Half Man Half Bull: Part 2 Daedalus

Review by David Cox

After attending 23 festivals over 38 years I increasingly wonder if the wide breadth and high quality of shows will remain as high as ever and will my stamina prove up to the job. I am pleased to announce that after watching four stunning shows on my first full day, my fears on all counts proved unnecessary.

For my final show I headed to the Dissection Room at Summerhall to see Half Man Half Bull; Daedalus. This is part of a two show concept presented by Wright and Grainger with Oliver Tilney and Molly Morris.

They have taken two Greek myths and re-told them with modern musical interpretations. They run this in two pieces consecutively and they work back to back or individually. Time constraints meant that we missed "Theseus" and we just concentrated on "Daedalus".

As you may be aware Daedalus was the son of Icarus, wore wax wings made by his father, ignored parental advice and flew too close to the sun. Spoiler alert (if you weren't aware), it doesn't end well.

Our previous show was gentle and enjoyable Scottish folk music at the gorgeous Royal Oak , so it was rather a shock to the system to walk into this steamy, hot venue with performers and audience members recovering from the first show.

Some people left, some people stayed and people like us arrived. I maybe in my mid sixties now but I am rather partial to some hip hop and rap which is just as well as these are the main musical styles provided.

This is the show's strength. The musicianship on show is truly stunning. Their voices, their passion and their magnetism were infectious and you were soon drawn into their web. One of the problems of live singing is that you can't hear all the words but that occurs in all music shows.

The important fact is that despite their differing styles they work perfectly together and create something unique.

Recommended.