Published: Thursday, 28th January, 2010 9:14am

Fifefest promises feast of sounds for West Fife music fans

by Gary Fitzpatrick

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SOME of Scotland's best emerging bands are descending on Dunfermline this weekend for the inaugural Winter Fifefest.

The three-day feast has the endorsement of radio presenter and talent-finder Jim Gellatly, who will be hosting the opening night at PJs and hails Fife's music scene as one of the most vibrant in the country.

The event is organised by local promoters Weekend Revolution and is a welcome burst of activity at a time of year when live music outwith Glasgow tends to go into hibernation.

There are some superb bands appearing and all of them can be seen by buying a weekend pass costing just £10.

DJ Jim, who receives 50 demos a week for bands across the country, will be introducing a fine line-up tomorrow night (Friday) featuring Stirling's Two Stripe, Rioteers, from Glenrothes, The 10:04s and Carnivores and Dave?

The centre-piece of the festival is at Velocity on Saturday featuring Dunfermline band Beatnic Prestige as they launch their debut album.

'There We Were' is a 10-strong collection of the top tracks produced by the band over the past three years.

The album will be drawing a line under the early part of the band's career and it may be the last time to hear some of their most popular numbers.

They plan to return with new material later in the year and will be working on their first studio album.

During a busy past year, Beatnic have released their first single, recorded a session for Radio One and have now been asked to support The Skids at the Alhambra on 6th March.

Lead singer Jamie McNab said, "We went into the studio and played the tracks just as we do live.

"We wanted to record them and then move on to getting new material for the summer.

"It was great for us to get the phone call about The Skids and we're looking forward to that night as well."

Making up a strong supporting line-up at Velocity are The Ray Summers, Dead Sea Souls and The Revival.

Music fans are spoiled on Saturday night, as there is also a strong bill on at PJs afterwards, headed by The Valkarys, Glenrothes ska/punk outfit the Catch 22s and fellow Fife ska band Root System.

On Sunday, the festival will be brought to a close at PJs with Ewan Butler, Alan McKim and Dave Bateman.

Jim Gellatly told the Press, "The music scene in Fife and Dundee is very vibrant at the moment.

"In Fife there's more happening than there is in Edinburgh.

"It's always good to get out there and see the bands on stage. You may like the sound of a demo but it's only the live performance that seals the deal."

Jim gave us his verdict on some of the Kingdom's top acts.

"Rioteers are a young band I've been following for a while and I think they're ready to step up to the next level," he said.

"They've got a reasonable following and that always helps.

"Beatnic Prestige are another band I've featured and I'm hoping to blag some new material from them when I'm through in Dunfermline.

"I'm delighted to see The Draymin are back together again. They're a band I thought were going to make it last time around.

"I thought at first they were maybe Oasis copiers but their new material has more of a Kasabian vibe.

"The first time I saw them live was in Maggie Mays in Austin, Texas, when they were playing the South by Southwest Festival in 2007.

"It was weird to go over there and see a band come out with the singer wearing a Dunfermline football top.

"There were other Scottish bands there but The Draymin were definitely the pick of the bunch.

"Sergeant are a fabulous band. They have shown how the music industry has changed in the last few years.

"Bands are still obsessed about getting signed up to a label but things have totally changed.

"You can do it yourself and a vitally important thing is the marketing and getting it out there.

"Sergeant were dropped by their label but were still out touring with Oasis.

"That shows you the label thing is not important these days."