The Caves, 26th May 2025
It’s been a little while since I shared a concert adventure, guess I have been too busy trying to find the way to the front row lately! Time to tell you about my trip up to Scotland to see Kalandra earlier this year.
They were one of the many bands I discovered in 2021, thanks to a friend from a music community who also introduced me to a few other Nordic folk inspired artists. I instantly fell in love with Brave New World. Katrine’s ethereal voice over a background of haunting and dynamic melodies were the recipe for artist to enter my regular music listening. It was no surprise I soon found myself checking out more of their music and loving everything I heard.
I was lucky to see them supporting Leprous in Barcelona a couple of years ago. During their set, Katrine did part of the drumming for Brave New World as well as the vocals. It was mesmerising!
When a new album was announced, I was keen to check it out, especially after listening to a few of the singles. Predictably, I was blown away. A Frame of Mind features more elements of rock and pop without losing the folk roots. I became obsessed with a couple of their tracks. Could not wait to see them li
I already managed to catch Kalandra in September last year at The Asylum in Birmingham (great adventure which might make it to this blog), it was a fantastic night and i was left craving for more.
When they announced further dates this year, I knew I would jump at an opportunity to see them again. I was easily persuaded by my friend in Edinburgh to make the trip up on Bank Holiday weekend.
It was only a few days before the gig that I learned Maud the Moth, a Spanish act based in Scotland, would be supporting. I was intrigued and enjoyed what I heard 0n Spotify. Another reason that added to the excitement!
The Caves, situated in an ivy covered building in a side street at the heart of Edinburgh city center, was one of the most magical venues I had been in.
Since Kalandra is not yet a well-known band, we decided to head to the venue only a couple of hours before doors open. It was enough time to be first on the queue, which made it relatively easy to get a spot at the front.
This is normally the part where I go into details about song performances, but it was a while ago and my neurodivergent brain is muddling up some of the memories. I am going to try my best to share with you what comes back when remembering that evening.
Maud the Moth kicked off the night with and incredible performance. I was expecting a full band, instead, I found myself in front of a skilled loop artist and vocalist crafting complex melodies right in front the audience. It was mind blowing.
Then it came time for Kalandra. Their set was filled with an unexpected sense of heaviness, easily found on a metal concert. Once again, they managed to create a trance like atmosphere. I was fascinated by some of the elements on their performance, like when Florian used a bow to play his guitar, or when Jogeir played a horn during one of the song’s intro. Kathrine’s voice was as magical and flawless as I remember, angelical yet full of haunting tones.
For this leg of the tour, they were joined by Henrik Dullum on drums, who was replacing Oskar whilst he recovered from health issues. I thought he did a fantastic job.
The stage at The Caves was relatively small, with the three podiums Katrine (vocals, additional percussion, keyboard), Florian (guitar) and Jorgeir(backing vocals, guitar) climbed during their performances, set right next to the barrier.
This is how I found myself right in front of Katrine as she broke into the first notes of The State of the World, one of my favourites from their latest album. It began gentle and slow, like an inner murmur, building momentum during the chorus and culminating in a cry for awareness. I was floored by emotion during the performance, could not hold back tears.
I felt the band embraced the magic of the venue, it naturally matched their energy. During Are You Ready, Katrine, Florian and Jogeir were all vibing and dancing as they played, sometimes looking at the audience, sometimes at each other. At the end of the song, Katrine reached out and touched the head of both of my friends. I supposed I was spared because I was filming, haha! It was pretty epic.
I also loved Bardaginn, another one of the singles of their latest album. An interesting mix of folk influences and electronic music, especially when it came to the drumming. Something in this track made me thing of Björk, another great Nordic artist.
I cannot recommend Kalandra enough. They are an incredibly talented and nice bunch of musicians. Glad to have caught them for a second time on this tour!
Venue accessibility
- The Caves website has information about access on the Info tab of the website, under the heading Live Music
- Main hall is step free apart from steps to the bar
- Merch area only accessible via stairs
- Seats can be booked at the balcony for people who have difficulty standing and can manage stairs. For more information contact the venue
- To make the entrance to the hall smoother, tickets were checked before doors opened
Travel
I have found it best to travel to Scotland by plane
- Affordable fares via EasyJet
- Assistance option available when booking the tickets
- Accessibility issues on both app / website
- Poor contrast between font and background
- App does not resize font on mobile devices.
I found my way around these issues by inverting colours on the app and using the zoom feature on my iPhone. For this trip, I decided to book the tickets on the website, it was the easiest way to make things bigger. I used my phone to check in and got a mobile boarding pass. It was not ideal, I could have easily made a mistake.
I do hope airline industry improve on their practices around accessibility so that everyone can benefit from traveling.
I have traveled to Scotland by train in the past. It was easier to book tickets and organise assistance. The apps and websites were more accessible. Unfortunately, I was let down by passenger assistance on both journeys when changing trains in Preston. One of my connecting trains breaking down, which made an already long journey even more tiring. After such negative experience, I switched to air travel.
Accommodation
For this trip I stayed at my friend’s home in Edinburgh. It was Bank Holiday weekend, so I arrived a few days before. It coincided with the visit of some friends we met through music communities. It turned out to be a fun and relaxing weekend with sightseeing, bubble tea, board games, fantastic food and loads of laughter. Sadly, our friends had to leave before the gig.
We were joined later that day by another Scottish friend I had introduced to Kalandra, as it turns out they also became obsessed with their music.
This was a chilled and lovely long weekend. Exactly what I needed! Will be back again soon to share the crazy adventure of going to Graspop, one of Europe’s largest metal festivals.
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