We’re at that stage of the pandemic recovery where we can assume that shows aren’t simply ones which bands and venues forgot to remove from the listings, but are actually going ahead…

First up, on Monday 23rd Seamus Fogarty, with guests Constant Follower at Glasgow’s Hug and Pint, as part fo the reopened venue’s ‘Endless Summer’ series.

And similarly, part of the Summer Nights series, Kapil Seshasayee is at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on Tuesday 24th.

The Dunts play Òran Mór on Wednesday 25th, and Retro Video Club are at SWG3 the following night i.e. Thursday 26th.

Also on Thursday, Tide Lines are at Ayr Town Hall, while in Glasgow there’s a choice of
Two Door Cinema Club at the O2 Academy, or I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, at SWG3.

But the bulk of this week’s gigs take place in Edinburgh – you already know about the socially-distanced Festival-related gigs in Edinburgh –
This includes Black Country New Road on Monday 23rd, Damon Albarn Tuesday on 24th, The Comet is Coming, Wednesday 25th… Fatoumata Diawara plays on Friday 27th, Caribou‘s on Saturday 28th, and the final one of this welcome run sees Laura Mvula play at at Edinburgh Park on Sunday 29th.

And similarly, at Summerhall’s Secret Courtyard, it’s Siobhan Wilson on the 26th, Withered Hand on the 27th, and Andrew Wasilyk playing on the 28th.

Other shows in the capital this week include Del Amitri at the Queen’s Hall on Thursday August 26th, and on Friday 27th Dominic Waxing Lyrical at St Vincent’s Chapel in Stockbridge (a ‘repeat’ of a show 2 or 3 years ago which was excellent ad makes this a non-miss event).

Also, Maximo Park play Edinburgh Liquid Room on Wednesday 25th, but the night before (Tuesday 24th), ROCK/ROLL returns to Fundee, where the Geordie combo plug new album ‘Nature Always Wins’ at Fat Sams.

Another record launch takes place in Aberdeen this Saturday, 28th. Dude Trips‘ EP ‘You Are The Reason I Hate Leaving’ makes its live debut at The Tunnels – support comes from Glasgow act Misplaced.

Aside from all those acts in this extremely non-chronological list (sory, it’s bene a while) include The Skids doing a hometown show at P.J. Molloy’s, Dunfermline, on Friday 27th. The Shambolics play the same venue the following night.

And despite all this ‘new normal’, Refuweegee continues to host its monthly fundraisers online via Zoom – this time with big names in TV21’s Norman Rodger as well as Henry Priestman out of ’80s chart stars The Christians. And Norrie McCulloch, Les Glover, and Rod Picott. That’s on Thursday 26th from 8pm, links for viewing and donations at the Refuweegee website.