HIGH FADE MAKE THEIR HOMETOWN RETURN IN SUCCESSFUL STRAMASH SHOW |

LIVE REVIEW | HIGH FADE w/ BAMBITOS | STRAMASH, EDINBURGH | 9th October 2026 by Morgan Hermiston

Nearly four years ago, I wrote my first ever article. It was a review for High Fade‘s single ‘Sharpen Up‘, but my journey with the band didn’t begin there. I saw the funk-rock trio busking in Edinburgh‘s Princes Street, about ten years ago, on a corner that was difficult to walk past due to the sheer amount of people that had stopped to watch them. A decade on, along with a couple of line-up changes, High Fade have become a formidable force.

Following several headline tours in the US, a UK tour that they’re currently on, and a sold out Sneaky Pete’s the night before, the Edinburgh trio took on their hometown once more in this set at Stramash.

For a number of years, High Fade made Stramash the home of a weekly residency. Every Tuesday, locals and some fans from further afield flocked to catch one of the most unique acts I think Edinburgh, and perhaps Scotland, has ever produced. This familiarity returned for this huge headline gig. I sat on the balcony, in the temporarily transformed VIP area upstairs, so it was really easy to see just how packed the venue was.

I’ve been a regular at Stramash for a number of years, but I’ve never been to an actual ticketed gig there, nor have I ever seen it look the way it did throughout their set. At the beginning, front-man Harry Valentino vocalised something along the lines of, “The only rule is that there are no rules“. When I say this was taken seriously, even the no-nonsense bouncers let a lot of things slide that they normally wouldn’t.

From the very first song, there was crowd surfing, and many of those surfing the wave of people made it onto stage, fully relishing each moment. Mosh pits quickly became the norm, with a variation of a circle pit also finding a place. Later on outside, while chatting to Harry, a group of boys told us both how they’d been to see Don Broco the week before, and the pits at that show didn’t compare in the slightest to the ones they’d been part of during this gig. One of them also told us that he’d lost his shoe during the second song but managed to find it again, which I suppose shows that success can come in all forms.

There is always something for everyone with High Fade. The bassline brilliance and backing vocals from Oliver Sentance created a funk persona that found itself immersed seamlessly into the driving force of Heath Campbell‘s drumming. Valentino’s fast-paced guitar work and lively energy led the crowd through a whole host of participatory portions. ‘Bone To Pick‘ saw everyone moving their hands “to the left, to the middle, to the right“.

Other tracks like ‘Fur Coat‘, ‘Burnt Toast & Coffee‘, and ‘Room 634‘ involved everyone singing along with choruses and improvised segments. The last of those is from Twice As Nice, the band’s second album, and the subject of the string of shows they’re currently embarking on. It was really intriguing to see the switch between newer songs from this record, like ‘Swamp‘, and ‘The Jokes On You‘, and older material such as the debut single ‘Scorpion‘.

This show not only represented an evolution in High Fade’s songwriting and confidence in their catalogue, but also maintained their momentum as masters at commanding a room. As I said previously, I’ve never seen Stramash look the way they made it look, and I think it’ll be a very long time before that happens again.

The band filling the support slot was Bambitos, but I only caught the end of their set. However, if you were like me and missed them, or you want to see them again, they’re doing it all again with High Fade at Glasgow’s Òran Mór on 28th November. You can also catch the Scottish trio at a range of UK shows in the coming months. More information and access to tickets can be found here!