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It's
Thursday the 4th. of October and it's the start of our British tour. We
haven't done one for 18 months and that was only for a week so it feels
a little strange. On a British tour we don't have to fly, we don't have
to drive on the other side of the road and we even get to go home some nights.
And we have to stop ourselves from explaining everything, especially to
Scots audiences. It takes a bit of getting used to.
ALNWICK
First stop is Alnwick, just over the border and a lovely theatre we've played in twice before. We've worked in a few new numbers since the German tour and are anxious to try them out. It's exciting but our audience are with us and things go more or less to plan. On the second half we're joined by Pat Kilbride. Some U.S. audiences may remember he stood in for Davy in our Spring 2000 tour and he's making a solo album at Temple. Pat doesn't know all the material but he's amazing at sitting in and winging it.
EDINBURGH
Afterwards we drive home for the next day we're playing in Edinburgh, a home gig for Mike and Karine. We've played many times at the Queens Hall and we always get a warm reception from our Scots fans. It also turns out there are some people from Germany and a Californian couple who made a detour from their holiday to see us in Alnwick and have come tonight as well. Pat joins us again and I announce to the audience that he is joining us in the New Year. It's also the first opportunity for a home audience to see Alasdair in the band and he makes a big impression. Again we get home to our own beds...what a novelty!
ABERDEEN
Saturday comes and we're off to Aberdeen, Scotland's oil capital, and the furry boots city......."Furry boots dae ye bide?". The Lemon Tree is an arts venue, well run and good food, good P.A., reminiscent of some of our Continental gigs. Mike tells his Inverurie joke to the audience...an outrageous story that actually goes down well...or maybe they were just laughing at his game try at an Aberdeenshire accent.
Sunday we go home.......back to our own beds and on Monday we have a day off at home. This is getting surreal.
DARLINGTON & CASTLE DOUGLAS
On Tuesday we drive to Darlington, Cleveland, in the north east of England. This is a favourite haunt of the band and a full house greets us. Afterwards there's time for a quick pint, a novelty in England and since we're staying on the premises...we don't have to drive.Lovely! Next day we drive through the Pennines, have a sumptious pub lunch in Bampton near Carlisle and come back into Scotland heading towards Dumfries and Stranraer. We're playing at the Lochside Theatre in Castle Douglas. This is a superb community theatre staffed entirely by a hard working bunch of volunteers and for the second time in a row they give us a sell out. This should be a model for rural communities everywhere.Allan Scott, who booked us, tells me that they had a rocky few months because of the foot and mouth outbreak but things are looking up for them. They have an imaginative programme of music and theatre and cater for all tastes. A wonderful venue. Afterwards we go home.....again.
GALASHIELS
Thursday we're in Galashiels in the Borders and the Temple staff are there. They hardly ever see us live so it's a novelty for them and a chance for us to acknowledge their efforts in public. It's a good crowd and afterwards, guess what, we go home....it's becoming routine.
INVERNESS & PORTREE, ISLE OF SKYE
Now it's approaching the week end and we have 2 highland gigs, at Inverness and Portree in Skye. The Eden Court Theatre is a lovely venue on the banks of the River Ness and our audience is augmented by Alasdair's parents, over from Lewis for their first glimpse of their boy in action with us, and the raucous McRae clan from the Black Isle, also known as Mike's in-laws. We also meet up with ex-piper Duncan MacGillivray attended by 5 of his 6 progeny and Hector MacPherson who booked the band for a memorable gig in Helmsdale quite a few years ago. From Inverness it's a spectacular drive over to Skye and up to Portree. Rob and I gleefully point to the highest point in Raasay,Dun Caan, which we scaled on our summer trip there. The Aros Centre outside Portree is yet another splendid venue, with a restaurant and shop which is well stocked with Scottish goods with a welcome absence of the tartan kitsch which is so often the fare for the tourist in Scotland. Later in Portree we are startled when we ask a policemen where there is a chip shop (this was for Alasdair's benefit) and he not only knows the band but casually calls me by name in the midst of our conversation.
EAST GRINSTEAD & STAMFORD
Now we have 2 days off, at least on paper. However it's a small matter of 650 miles or so from Portree to our next stop, East Grinstead south of London, so the next 2 days are spent pretty much in the van. We are welcomed by John Smedley, who has booked us in this area many times and is an enthusiastic supporter of folk,particularly Celtic music. This is our only stop in this party of the country and an enthusiastic crowd shows up.Once again Pat is here to join us for the second half. Next day we drive back round London to Stamford, just north of Peterborough. We're told it's a sell out and we could have played 2 concerts. This is another return visit and a great night.
