One,Two,Three.....

The highway's jammed with broken heroes

on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
but there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we'll live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when
we're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go
and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
baby we were born to run

Y'know we can all point to defining moments in our lives. One such moment came at approximately 10.30pm last evening in Hampden Park Stadium, Glasgow. The sheer energy and intensity of the moment as the capacity crowd helped the E-Street Band to finish off one of the greatest rock songs ever penned....The Boss, looking across the sea of faces could do nothing but smile...a smile of sweet satisfaction...he's pushing sixty and most of the gathering won't see forty again but the sheer unbridled emotion that this song evokes have to be witnessed, first hand, to be truly understood.

>It certainly lifted my spirits....life is just too short, grab it while you can.

If you're looking for a run down of the gig, hop on over to Norm's Blog...in menu bar opposite....he sums things up perfectly.

Slow Off The Blocks....

No one to blame but myself on this one.

Bruce Springsteen plays Hampden Park, Glasgow tonight and I have a ticket. At the moment that ticket is somewhere on the A9 making its way towards me. I went over to the Post Depot at opening time this morning but no ticket had arrived....another delivery comes in at 9.00am so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed it's on that.......if not?

Well, as I said, I've no-one else to blame. I've been humming and hawing over this for weeks and looking at online tickets sites. It wasn't until Sunday when I opened up The Herald supplement that my mind was made up.

Now I'm waiting....and hoping.

It's a 5/6 hour drive to Glasgow from here......I'll need to be underway before 10am.....watch this space.

Check These Out

ROB LUTES

RICHARD SHINDELL

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE

I have been living in the dark...you only realise this when someone asks you to open your eyes.

Over The Hills

....is the name of an album by Lucy Kaplansky.

It is a thing of beauty.

Now, avid followers of Lucy Kaplansky will be tearing their hair out at this point (should they all be reading this tired blog....unlikely, I know) screaming...."Where have you been? You cretin!!"
She's been around the block a couple of times....debut album 1994.....it's all on her website....linked above. Her last offering "Over The Hills" (2007) was sent to me by my dear cousin Olaf....he who sends me lots of excellent music....Okay, so, there's a heavy Shawn Colvin influence but hey....I'm a big Shawn Colvin fan......and Lucy doesn't hide it either, she's been known to surround herself with good people ( Eliza Gilkyson sings on "Over The Hills").....here she is pictured with Shawn as her career started to flower.

I love this album....even the covers "More Than This" ( Roxy Music) and a very brave take on Cash's "Ring of Fire". However the song that stopped me in my tracks is "Today's the Day".....if you, like me, have recently lost someone very close to you, you'll know exactly what I mean.

As I said........just beautiful.

Oh and she's playing Glasgow in October....Thursday the 8th

My Little Blue Boy

Ah it's great to hear classics like this being given an airing. Collins seems to split listeners right down the middle. I loved Orange Juice when they were in their pomp, in fact I was a bit of a fan of "The Sound of Young Scotland"....Edwyn's later solo stuff has taken a bit longer to grow on me but there's no doubting his contribution to our country's musical tapestry. Throw in Roddy Frame on guitar and you have something a little bit special. Great to hear EC sounding so alive and on form.

Why The Lakers are Champs

Okay so this hasn't been the place for my basketball ramblings... Heatwaves was the place where I vented the old spleen as regards my team The Miami Heat and their 2008/09 season in the NBA. They went out in round #1 of the play-offs to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Finals have just concluded and the Los Angeles Lakers ( Jack Nicolson's favourite team) have just won the title "World Champions".....only in he USA do you become World Champions whilst playing against other teams from the USA.....e.g "The World Series" in baseball....I don't get that, never have.....BUT there ARE more and more players from around the globe making a mark in the NBA....and becoming THE players at their clubs.

Take, if you will, Pau Gasol.
He's Spanish, he's 7 feet tall, he's superbly talented and (if you ask me) the main reason why the L.A Lakers are World Champions......the MVP (Most Valuable Player) ofcourse went to Kobe Bryant but it's rare for a team to win this thing without a dominant big guy.....Gasol is certainly that.

Right now he's the best in the business and Bryant would do well to share that MVP honour with him.

Separated at Birth?

Just wondered why Travolta went for an "Edge-y" look in the recent remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123" ?

Obesity Academy.

Well...come on.....haven't had a wee story about obesity for a long while.....so try this on for size.

http://humankinetics.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/aviva-uka-academy-launched-to-combat-child-obesity/

Helping out at the launch? None other than Christine Ohuruogu......the drugs cheat turned Olympic gold medallist....yeah man, get them off the Mars Bars and onto the steroids, that's what will make Team GB great in 2012......maybe we should have called in Michael Phelps to help out with "grass" roots development.....no?

Aviva UKA Academy

I'm here all week.

All Hail To The King...

Yes, that was a pretty good night at the Ironworks in Inverness.

