Edinburgh Rock

Edinburgh Rock - soft, sweet, sticky and only seemingly bought and "enjoyed" by tourists...

No, we're talking about The Shine's latest return to Edinburgh's finest - Finnegan's Wake last night!! And what a night it turned out to be!!

We picked up a message on Blackberry just as we were heading out that we couldn't get on the stage until 9pm - turned out there was a CD launch by a Celtic group. As we were on the road, we got there at about 7.30 to find various hooching and chooching going on - and an extremely weird (and that's being kind) looking German bloke called Basil Wolfsbane doing their stuff. Basil was.... OK, nuff said... Suffice to say he looked like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull circa 1971, in a kilt and couldn't sing for, well, Edinburgh Rock.

Stage vacated, we did a massively fast set up and were ready to roll by 10pm. Prior to set up we were pretty nervous as Finnegan's Wake was fairly quiet other than people associated with the CD launch. By the time we were set up, it was starting to cook and really pretty well full.

We launched into our first high energy set and, as the guys agree, had the audience in our palms from the middle of the first song - the inevitable Another Brick In The Wall. The energy, dancing and fantastic reaction continued right through our first set with no let up.

Quick break at about 11.20 and, quite seriously, the closest I think we've ever - both collectively and individually - been to being mobbed. This reaction was just outstanding!

Back on at about 11.30 and kicked off with John's earth moving bass intro to Jet's "Be My Girl"... Set 2 just rocked to the rafters with the crowd, very well behaved (no stage invading / falling on gear) and dancing in the aisles.

All in all, a fantastic visit to Finnegan's and testimony that this line up of the band absolutely rocks!!

Vote of thanks time... I was chuffed that my old friend David Mathieson came along and did us a favour by taking some outstanding and quite arty photographs! Cheers David! Also, in addition to all the amazing audience - from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Wales etc - a big shout out to Linda, Jaide and Amanda who came up from Coldstream to celebrate Jaide's birthday in Edinburgh and dropped by to see us! Cheers guys, you rock!!

Until the next time...

Best of luv,

Neil  

Saucy Mary Rocks Our World!!

Well, as the rats continue to gnaw their way through the discarded food scraps at the King Haakon, we made our journey up to Kyleakin on Saturday night (3.9.11) to a fantastic new venue for us - Saucy Mary's!

From the minute we arrived, we were made really welcome by Laura and her team. Straight away the whole attitude was different, friendly and professional. After a quick tour, bags chucked in the bedroom (a scene of much messiness later on...) it was down to the bar for some well needed food after the four hour drive. On this score, the food at Saucy Mary's is AWESOME!! Where else can we fuel up before a gig on venison???

Dishes cleared and a quick wander off to take some stunning photos by me, it was time to start rigging up for the gig. Fantastic set up facing the bar, we were ready to go at 10pm. Slight problem with the lights during the first set as the sound to light switch had been nudged in transit - I must build a wee box for this rather than just chucking it in the tote box. All the gear line checked and working 100% (110% in the case of my Marshall with it's new valve!) we were ready to go...

In the usual manner, we kicked off with the long intro version of Another Brick In The Wall - synth and guitar delay setting the scene of what was to come... This being the first time at Saucy Mary's there was a wee bit of trepidation as to how the audience would be, would the material be right... The audience was absolutely stunning! With us right from the start, we took that energy and turned it into a high energy set of sound, light and plenty of wireless running about! From Another Brick, through The Darkness and onto a range of older and modern classics, we fed from the energy and appreciation - the band was on fire!!

Quick break around 11.30 to get towelled down by some freshly scrubbed virgins and we were off again into Set 2. This was the gamble set (before we headed for Skye) as it was the higher powered rock set - AC/DC, Guns n Roses, The Fratellis... They were all in there! Should we have worried? God no! There was dancing in the aisles, dancing on the tables, dancing outside and even at one point a bloke dancing on his arse on top of my frontline gear!

As 1am came round, we finished with the inevitable Heroes - dedicated after the band intros to everyone at Saucy Mary's. As the feedback delay rang out and I said "Thank you, Goodnight", it was obvious we weren't getting away that easily! Mindful of curfew, we came back on for an encore of Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop - then it was off for good.

After a quick 5 minutes to let the dust settle and thank Gordon from Plockton for his brilliant photography, time to strip the gear down. 45 minutes later everything was cleared and stored away - time for a quick drink and chat with Laura and the team! What a laugh!! We had a great chat in great company (in my case tanking a full bottle of wine in the process - which I'd regret in the morning!). It was then upstairs for the now obligatory late night Malt session and disection of how the night had been. Eventually at 5am our alcohol soaked bodies gave up and had to collapse for what was left of the night!

All I can say is, can't wait to get back up to the AWESOME Saucy Mary's on 12th November - and hopefully hook some dates for next year!

Finally, this gig goes out to two different dedications - Firstly, this was John's second gig with us on bass and first induction into the overnight debauchery of The Shine on the road. He survived well, is a stunning player, is a fantastic bloke and I dedicate the night to him.

Equally, the BIG dedication goes out to Laura, Danii, Sam & Ali at Saucy Mary's - the ultimate cool people!  Laura, the conversation about Original Source Mint & Tea Tree shower gel will stay with me for a LONG time!! Also a mention to Dani who used to work across the road and came out specially to see us. To all of you, we love you to bits!

Until the next time, Kyleakin you Freakin' ROCK!!!

Best of Love,

Neil