Gabriel Ebulue: Hip-Punk

• Brian Donaldson
• 26 August 2016

This article is from 2016.

A music snob with a taste for punchlines and healthy debate

Gabriel Ebulue is obsessed with music. So enamoured with records is he that your own personal taste will probably determine whether he wants to have anything more to do with you. Should a serial killer have a fondness for certain Elvis Costello songs, he might find it difficult to condemn them outright for their murderous ways. So, tread carefully when you're around Ebulue because his music appreciation radar is always turned up to 11.

The self-dubbed 'music snob' has no time for Nickelback but will give you the floor should you share his love of Morrissey (the songwriter rather than the man, as he's quick to point out), while a quick straw poll of the crowd to find out which Beatle is most popular in the room leads to a further slating of those in possession of the 'wrong answer'.

Thankfully, Ebulue is not just a music obsessive, he's also a comedian with jokes, and he freely adds some punchlines onto his prejudices. In this short work-in-progress gig, he only really slips off the tracks when trying to engage with an overly soused pair of Edinburghers. A full show should open up his set and allow us to see more of what makes Ebulue tick than the shock tactics of punk or a soaring blues riff.

Heroes at Dragonfly, until 28 Aug, 9.30pm, £5 or Pay What You Want.