Thousands of people gathered in Princes Street Gardens on Hogmanay to see in the New Year with music from Wet Leg, filler chat from comedian, Susie McCabe, and support acts Hamish Hawk and Lucia and The Best Boys.
Wet Leg is a group from the Isle of Wight. The five-piece, founded by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, promised a night of
“infectious anthems, brash guitars, heavy beats and unbridled live muscle as Wet Leg play huge hits from their Number 1 albums to Edinburgh city centre”.
The band appeared at Glastonbury, announced a sell-out UK tour and secured their second Official Number 1 album in the UK with their latest release ‘Moisturizer’.
Hamish Hawk was elegant in his suit, and his music equally so. An Edinburgh local, his hometown set went down a storm
as he brought his indie-pop tunes to Hogmanay. Releasing his third album in 2024, the singer-songwriter has regularly been shortlisted for The Scottish Album of the Year Award.
The first act on stage at the Ross Bandstand was Glaswegian band, Lucia & The Best Boys, who are fresh from their biggest UK headline tour to date.
Making waves on the music scene since 2017, the trio recently supported Garbage on a European tour, as well as support slots with The Last Dinner Party later this year.
Lucia & The Best Boys said ahead of Hogmanay: “We’ve all got great memories of Edinburgh Hogmanay so we are all buzzed to be part of the line-up this year. We have so many exciting things coming next year and this will be the perfect way to kick it off!”
On the street there was plenty of ceilidh dancing on Castle Street with Bella McNab’s Dance Band. On Princes Street in front of the Royal Scottish Academy there was a selection of entertainment with pipe bands and stilt walkers. In the Tartan Zone homegrown talent, headlined by genre-bending Skye duo Valtos entertained the crowds. Known for their powerful fusion of electronic soundscapes and contemporary folk, Martyn MacDonald and Daniel Docherty were joined by their full live band.
Partygoers also danced to all-female folk outfit, The Poozies, along with the upbeat Bella McNab’s Dance Band, creating one of the world’s largest ceilidh dances and spotlighting Scottish traditional music to end the year.
