
22 Apr; The Diamond Rock Club-Ballymena (Northern Ireland), 23 Apr; The Grand Social, Dublin.