BURNLEY
On Thursday we stop off in Leeds on our way to Burnley. We're staying in the Centre of Leeds tonight (except for Rob) and we spend an eventful 2 hours lunching, watching the colourful street life and indulging in Mike and Karine's new craze for whiling away the dead leisure hours in England........the bookmakers. I have already inculcated Mike into a wee flutter on the football on previous tours but this week finds every one of us putting a stake on games and by the end of the week Mike and Karine are trying the horses too!
However, back to work and we spend a frustrating 2 hours in heavy traffic making our way to the Burnley Mechanics,a Victorian building that has a lively programme of music. It's another return visit and a warm Lancashire crowd. Afterwards we drive back to Leeds for a midnight curry and later outside our funky hotel the clubbers spill out into the street with their ghetto blasters and taxis weave through the melee, tooting their horns. It gets quiet around 3.00 a.m.
WORCESTER & EXETER
The following day is Friday and we set off for Worcester. This involves driving down the M1 for a bit then heading towards Birmingham and driving round it. The weather is foul, torrential rain, and the traffic is worse. Near Birmingham we leave the jams on the motorway, cut across country ,and arrive in Worcester just 75 minutes before kick off. Our presenter, Chris Jaeger, is quite relaxed (we did call to say we'd be late) and we work like beavers to get ready. It's a bigger audience than last time and they give us a good response. Everyone is in fine form . We've come to the last week end and we're heading down to the south west of England. Near Bristol we hit another big traffic jam. It's getting to be a pain and we come off the motorway to find another route down to Exeter. The Phoenix is an arts centre in and our biggest problem is how to drive there. We have to ask a few locals for directions (one person thinks the Phoenix is a pub) but we find the way eventually and later we play to another sell out audience. Karine is elated to find one of her horses has come in second! Meanwhile my judgement has deserted me.
PERRANPORTH
Sunday morning and we're off to Cornwall and a little town called Perranporth, just south of Newquay. It's a lovely spot with a beautiful sandy bay and reminds me very much of Brittany. We're here to play at the well established Lowender Peran Celtic festival. We're doing the evening concert, the climax of the weekend. The crowd in the Memorial Hall receive us very well and when we get to our hotel we discover that the whole festival has decamped there. By 2.a.m. there are 3 big sessions going on, there's dancing and the bar is packed. The Batties are in relaxed form, some till 6.a.m. when the bar closes.
NETTLEBED
It's a fairly quiet van that travels up to Nettlebed in Oxfordshire next day. We're all pretty tired but the local folk club is jam packed and they greet our first number with a huge roar and we respond and go on to have a great gig. The weather is foul again and it's a long way home. We finally arrive home on Tuesday evening, tired but happy. It's a long time since we've had such fun touring England. Now where did I put that racing paper?
ALNWICK
First stop is Alnwick, just over the border and a lovely theatre we've played in twice before. We've worked in a few new numbers since the German tour and are anxious to try them out. It's exciting but our audience are with us and things go more or less to plan. On the second half we're joined by Pat Kilbride. Some U.S. audiences may remember he stood in for Davy in our Spring 2000 tour and he's making a solo album at Temple. Pat doesn't know all the material but he's amazing at sitting in and winging it.
EDINBURGH
Afterwards we drive home for the next day we're playing in Edinburgh, a home gig for Mike and Karine. We've played many times at the Queens Hall and we always get a warm reception from our Scots fans. It also turns out there are some people from Germany and a Californian couple who made a detour from their holiday to see us in Alnwick and have come tonight as well. Pat joins us again and I announce to the audience that he is joining us in the New Year. It's also the first opportunity for a home audience to see Alasdair in the band and he makes a big impression. Again we get home to our own beds...what a novelty!
ABERDEEN
Saturday comes and we're off to Aberdeen, Scotland's oil capital, and the furry boots city......."Furry boots dae ye bide?". The Lemon Tree is an arts venue, well run and good food, good P.A., reminiscent of some of our Continental gigs. Mike tells his Inverurie joke to the audience...an outrageous story that actually goes down well...or maybe they were just laughing at his game try at an Aberdeenshire accent.
Sunday we go home.......back to our own beds and on Monday we have a day off at home. This is getting surreal.
DARLINGTON & CASTLE DOUGLAS
On Tuesday we drive to Darlington, Cleveland, in the north east of England. This is a favourite haunt of the band and a full house greets us. Afterwards there's time for a quick pint, a novelty in England and since we're staying on the premises...we don't have to drive.Lovely! Next day we drive through the Pennines, have a sumptious pub lunch in Bampton near Carlisle and come back into Scotland heading towards Dumfries and Stranraer. We're playing at the Lochside Theatre in Castle Douglas. This is a superb community theatre staffed entirely by a hard working bunch of volunteers and for the second time in a row they give us a sell out. This should be a model for rural communities everywhere.Allan Scott, who booked us, tells me that they had a rocky few months because of the foot and mouth outbreak but things are looking up for them. They have an imaginative programme of music and theatre and cater for all tastes. A wonderful venue. Afterwards we go home.....again.
