May contain a heavy dose of Jim Kerr
Finally took an afternoon visit to Linlithgow yesterday, and what a lovely place it is! The express train from Glasgow Queen Street takes just around 30 mins to get there/back. The main purpose for going was to see the flotilla of narrow boats that was travelling down the canal from nearby Winchburgh (the borough of…
I had a more laidback night out than perhaps some of the more recent nights out I’ve had during the summer. The gig in question was not on the agenda for me until a few weeks back. My friend Ronnie McGhie invited me along as his ‘plus one’ for the show. The show in question…
Read full post “Friday Night in the City – Megan Black 29/08/2025” »
Ahead of the two Fringe Book shows taking place over this weekend, Hamish Hawk and Stefan Maurice appeared on Radio 4’s Front Row where Hamish discussed Ivor Cutler with presenter Kirsty Wark. On Saturday and Sunday nights at the Spiegeltent located at the grounds of the Futures Institute in Edinburgh, Hamish, along with Stefan and…
Read full post “Hamish and Stefan on Front Row – Wednesday Night” »
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…
Read full post “Hamish Hawk/Billy Nomates/Cloth – Fringe by the Sea, North Berwick 08/08/2025” »
Another new show for the calendar. Until recently, my gig calendar was looking quite sparse from July onwards but that’s starting to change now. Firstly, due to the recent announcement of Zoe Graham’s two headline shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow (I have Glasgow booked and will book Edinburgh when finances allow). Secondly, the news via…
So… this happened today (see image below) and I cannot tell you how excited I am! For years Craig has been back here living somewhere in the West Coast of Scotland (to my knowledge) but has only been doing shows in the USA and Canada. The last time I was aware that he performed in…
Read full post “I Have Been Waiting YEARS For This! Ba-da Bing!” »
Why go to one Hamish Hawk gig, when you can go to two? Well, that was my reckoning after having seen Mr Hawk and his band in Manchester the night before the release of the new album, A Firmer Hand. The gig was performed earlier in the evening, which suits an old fart like me…
Such desperately sad news reached the Simple Minds fanbase today, Jaine Henderson has passed away. I spoke to Jaine twice when I conducted my first interview for the blog. When I approached her initially she had reservations and graciously declined my request. Just a few days later though, she got back in contact with me…
On the Facebook profile for Billy Sloan’s radio show he posted that this Saturday’s show the airing of ‘Simple Minds Down Under’ will take place. Of course there is the ‘mysterious’ A&R man that Billy keeps mentioning that I keep wondering whether it’s Ross Stapleton or not. I guess I’ll find out on Saturday! This…
Read full post “Simple Minds Down Under on The Billy Sloan Show This Saturday (9 March)” »
While the Antipodes is going nuts for some band or other hailing from Glasgow, it was time for me to put my gladrags on (well, suitable garb, at least) and head to Glasgow’s East End to the iconic Barras for what promised to be a (if not THE) highlight of 2024 and watch the New…
Read full post “Hamish Hawk (+ Voka Gentle) – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow – 10/02/2024” »