We Are Scientists, La Belle Angele Edinburgh, 22nd May 2025

Over-zealous waiters, fun gig and meeting far away friends

I genuinely wasn't going to come to this gig. It's not been that long since we saw We Are Scientists and Edinburgh is always a bit of a pain to get to, with the added difficulty of deciding whether to try to get a late train back or fork out for a place to stay overnight. However, when I told Child1 that the band were coming back to Scotland in the spring, she was really keen to go and obviously I didn't take much persuading.

I decided to book us a place to stay over to make it a bit less stressful and given that she is on study leave from school and the gig fell just before a holiday weekend, we decided to make a little trip of it.

We took the train over to Edinburgh, settled into our Travelodge and had a wander about town. Scotland has been enjoying unusually warm, sunny weather lately so we mingled with tourists and enjoyed the sights. We went in to a nearby Italian restaurant for dinner before the gig. We were greeted at the door by a member of staff who asked if any of us had any allergies. When I said yes, he pointed to a QR Code on the menu which would give me all the allergen information. So far, so standard. We sat down and started to browse the menu. A waitress came over to check that I had been able to access the QR code website. I was in the middle of trying to connect so she told me that when it loaded up, I could filter the menu to exclude any item containing my allergies. Fine. About two minutes later another waitress came over, commandeered my phone and entered in the allergens I had told her about. She showed me that the greyed out menu items were not suitable for me and I should order something that was still visible…which was practically nothing. I tried to explain that we had eaten here previously, I just wanted a pizza and that was usually fine, but they wouldn't have it. The first waitress came back and explained that the website didn't differentiate between dishes that actually contained the ingredient and those that “may contain” i.e. the ingredient is used in the kitchen and there may be some cross contamination. I decided to cheat the system a little and remove soya from my filters (I am fully anaphylactic-level allergic to all nuts and egg, very slightly less so to soya) because I knew that soya lecithin is widely used in flour etc but is absolutely fine for me to eat. This expanded my options once more and I proceeded to place our order. No sooner had I pressed submit, than one of the waitresses came back clutching our order, checking that I had understood the process correctly and was I sure I wanted to order this because they couldn't guarantee the absence of soya. I assured them that unless the chef was planning on putting chunks of tofu or drizzling soy sauce on my chicken and mushroom pizza, I was sure it’d be fine and I would take full responsibility for any consequences of my actions, while silently begging them to let us have our food and leave us alone. Finally the food arrived, the pizzas were fine, I survived and we walked down to the gig venue.

I thought I might have been to a gig at La Belle Angele sometime before, but on arrival it was clear that I hadn't. The signage just said La Belle, which was confusing and pointed us up a long narrow alleyway. We weren't sure we were in the right place and I was just about to ask, when a girl took our tickets, scanned and returned them and waved us in. Even then it wasn't clear where to go as we were faced with several doors and steps going upwards but we finally figured out how to get into the right room.

I suggested to Child1 that we try going down to the front barrier if she was up for it, to give us a better view this time. She was a bit apprehensive but willing to give it a try to start with. The bar area was filling up and there were a few people down on the floor but we were able to squeeze into the edge of the barrier.

The stage times were quite early, but luckily I saw them posted beforehand so we were able to arrive in plenty time to see the full support act. The boys brought Sean McVerry to tour with them again. This time he took to the stage by himself, playing guitar and keys with We Are Scientists’ Keith Carne once again pulling a double shift on drums. After last time I was keen to hear more from Sean. His set was varied, interesting and impressive. He sings beautifully, tackling ballads and rockier numbers with equal talent and gusto. What at first may appear to be standard man-with-guitar stuff is anything but, as he injects surprising twists and turns into his songs, each one leaving you wanting a bit more. He seamlessly fits into the We Are Scientists-iverse with a similar humour and wit, and was an instantly likeable and compelling person as well as a great musician and performer. You should definitely check out his new (and old) material here.

Sean McVerry

I wasn't sure what to expect from the We Are Scientists set. Normally tours are in support of a new album or, like the last gig, an anniversary or celebration of an older album. They do have a new record due but not until July. We have heard two singles already but one was only released the day before the gig. They did in fact play four songs from the new record but otherwise it was largely filled with old/classic songs - many from the first two albums and a surprising number from Barbara, as well as a smattering from later releases. Normally I love hearing the new stuff and would happily only hear sets filled with songs from the last three albums or so. In fact I wouldn't mind if they ditched everything pre-TV en Francais altogether, but I realise this is my personal preference and coloured by the fact that I have seen them now…22 times over 17 years, most people aren't in that position and only want to hear the hits. Regardless, it was a very fun, highly energetic set which the crowd really responded to.

Keith & Chris, We Are Scientists

The new songs sounded really good. I've already found myself humming “Please Don't Say It” after only a few listens and I instantly fell in love with “I Could Do Much Worse” which has the feel of 5 Leaves and similar. Child1 reckons there are some future classics there. Despite what I just said above, it was nice to hear Textbook again.

I had thought that given the early stage time we could be done and dusted by 9:30pm and I could have got a train home after all. Normally their sets are about an hour or so, but having came on about 8:30pm they kept on going until after 10pm. I was glad of my barrier spot to have something to lean on.

Keith, Chris & Keith Carne, We Are Scientists

Towards the end, Sean joined them back on stage to add acoustic guitar and keys to a couple of songs, and we were treated once again to a drum solo from percussionist extraordinaire Keith Carne.

In fact Carne’s parents were in the audience as they had made the journey from the States to spend some time in Scotland. Thanks to Carne’s inclusion of them on some of his instagram posts and dad Tom's enduring support of the band, they now have their own following and got several shout outs from the stage and the audience. If I recall was first in touch with Tom about 10 years ago, I remember trying to source footage of the band's performance at the T in the Park festival so he could see son Keith living it up as a rockstar. We've kept in touch over the years and recently managed to have a quick chat on zoom during one of my online drum lessons with Carne. After the gig I managed to find both Tom and wife Jean and had a lovely chat with them about their time in Scotland, haggis, travel and of course the weather. Carne Jr came and said hello as well and Child1 acted as photographer.

After saying goodbye to the Carne family. Child1 and I just had time to check out the merch stall before everyone shut up shop. Child1 opted for a signed poster and pin badge, I got a t-shirt which I really don't need but like the colour - I'm always in favour of a band t-shirt that's not black - and I just had to get a set of coasters because I love idea of coasters as merch and the set includes Carne, as it quite rightly should.

We headed back to our hotel after a great gig, Child1 enjoyed herself and we were both glad we made the effort.