This trip up to Scotland has been a bit of a test for me from the beginning. We’ve never taken what we do North of the border before so on a practical level it was a case of finding all new venues, guestimating costs, checking mileages and trying to come out ahead. We had a venue drop out a couple of weeks before we started the tour which meant we took quite a financial hit. The venue was completely straight with us and there’s no hard feelings. It did however mean a tight budget got considerably tighter. The thing about touring though is, once you’re on the road, there’s nothing to do except put on a good show. At home here I multi-task all the time, we have to work hard and we have to be flexible, on the road things are so simple, find hotel: find venue: play gig: find hotel again, there’s a LOT of heavy lifting but that’s the only down side and Jim does more than his fair share.
We started out at Edinburgh Whistlebinkies. Smashing classic music venue, plenty of space for the audience a nice hollow low stage for us (I LOVE a hollow wooden stage, I love the way my Amp sounds when it’s set up on one). With James on the sound desk we had a good soundcheck and were ready to kick off when a 70 strong pub crawl fell through the door. A fantastic atmosphere was created, on-stage sound was very good and the room was full of people dancing and getting into our first set letting us know that we sounded good out front too. The tables down the side of the venue were full of groups of women having a bit of a dance and smiling openly which I really like. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just doing this for the girls but I do like to know that the women in the audience are enjoying the music not scowling at me as if I’m some attention seeking harpy. After a short break where Jim and I had the chance to talk about how great the stage sound was for us, we were back on and having a brilliant time. A properly musical experience for us, delightful delightful delightful! I know we had some fans in the audience and I wish I had had the chance to speak to you all; all I can say is thank you for coming along and making our first gig in Scotland a memorable one! Thanks to Stevie for the hospitality, Mr On The Door for directions and James for doing such a good job on sound.
The Lemontree is a vibrant arts center in Aberdeen, every Friday they put on a songwriter / acoustic session. I was very excited to be playing because one of my literary heroes was giving a lecture on the same day and I was anticipating big brains and respected writers filling the hall. This isn’t what I got. However I was very content with what we did get; once again a lovely stage, a super in house PA with skilled & friendly Lisa driving it and a gentle and generous audience. It was an acoustic gig, the audience listened attentively and behaved in a most respectful manner. Sometimes onstage I find myself seeing every little detail of the audience’s experience, every tapping foot & blissfully closed eye, every nod of appreciation, it was like that for me this day. And though they weren’t raising the roof , it was Friday lunchtime so that seems appropriate. When we left the stage and the audience started leaving the building every single person looked us in the eye and said thank you, and meant thank you, we shook hands warmly and hailed with waves and goodbyes as we collected our guitars and exited. We felt as if we had done a good thing.
Finally We were playing The George, Inverary which was a spectacular drive and a complete surprise. Getting into Inverary the George is a nice looking pub on the corner of the high street, going into the The George it’s a massive place buzzing with people eating delicious looking plates of quality local faire, windy corridors leading to large but somehow intimate spaces, warm, buzzing and in contrast to the drizzly empty street outside. We were a night early so we got treated to Fridays entertainment an acoustic duo with a brave policy of playing songs they’d never played before if they were requested, we were wiped after our journey and it was difficult to relax our empathy with the band was such, so we put our heads down early and slept like children. Saturday after some excited exploration of the town and environment we rehearsed our folk set on the side of the loch, a lovely place to sing traditional Scottish folk songs. Set up was easy enough, we were in a stone lined room which didn’t cause us any trouble, the first hour we played a folk set, maybe 5 bruise tunes scattered around Jim and my favorite trad songs. What a lovely reception, singing along, laughter and a wonderful connection within the room. The atmosphere shifted at 11 when a lot of younger folks came in but Jim and I were ready and looking forward to this so we launched into an electric duo set. From the top I knew we were pretty much what they wanted, I never cease to be lifted up by people having a dance, singing along and letting us know they’re having a good time and they were. I only have good things to say about this venue and the people who frequent it, it was a TOP night and we’re looking forward to coming back. Thank you to Tommy & Jean for assisting me with my trad lyrics, Kris and all the staff at The George for the outstanding hospitality, and David, Stevie & Gregor for the good company.
We’ll be going back as soon as we can. There are some pictures from the tour on Flickr follow the link from our website if you’d like a look www.bruiseuk.com and there’s a short video blog from King Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh here http://youtu.be/aa_0h4FGWDc
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