BEARS IN TREES BRING CELEBRATION OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP TO EDINBURGH

LIVE REVIEW | BEARS IN TREES w/ Dutch Criminal Record | THE MASH HOUSE, EDINBURGH | 29th May 2026 by Olivia McCallum

Making their return to Edinburgh, Bears In Trees brought community and love to The Mash House through the power of dirtbag folk punk and friendship.

Bears In Trees have amassed a cult-like following of dedicated fans who turn up to every show and know every word to every song not matter how deep in the archives you may have to dig to find it.

The band blends folk punk with their love of classic emo alt rock. Imagine if Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance had a super whimsical baby who loved keytar and ukulele.

This was a sentimental gig for me. I’ve been following bears in trees since I was 12. I was desperate to see them play and in 2022 they announced a UK tour with a Scotland date!! However it was 11 days before my 14th birthday meaning I was too young to go. It wasn’t until later that year they returned to Scotland and played The Mash house in Edinburgh, the same venue I saw them in 4 years later.

The tour was to commemorate the re-release of the band’s 2019 EP i see blue, the EP that first led to me falling in love with their music in my early teens.

This gig was a total celebration of love and friendship. The music of Bears In Trees often tackles difficult themes of mental health and grief, disconnect and the plights of being a struggling band but it also serves as a loveletter to the platonic relationships in our lives that help us overcome difficult times.

This tour had support from Dutch Criminal Record who were incredible!! They have the perfect indie surf rock sound immaculately complemented by the songwriting.

Their newest single “Chess” came out the same day as the gig, it was great getting to hear the first performance of the song post-release.

I’m super excited to see them take over The Garage in Glasgow in October this year.

Bears In Trees, the headline act, were amazing as always. The band’s stage presence is so much fun and they are always a joy to see. There’s always so much fan interaction built into the performance and the intimate nature of the shows allows for true fan to artist connection. Bears In Trees are a band that no matter the size of crowd they play to, still maintain the intimacy of playing to 5 people in a friends flat.

Tracks like “I’m Doing Push Ups” and “Fresh Concrete” threw me right back to being 14 in that very same room. Their album “and everybody else smiled back” was the only thing we listened to for the hour long drive home. We made it back home in the middle of probably the fifth listen through of the album and I sat in the car until it had came to a complete end once again. The closing track of the album is “Klimt Painting” which the band performed from audience request this time. The whole gig felt very full circle for me.

For the weird kids still chasing the butterflies instead of the ball on the football field, do not miss Bears In Trees!!