Autumn 1904 - With The Normans and Eve Davidson, The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, 1/11/2024
by Admin
published: 29 / 10 / 2024

Penny Black Music is delighted to host Autumn 1904’s first home city gig in almost forty years at The Wee Red Bar at the Edinburgh College of Art on the 1st November. Tickets are available in advance from www.wegottickets.com for £12.50 or on the door on the night at £15 (cash only please). AUTUMN 1904 The resurrection and return of Autumn 1904 has been remarkable. Marrying a post-punk edginess with a huge pop sound, they were one of the main players on the fervent live scene in Edinburgh in the early 1980s, which also included Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Finitribe. Briefly touted for fame, the septet had at one point eleven record labels keen to sign them, but fell apart instead because of line-up problems, leaving behind a much acclaimed John Peel Session from 1984 and just one other track which had been released on a compilation tape which had come as part of the opening issue of ‘Deadbeat’, a local fanzine. The discovery of some old Autumn 1904 demos and live recordings by keyboardist and band leader Allan Dumbreck while cleaning out a cupboard during lockdown led to him contacting his old bandmates. An album, ‘Tales of Innocence’, which has come out on the influential Last Night From Glasgow label, and features re-recordings of the demos as well as the BBC Session, entered the Top Ten in the Scottish charts when it was released earlier this year. The reunion features, as well as Dumbreck, four other original members, Billy Leslie (vocals), Billy Bowie (bass, vocals), Keith Falconer (drums) and Ross Thom (guitar), and new backing vocalist Holly Rowlands. Autumn 1904 played a triumphant show at SWG3 in Glasgow in May, and this, their second gig since they reformed, and first in Edinburgh since they broke up in early 1985, promises to be similarly euphoric, THE NORMANS The Normans is the current band of Norman Rodger, the former frontman with Edinburgh post-punk cult act TV21. They released a string of excellent singles including ‘Playing with Fire’, ‘On the Run’ and ‘Ambition, as well as an acclaimed 1981 debut album, ‘On a Thin Red Line’, before breaking up in June 1982 on the night they concluded a short Scottish tour at the Edinburgh Playhouse in support of The Rolling Stones. A belated second album, ‘Forever 22’, was well-received by their small but fanatical following upon its release in 2009, when TV21 reformed for a few years in the ‘00s. Rodger also had some success in Canada with his iband The Collector, and which spawned into Shame who released a 1990 album, ‘Sym’. The Normans only rarely play gigs and will be performing an acoustic set, which will consist of new songs and also some TV21 classics. The Collectot played a gig with Autumn 1904 in 1984 , and this Edinburgh show will all these years ononce again put Rodger and his old friends on the same srage. EVE DAVIDSON Eve Davidson is a Fife-based 21-year old singer-songwriter with a growing reputation, and who has won acclaim for her stunning vocal harmonies. She will be opening the evening with a short solo set, and will also be guesting on some songs with Autumn 1904. Penny Black Music at The Wee Red Bar Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH3 9DF Friday 8th October 2022 7.30 p.m. £12.50 in advance from http://www.wegottickets.com £15 on door http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk http://www.weeredbar.co.uk
Band Links:-
https://www.autumn1904.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/Autumnnineteenofour/
https://www.instagram.com/autumn.1904.band/
Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
Picture Gallery:-



intro
We preview our forthcoming gig at at The Wee Red Bar at the Edinburgh College of Art on the 1st November which will feature a headline set from Autumn 1904 who will be playing their first home city gig in almost forty years and support from The Normans and Eve Davidson.
interviews |
Interview (2024) |
![]() |
Keyboardist Allan Dumbreck talks to John Clarkson about his Edinburgh-formed post-punk outfit Autumn 1904's return forty years after they broke up and the recent release of their album. 'Tales of Innocence'. |
live reviews |
Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, 1/11/2024 |
![]() |
John Clarkson finds reformed post-punk band Autumn 1904 playing a powerful set at a Pennyblack-promoted gig at The Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh. |
soundcloud
reviews |
Tales of Innocence (2024) |
![]() |
Excellent vinyl-only album from lost Edinburgh post-punk seven-piece Autumn 1904`, who have returned after an absence of forty years with this offering, which contains a John Peel Session, demos and old songs recorded for the first time. |
The City (2023) |
most viewed articles
current edition
John McKay - InterviewCathode Ray - Interview
Robert Forster - Interview
When Rivers Meet - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Spear Of Destiny - Interview
Fiona Hutchings - Interview
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every Song
Chris Wade - Interview
Shrag - Huw Stephens Session 08.12.10 and Marc Riley Session 21.03.12
Brian Wilson - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPBoomtown Rats - Ten Songs That Made Me Love....
Manic Street Preachers - (Gig of a Lifetime) Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, December 1999
Allan Clarke - Interview
Oasis - Oasis, Earl's Court, London, 1995
Barrie Barlow - Interview
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Pixies - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Chuck Prophet - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Dwina Gibb - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Peter Doolan - I Am a Tree Rooted to the Spot and a Snake Moves Around Me,in a CircleVinny Peculiar - Things Too Long Left Unsaid
Garbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
Vultures - Liz Kershaw Session 16.06.88
John McKay - Sixes and #Sevens
Little Simz - Lotus
HAIM - I Quit
Pulp - More
Lapsley - I'm a Hurricane, I'm a Woman In Love
Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart