The initial travel plan for me was to get the CityLink 900 coach to and back from Edinburgh and then get the train to/back from North Berwick from/to Waverley. I booked the coach tickets via Megabus instead of booking via CityLink. I’d never had any problems booking with Megabus before but this time, although I could see the booking in the “My Megabus” section of their website, I never received a booking confirmation. I contacted Megabus several times during the days that passed after I made my booking but to no avail. I contacted them via email, through the chat feature on their website, and I also called them. I got the same response EACH TIME. “We have now resent your confirmation through to your email address. Please allow up to 15 minutes for it to arrive in your Inbox” Erm…nothing! Via the chat and on the phone I even gave them a second email address to send it to. Neither address received the booking confirmation. I feared that the booking info in the “My Megabus” purchase history would not be enough proof to some jobsworth driver. Despite the cost and being pissed off with having to do so, for my own peace of mind, I booked a return train ticket to Waverley.
PLATFORM Q
Come Friday I decided to take the 11:41 train into Queen Street so I could take the 12:15 train to Waverley. I arrived at Queen Street around 11.50 and contemplated not going through the barriers and waiting on the other side of them and awaiting the announcement of which platform the Edinburgh Express would leave from. But I had at least 20 minutes to kill and decided to go through the barriers and wait out in the concourse. That was looking to be a potentially VERY BAD move on my part! I looked at the timetable overhead above the barriers to see that the 12:15 was leaving at “Platform Q.” Whaaaa? I’d never seen this displayed before. What the hell did it mean? Seconds later, a member of staff over the station tannoy said “customers travelling to Edinburgh are required to join a queue system in operation at the North Hanover Street entrance.” Okay no worries, I thought, but then as I made my way to the North Hanover Street entrance I saw how long the queue was. Holy fook! I was convinced there was no way I was getting on that 12:15 train! I must admit I was starting to wonder which bright spark of a promoter working for the Gallagher Brothers thought it was GENIUS to have them play Murrayfield during Fringe season?
To my amazement, the queue got shorter and shorter and as I stood near the barriers to the platforms a member of staff came by and said not to worry I’d make it on the 12:15 train, that they were having to stagger letting people through to the platform. A few minutes later I was let through and so I made my way right down to the very end of the platform so I’d be on the front carriage of the train. I don’t know how the rest of the train was looking but the front carriage was quite empty until Falkirk High. From there the numbers of Adidas clothing/official merch and bucket hats grew exponentially. By the time we got to Linlithgow, I could have sworn I’d slipped through a time tunnel back to 1996. I’ve never known an Edinburgh Express train to spend so long on the platform at Haymarket while passengers alighted. But the hell wasn’t over just yet!
WAVE ‘EM BYE-BYE AT WAVERLEY
The last time I experienced Waverley anything like what it was over the weekend was in August 2022 to see the two SM shows at Princes Street Gardens – aw, which reminds me – in just a few days it’ll be three years since I first saw Hamish! I can’t believe that’s been THREE YEARS already. Bloomin’ ‘eck! Alas, I digress.
Waverley was a madhouse but Sue and I managed to meet up by the main concourse area. We had some time up our sleeve for a pit stop (if you get my gist) before getting to the platform for the train to North Berwick. Although we were heading out of Edinburgh, it was still quite a busy service to North Berwick. Thankfully not as packed to the rafters as the Express train in from Glasgow, but it was by no means empty. There were obviously enough like minds wanting to head out of the city and over to the coast for something a little more refined and laid-back.
IT WAS IN THE AIR
As we arrived at North Berwick there was something in the air, literally! As soon as the train doors opened, oh my word! The pungence of it nearly knocked me off my feet. As Sue and I walked away from the station heading for the High Street, there was a teenage girl and her mother walking along just behind us. We could overhear the girl complaining to her mum, “Oh my God, it’s so gross! I’m gonna be sick!” She was covering her mouth and nose. I was inwardly giggling at the young girl’s reaction but at the same time I was thinking “I know what you mean.” It really was quite overpowering.
FAMILIAR FACES
After grabbing a bite to eat at one of the cafes on the High Street and booking into the hotel we were staying at for the night, we made our way down to the Lodge Grounds where Fringe by the Sea was taking place. As we made our way along the High Street, I was enthusiastically enjoying a little birdwatching, seeing lots of swallows and house martens flitting between buildings and flying under eaves and gables. I was in my element.
Just before 6pm we joined the queue for the gig at the entrance to the Big Top. I spotted familiar faces on our approach. Mark and Marion – the couple who I first got chatting with in the queue at Aberdeen back in February and who we (Sue and I) most recently bumped into at Bellahouston Park – were first on the starter’s blocks. It was great to pass the time chatting away as we waited around for “doors open.”
THE SWEET SPOT
The wait paid off as we got to the dead centre. Sharing a picture on Facebook of the mic stand at the middle of the stage I jokingly said “I think I might be able to see the whites of Hamish’s eyes from here.” Lol.
