AN ECLECTIC series of concerts at an historic venue in Leith is to form a major part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai, Alan Cumming and Karine Polwart, Bothy Culture and Julie Fowlis will all be part of the 17-show strand of concerts at the Leith Theatre, Lights on the Shore.

The concerts at the theatre, which is currently in the process of a major re-development after years of lying dormant, include The Vaselines, The Pastels, Joan as Police Woman, James Holden with Animal Spirits, and a finale of the return of Club Cumming, the cabaret night with actor Alan Cumming.

The concerts will include two nights with Mogwai, the Scottish rock band, a night presented by Glasgow's Celtic Connections, and two nights led by Neu! Reekie.

There is a gig by King Creosote, the acclaimed singer songwriter, the award-winning composer Anna Meredith and a concert by The Grit Orchestra, playing Martyn Bennett's Bothy Culture, and appearances by Lydia Lunch and The Fire Engines, as well as Michael Rother from the seminal German band Neu!

The concerts run from August 9 to August 25 and all are at Leith Theatre, which is a new venue for the festival.

The director of the festival (EIF), Fergus Linehan, said that the gigs are not an attempt to sum up the state of Scottish contemporary music.

He also said Light on the Shore - a series of contemporary music concerts in a new venue away from the EIF's traditional heart in the centre of the city - was one of the riskiest propositions the festival had yet attempted.

Linehan said: " This is not a programme, per se, this is not trying to be that, it is allowing a whole bunch of people to curate things for themselves.

"We are not trying to draw a line between Julie Fowlis and the Jesus and Mary Chain, we are interested that within the particular nights, you can explore the eclecticism.

"It is truly risky - we haven't used the venue, the nights themselves are eclectic, and they are quite organic in their form, they set things in train and we will see how they develop in the next few months: but it has been really, really good fun."

He did, however, say there are some links between individual bands and evenings, adding: "Scottish music is like an Irish wedding, the more you look into it, the more it is related."

On the new venue, the director said he was confident that audiences would embrace it.

Linehan added: "We are not going to some crazy outpost, we are going where a lot of the audience will be.

"In a sense, it's common sense to respond to the way the city is developing [with the boom of the cultural scene in Leith] but psychologically, if you are on Queen Street, Leith Theatre is as close to you as the Queen's Hall is.

"But obviously that is a psychological question for people - but if you live within a lot of the New Town, Stockbridge and around there, this venue actually going to be more convenient for you."

Jack Hunter, chair of the Leith Theatre Trust, said: "We are thrilled that the International Festival is bringing a packed programme of great bands and musicians to Leith Theatre this summer.

"We are making steady progress on realising our ambition to return this fantastic auditorium to full use.

"The theatre is perfect for big live music events and moments like this are in credibly important in raising awareness and demonstrating its potential for Edinburgh and Scotland’s music scene.

"We urge you to come down and see for yourself and join us in helping to save Leith Theatre."