Tomorrow Syndicate - The Voodoo Rooms

One of the best things about spending far too much time watching music videos online is that every now and again you stumble across something completely unexpected. That’s exactly what happened with Tomorrow Syndicate. I honestly can’t remember how I first discovered them, but I came across one of their videos on YouTube, realised they were Scottish and noticed they had a few live dates coming up. That was enough for me.

This particular adventure was a solo mission. Emma wisely decided to sit this one out, possibly because she was still recovering from witnessing my behaviour at Hot Chip or perhaps because Melt-Banana had permanently rearranged her hearing. Either way, I headed through to Edinburgh alone and made my way to the Voodoo Rooms to see what Tomorrow Syndicate were all about.

One of the pleasures of smaller gigs is that you often get introduced to several new bands in a single evening, and this show was no exception. The support came from Forever Alien and L-Space, who have since re-emerged under the far more memorable name Post Coal Prom Queen. Support acts can sometimes feel like an afterthought, but both added something to the evening and helped create the sense that this was very much part of a thriving local music scene.

Tomorrow Syndicate themselves proved to be exactly the sort of band I hoped they would be. There’s a particular satisfaction that comes from taking a chance on a group you’ve only recently discovered and finding that they deliver live. No hype, no huge expectations—just good music and the feeling that you’ve uncovered something worth paying attention to.

What I enjoy about nights like this is that they’re driven entirely by curiosity. Nobody told me I had to see Tomorrow Syndicate. There wasn’t a massive marketing campaign persuading me to buy a ticket. It all started with a random video online and a willingness to take a chance. More often than not, that’s where the most rewarding musical discoveries come from.

The evening ended on a high note when I found myself chatting with some of the band members afterwards. Those conversations are one of the great advantages of smaller venues and emerging artists. Instead of disappearing behind security barriers and tour buses, musicians are often happy to spend a few minutes talking to the people who have come along to support them. It’s a small thing, but it makes the whole experience feel more personal.

Looking back, it was a pretty good night all round. I discovered a band I’d never heard of a few weeks earlier, enjoyed a strong lineup from top to bottom, and came away feeling that the trip to Edinburgh had been more than worthwhile. That’s really all you can ask from a concert.