Strange bistro type atmosphere with the tables and candle-light...probably not what The Pictish Trail, Player Piano and King Creosote were expecting but there you go....it didn't really impact on the evening too much. One or two patrons, fortified with "the singin' ginger" eventually got up to shake their bums but most folk sat around and nodded sagely.

We were parked at the front left and had a fairly good view of proceedings....the Ironworks is a nice venue.

This was a Fence Collective Cabaret with all musicians playing in all the bands. There were one or two vignettes of solo performance...including, bizarrely, a rendition of La-Di-Dum by KC.

La-Di-Dum, for the uninitiated, is an old song made famous by Francie and Josie (well remembered Bryan). I have it on one of my Corries Live albums from circa 1974/5....it's about a guy who has a big nose ( referred to as his La-Di-Da-Di-Da ) and about how it gets him into all sorts of trouble....oh aye, there is also mention of is Da-Di-Dum, which we are supposed to assume is his penis....here's a verse...

But they married in the spring of La-di-da-di-da.

They honeymooned in lovely Da-di-dum;

But they found they couldnae get in a double bed

For his great big La-di-da-di-da-di-dum.

You get the picture? Very strange but then again I have a collection of Corries records so go figure.

Anyway The Pictish Trail ( Johnny Lynch ) was first up and I enjoyed his set especially the song entitled "The Lighthouse" which he reliably informed us is "...about a guy....in a lighthouse." He was then joined on stage by Jeremy Radway a.k.a Player Piano....I really liked him, polished set of well crafted songs and finally The King himself took to the stage and the whole thing rolled on like a great big snowball.

I still haven't bought "Flick the Vs"......will soon but now I have to add "Into The Dark" and "Secret Soundz" to the wanted list.

Good night out and worth the 200 mile round trip.

What's the Forecast?

Much to my disgrace I still haven't gotten round to purchasing the latest offering from Kenny Anderson...or King Creosote. I'm due to go to Inverness next week, with daughter #1, to see him perform live at The Ironworks (unless it SNOWS!). Can't wait for that.

I'm reliably informed that the album is a "grower".....

I'm still a bit torn as regards downloading of music from itunes or actually buying a CD. I've bought quite a few albums from itunes recently and have only listened to about half of them...I don't think that would happen if I bought the actual physical item...but then again, as regards CDs, things were getting a bit cluttered and lots of those little plastic boxes just lay on the shelf collecting dust.

Ah me!

Nothing On The Outside

I did tinker with the idea of going to the Outsider Festival last year....as there were one or two acts that really caught my eye. I also liked their idea of combining a musical weekend with a bit of mountain biking and running....not everyone's dish of tea but would have been right up my street and Kait's too. Would have been an opportunity to catch up with Drever, McCusker and Woomble.

It is with deep sorrow that I read that this year's event has had to be binned because of....yes folks you've guessed it.....the recession.

Read the full story here

There's Always Darvel

Yes indeed Darvel.

A wee town through which I have often passed but never stopped. Mother's family as you will know, if you read tridandtested.blogspot.com, live in the Ayrshire village of Sorn which isn't too far from Galston and then further along the A71, Darvel.

Two heroes of mine Gary Louris and Mark Olson (of Jayhawks fame) are playing there next month at the Darvel Homecoming Festival. I'd dearly love to go. Wonder if I can swing it?

Meanwhile check out "This Week's Music" for some tracks by the above from their album "Ready for the Flood"....enjoy.

Yah Fud!

Not to put too fine a point on it.



What can you do when a 31 year old man behaves like this....the silly wee boy McGregor ( he's only 27 years old ) just copied his pal. Pure dead embarrassin' so it is.....this bugged me more than the drinking episode, which was ludicrous too. Big Walter was quietly beelin' at the press conference.

Bye bye Scotland... AND bye bye Rangers for the pair of them.

40 Days of Rain

The great one with a new song.

One person states, on youtube, he (Roddy) has never written a bad song.

No arguments here buddy.

Wonder if there's a new album in the offing?

A Night at the Lemon Tree

Yes I'm in Aberdeen this evening....have got a hospital appointment tomorrow so am esconced in a Travel Lodge at Bucksburn...soul-less places but I suppose they're handy.

Anyway earlier on today I thought I'd check out the Lemon Tree website to see if there was anything on worth seeing....would you believe it, Aberfeldy ( who, to be honest, I only know very little of ).......supported by....wait for it - MICHAEL MARRA.

Too fortunate eh?

Well, it was a bit of a squeeze getting from Wick to Aberdeen on time for the half eight kick off...in fact I didn't make it but Michael didn't come on stage to nearer nine so everything worked out fine....I met up with my mate Doug and we found a decent vantage point.

I noticed that Marra is returning to this venue on his own tour on the 30th of April so this opening set was just a wee warm up for that...we were treated to 8 or 9 songs and the usual dry Dundonian banter from "Dr.John's visit to Blairgowrie" to "Baps and Paste" to "Green Grow the Rashes"

I love Michael Marra.

