Monday 22 August 2011

Edinburgh
Playing a 30’ set at 2.30 in the afternoon is quite strange: you’re just beginning to find your way and get a feel for the audience and the room when it’s over, and then at 3pm it’s too early to wind down and relax.  Still, I’m delighted that I didn’t have to drive here as well, as the dulcitone and harmonium in their cases fitted into Brianna’s car this morning with millimetres to spare, so that I could be a passenger and do some last-minute brain-ordering. Our six-person bleeding chunk of Revenge seemed to hold together and work well on its own terms, but for me at least (especially after producing the record) it took quite a while to get the ten-person version out of my head first so that I could concentrate on the job in hand. As we were playing as part of a music networking event I managed a bit of reluctant networking too, but wallflower networking: every conversation I had, I was leaning against a wall.

One thing I learnt today was that you can’t choose your audience. I went outside for some fresh air, and who should be walking past and stopping to check out the evening’s concert but Michael Forsyth. Now to people of my age, 20 years ago he was a hate figure representing all the worst aspects of Scottish Conservatism, as he repeatedly declared smugly from a position of power that Tory policies were what we needed and what we were getting despite the fact that very few Scots had voted for them, so a part of me was offended by his freedom to walk down the street on this Monday afternoon.  But the workings of democracy, and the Scottish parliament whose existence he fought hard against, mean that he is able to walk the streets freely and go to concerts rather than running the country, which is a huge improvement, so the urge to give him some free pedal dentistry (I was standing on some steps) could be easily resisted.  If he wants to spend his Monday hearing John and Susan and co. do their stuff – and they were great – that’s just fine. Given that we finished our set with The Freedom Come-All-Ye he wouldn’t have enjoyed us anyway, ha.

rehearsal break yesterday

ready to roll