GALASHIELS
Thursday we're in Galashiels in the Borders and the Temple staff are there. They hardly ever see us live so it's a novelty for them and a chance for us to acknowledge their efforts in public. It's a good crowd and afterwards, guess what, we go home....it's becoming routine.
INVERNESS & PORTREE, ISLE OF SKYE
Now it's approaching the week end and we have 2 highland gigs, at Inverness and Portree in Skye. The Eden Court Theatre is a lovely venue on the banks of the River Ness and our audience is augmented by Alasdair's parents, over from Lewis for their first glimpse of their boy in action with us, and the raucous McRae clan from the Black Isle, also known as Mike's in-laws. We also meet up with ex-piper Duncan MacGillivray attended by 5 of his 6 progeny and Hector MacPherson who booked the band for a memorable gig in Helmsdale quite a few years ago. From Inverness it's a spectacular drive over to Skye and up to Portree. Rob and I gleefully point to the highest point in Raasay,Dun Caan, which we scaled on our summer trip there. The Aros Centre outside Portree is yet another splendid venue, with a restaurant and shop which is well stocked with Scottish goods with a welcome absence of the tartan kitsch which is so often the fare for the tourist in Scotland. Later in Portree we are startled when we ask a policemen where there is a chip shop (this was for Alasdair's benefit) and he not only knows the band but casually calls me by name in the midst of our conversation.
EAST GRINSTEAD & STAMFORD
Now we have 2 days off, at least on paper. However it's a small matter of 650 miles or so from Portree to our next stop, East Grinstead south of London, so the next 2 days are spent pretty much in the van. We are welcomed by John Smedley, who has booked us in this area many times and is an enthusiastic supporter of folk,particularly Celtic music. This is our only stop in this party of the country and an enthusiastic crowd shows up.Once again Pat is here to join us for the second half. Next day we drive back round London to Stamford, just north of Peterborough. We're told it's a sell out and we could have played 2 concerts. This is another return visit and a great night.
BURNLEY
On Thursday we stop off in Leeds on our way to Burnley. We're staying in the Centre of Leeds tonight (except for Rob) and we spend an eventful 2 hours lunching, watching the colourful street life and indulging in Mike and Karine's new craze for whiling away the dead leisure hours in England........the bookmakers. I have already inculcated Mike into a wee flutter on the football on previous tours but this week finds every one of us putting a stake on games and by the end of the week Mike and Karine are trying the horses too!
However, back to work and we spend a frustrating 2 hours in heavy traffic making our way to the Burnley Mechanics,a Victorian building that has a lively programme of music. It's another return visit and a warm Lancashire crowd. Afterwards we drive back to Leeds for a midnight curry and later outside our funky hotel the clubbers spill out into the street with their ghetto blasters and taxis weave through the melee, tooting their horns. It gets quiet around 3.00 a.m.
WORCESTER & EXETER
The following day is Friday and we set off for Worcester. This involves driving down the M1 for a bit then heading towards Birmingham and driving round it. The weather is foul, torrential rain, and the traffic is worse. Near Birmingham we leave the jams on the motorway, cut across country ,and arrive in Worcester just 75 minutes before kick off. Our presenter, Chris Jaeger, is quite relaxed (we did call to say we'd be late) and we work like beavers to get ready. It's a bigger audience than last time and they give us a good response. Everyone is in fine form . We've come to the last week end and we're heading down to the south west of England. Near Bristol we hit another big traffic jam. It's getting to be a pain and we come off the motorway to find another route down to Exeter. The Phoenix is an arts centre in and our biggest problem is how to drive there. We have to ask a few locals for directions (one person thinks the Phoenix is a pub) but we find the way eventually and later we play to another sell out audience. Karine is elated to find one of her horses has come in second! Meanwhile my judgement has deserted me.
PERRANPORTH
Sunday morning and we're off to Cornwall and a little town called Perranporth, just south of Newquay. It's a lovely spot with a beautiful sandy bay and reminds me very much of Brittany. We're here to play at the well established Lowender Peran Celtic festival. We're doing the evening concert, the climax of the weekend. The crowd in the Memorial Hall receive us very well and when we get to our hotel we discover that the whole festival has decamped there. By 2.a.m. there are 3 big sessions going on, there's dancing and the bar is packed. The Batties are in relaxed form, some till 6.a.m. when the bar closes.
NETTLEBED
It's a fairly quiet van that travels up to Nettlebed in Oxfordshire next day. We're all pretty tired but the local folk club is jam packed and they greet our first number with a huge roar and we respond and go on to have a great gig. The weather is foul again and it's a long way home. We finally arrive home on Tuesday evening, tired but happy. It's a long time since we've had such fun touring England. Now where did I put that racing paper?