Dean Friedman is currently playing his fourth year running in the Apex Hotel in Grassmarket, although he has been performing at the Edinburgh Fringe for years before that.
A talented musician
The evening started after a welcome back from Friedman to lots of familiar faces. He proved he is a talented musician by playing his new guitar, piano and other instruments. First up, a couple of tracks from years ago, back when he started songwriting and explained about changing guitar chords to make them sound completely different. He stated that as a professional songwriter, he is obliged to write a love song, which he is still struggling with and instead gave us Never Really Liked You about not liking in-laws or friends. Then a song about looking after his wife is his job; many people ask what he does for a living, so he wrote that song.
Dean gradually introduced the tracks from his new album 12 Songs released earlier in July. The first song was about a musician on tour and away from home. Another was about community relations and the problems of getting on with your neighbours. We also heard a song about a greenkeeper in Ireland and the ducks there. He entertained with songs including Lydia, Ariel and Diana before the show ended with Lucky Star’s, where he had the audience singing along too.