Aberfeldy followed and I enjoyed them right enough....they played (I know this, because they told us) new stuff and old stuff....I must admit I preferred the older stuff as a lot of the new stuff involved synths and funny noises which, for me, didn't always enhance the sound. They are a very melodic band and use lots of jangly guitars and tight harmonies the Rolands and Korgs don't do it for me....never have.

I did like he set though and they did a very fine version of "Saturday Night Fever" to round the evening off.

Two and a half hours well spent. Go here to check out Aberfeldy......the synths don't sound so bad in the studio. They're a good band.

That's Entertainment....

I've cycled up to Dunnet Head lighthouse a few times. It's a pleasant cycle and the views from up there are nothing short of breathtaking...remember it's as far North as you can travel on mainland Britain before falling into the Pentland Firth.

I was there, last night, for the Clive Carroll gig.....first time I've taken the road in the dark and in a car. The weather was pretty rotten as we switched back and forth up the single track brae road but as we came over the crest there in view was the lighthouse in all its majesty, shining its powerful beams out across the treacherous Firth....eerie, desolate and a spectacular beginning to an evening which would only bet better.

Around 8 o'clock things swung into action with hosts John and Isaac Sutherland and accordian player, David MacKenzie, providing some excellent freestyle entertainment...highlights being a set of Italian tunes played by David whilst being accompanied on djembe by Isaac....Clive Carroll took up residence on the intimate stage at a little after nine and swept the audience away on a musical journey that travelled through jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass, classical, celtic, 14th century lute music....in fact if there was a genre that he didn't cover I'm sure it has still to be invented....there was even a quick blast of "Purple Haze" on the banjo as John and Isaac joined him on stage for a couple of numbers.

The encore, "Eliza's Eyes" ( penned for his daughter ) was my personal favourite.

A superb evening, showcasing some mind-bending virtuousity.

As we left the lighthouse the skies had cleared and we found ourselves looking up at clear night sky peppered with stars. The torchlit procession of attendees gradually snaked its way back up the hill toward their waiting modes of transport and the two strong beams plunged through the darkness and continued to make their vast sweeps of the firth. 

Magical.

Hope it won't be my last trip up there.

Alone

Don't ask me what got me thinking about Stuart Adamson today....I just was, I do it quite often. A lot of the later Big Country stuff is just starting to fall into place for me now...I kind of fell out of love with them at around the time of "The Seer" but then again it was kind of shallow of me to expect them to remain edgy after receiving so much acclaim....you could always feel that Stuart was wanting to head back towards the sweeping power chords that made The Skids the cult that they were...by the time they did that I'd lost touch....this is just a great song.....I'd forgotten that Martyn Chambers, of Pretenders fame, was on the sticks.

Let's Go Carrolling

A wee while ago I posted this.  Click here

Well it transpires that Clive is coming to the lighthouse a bit earlier than anticipated....this Sunday to be precise...1st March.....and guess what?

I received a phone call from local blues and jazz aficionado, Fergus Mather, who let me know that he had booked me a ticket for this concert. At first I was a bit disappointed as I thought I may not be able to go......we have a lot on this weekend but Mother told me she could hold the fort. I'm delighted as I've had rotten luck as regards live music recently, the aborted DMW trip to the Ironworks for example.....

So come Sunday evening I'll be cosying up to listen to Mr.Carroll in the intimate surroundings of the Dunnet Head Lighthouse....thanks for remembering Fergus....this is for you.

Mitch.

Good to see more of his stuff popping up on the net.....he was a wonderful comedian.

Yeah, but what happened to the Du Fraynes???.........fantastic

James Grant..Got It (at last)

My good friend Douglas has been on and on at me for years to embrace the music of James Grant.

For whatever reason I have always resisted, even Love and Money kind of left me cold....apart from "Winter" (sticking with the cold theme) from "Dogs in the Traffic" (1991), which I always loved.

So.....what, I hear you ask, has brought on this sudden bout of warm fuzziness towards one of Scotland's (as Chick Young was heard to say, apologies for the footballing analogy) most uncapped players. Well maybe the fact that Grant has struggled and been largely ignored, as a solo artiste, in his homeland for many years has something to do with it (because everyone loves an underdog). However, I think it has more to do with the fact that I've finally reached a reasonable level of maturity and just "get it" a bit more than I used to. His connections and collaborations with Capercaillie's Karen Matheson and Donald Shaw are sublime.

"Holy Love" is one of the most complete albums that I have ever heard and once it had been royally "tanned" on the Ipod I floated backwards through "I Shot The Albatross", onto the wonderful "My Thrawn Glory" and lit, eventually, upon "Sawdust In My Veins" (1998). It's a journey that I'm so glad I've finally taken.

This video for "Scarecrow Song" which features on James's new album "Strange Love" had been viewed only 52 times when I downloaded it to this post.......go out and buy his stuff.....take it from a recent convert.....oh, and thanks Doug, I'll listen to you next time.