Over to the far right of the stage (crowd view) Dave Roundtree was getting the first of his DJ sets under way. Promptly at 7.30pm, Cloth arrived on stage to play a short set. We both enjoyed them – to the extent that we bought some merch at the end of the gig. I got their latest CD which Paul, a member of the band, kindly signed for me. They’re playing King Tut’s on 8 November and as much as I’d love to go, I have Nation of Language at St Luke’s the following night, and my days of two gigs on the trot are over. But I will be sure to keep an eye for future dates. They’re a local Glaswegian band, so hopefully there’ll be other opportunities to see them coming up.
BRING ON BILLY
I was absolutely PSYCHED to finally be seeing Billy Nomates and she absolutely did not disappoint! From the time of watching her Glastonbury set back in 2023, I knew I had to see her. From there it’s been a bit of a palaver making that happen. I bought a ticket to see her at the QMU in August 2023 but for reasons I’m unsure about now, I didn’t go. Then she played The Rum Shack last year and…I just didn’t want to have to go to the Southside for a gig. On top of that, it was the end of November and I was trying to work on the book and do my uni studies – it wasn’t happening. This year she’s playing a headline show at SWG3, but it’s October. Unless it’s a month with no “r” in it, I wouldn’t go to SWG3 (and even without having an “r” in it – May/June are about the only months I’d be willing to go there). So, when this gig for FBTS was announced and both she AND Hamish were going to be on the bill – it was an absolute no brainer.
She was sssoooo worth the wait. Energy to burn. Incredible how she performs with so much energy but her vocal delivery is just faultless.
HAMISH REIGNS SUPREME
The same goes for Hamish. You only have to read all my past reviews to know how I feel about Hamish and his live shows. North Berwick was no exception. A blinding set, filled to the rafters with old favourites, including a wonderful outing for ‘Dog-eared August’ and ‘Bridget St John’. So much of A Firmer Hand is already in the “par excellence” canon of Hamish Hawk classics. Gone are the days of the “no encores” – he knows his growing legion of fans would be way too disappointed, so there was an encore of ‘Bakerloo, Unbecoming’ (which I overheard the woman beside me saying to her partner when the crowd was anticipating the encore coming “He hasn’t done ‘Bakerloo Unlimited’ yet. That’s my favourite!” Oh, yeah – such a favourite you didn’t even know its proper title? Lol. I had to bite my tongue, such was the desire to turn around and say to her “Erm, I think you mean ‘Bakerloo, Unbecoming’,” but I thought better of it. She was shorter and slimmer than me but would probably have swung for me had I done that. Lol
Hamish packs in so much in such a short timeframe. There must have been at least 17 songs in the set. In a 75-minute set? That’s impressive! Yeah, let’s see…ahem….SOME OTHER BAND… do that. Pffft! All that way to Tao for a miserly 16 songs for a FULL SET? No thanks! You can screw that. On setlist.fm both Tao gigs are listed as having 17 songs (and they would have been on stage longer than 75 minutes) but “drum solo” was being classified as a song. I DON’T THINK SO! Maybe if you changed the title of it to ‘The Patronizing Patriarchal Platitudes Song’ and included “That’s what Simple Minds call Gurrrrl Powerrrrrrr” as its lyric, then…perhaps. Or, you can just shove it up your arse. (Absolutely no disrespect to Cherisse Osei is meant here by the way, she is fantastic. But Kerr’s fucking condescending praise of her at the end of her drum solo beils ma fucking piss!) Again, I digress.
Hamish’s banter is beginning to be curtailed but of the bits of banter we did get, he informed us of his … ahem …. humble beginnings as a newly-born resident of North Berwick. Yes – Hamish spent his first 12 months on earth as a native North Berwicker (if indeed that is the term for someone from North Berwick). Who knew?
It was a stellar night. The tender walk back to the hotel was a much quicker affair than my previous walk away from my previous concert. Chips were had along the way…
MORE SWALLOWS AND BUCKET HATS
The following day after check-out, we had a wee wander to the seafront. I spotted more swallows skirring around with impressive swoops along the sand for their prized feasts. They really are aerial acrobats. I love them! It was just a tad blowy, so it called for a selfie (see below). A final pit stop for some light refueling at Greggs before we made our way back to the throngs awaiting at Waverley.
North Berwick station was more crowded than anticipated but no trouble with getting on board the train. With each stop it filled up more and more. By the time we got to Musselburgh, passengers were being turned away.
Waverley was again awash. If I never see another bucket hat it’ll be too soon.
Despite the crowds encountered to/from Edinburgh, it was more than worth it. North Berwick is a lovely place and Fringe by the Sea is well-organised and a good sized, laid-back festival. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for who’s on the bill for next year’s festival.
Sounds fantastic,pal.I heard Cloth on the radio a few months back and thought they were great.
I do I hope I get to see them again in future.