I’ve been absent for three months. That’s quite a long time.
I’d like to say that I’m sorry and I’ve thought about my little lost blog and the horrible neglect I’ve been putting it through on a weekly basis.
But that’s nowhere near true.
My life has been pretty mental recently.
The same week of the Dananananaykyrod gig, my last blog entry, I started my six week placement at BBC Scotland/BBC Radio1. Now that was pretty mental in itself. Working in the place where I’ve wanted to be for a very long time now, mixed in with the four or five gigs we were going to every week. Surreal doesn’t cut it. I was living the dream (albeit in my dream I would have been getting paid, but you’ve got to start somewhere right?)
Just as I was getting used to… mmm maybe not getting used to… just as I was getting my head around that, it was time for Go North.
Now Go North, for all of you who, as I was until about a month before I went, are unaware, is a big music industry festival in Inverness, where everyone who wants to be anyone in the Scottish music industry travels up to see what the ‘people’ say are going to be up and coming.
It is the oddest thing that Go North is still considered a festival. There are no tents, no outdoor stages, no camping (thank god!), no wellies and best of all… NO PORTALOOS! But don’t let them fool you, you’ll get more music squeezed into you in one night at Go North than most people would at a full weekend camping at a normal festival.
So after working all day, then falling asleep on a man in a business suit on the train up to Inverness (yes, there may have been some snuggling… and some drool… the poor man, I had to buy him a coffee when we got off the train. I’m not sure who was more embarrassed, me or him) I arrived, travel bag in hand, working my way via google maps on the old i-phone (other brands of technology are available, but I love a mac!) to a place called Madhatters… above Hootenany’s Bar. Thankfully it came up on my map, as I would have sounded like a total twat asking directions to “Hootenany’s Bar” in my posh Glaswegian accent in the highlands.
Detour Scotland, oh yeah those guys, were putting on a stage at Hootenany’s, so it seemed like a logical place to start. A wee caught a bit of Homework, who mixed up their already collaborative genre of alternative/electronic/rock/pop by wearing odd and slightly scary masks. Then me and my partner in crime headed off to The Ironworks which was literally a five minute walk, and you passed about four other venues on the way, to try and catch the last of Aerials Up. It is safe to say, we walked in as they played their last note.
So, an hour in and we had only seen about ten minutes of live music… but it was ok, as Lightguides were just about to start in Flames, as a part of The Scottish Music Blogs Showcase. They blew me away. Literally. I was squished on front of a speaker at the front as it was that busy, and literally, I could feel the vibrations wobbling my chubby cheeks. With how much there was on offer that evening, it was great to see such a great turn out, not only for a truly talented band, but for the lads who had organised the showcase too.
Now…
This may seem that I’m rambling… which for all intensive purposes I am. But it’s for a reason.
Go North is mental. More mental than any festival I’ve ever been to. There is so much to see in a relatively small area, so you’re lured into thinking that you’re going to see everything, but alas… it’s just not possible. As you can hopefully gather from my story telling from the evening, it is just not possible, despite all good intentions, to see everything that everyone in the Scottish Music industry want to showcase in one night. There is far too much to choose from, which is NEVER a bad thing.
So after The Lightguides, and catching up with the lovely Pop Cop, we ran back to Madhatters to catch Kobi Onyame. It was my first time seeing Kobi, and my expectations were exceptionally high as everyone, and I mean EVERYONE had been raving about him. And I was not disappointed. At one point everyone in the room was jumping for no other reason that he had said so. That man knows how to work a crowd. His raw talent just demands your attention.
Running back over to Flames to see PAWS, then running back to see Bwani Junction at Madhatters. There was a lot of running about that night. Proven by the fact that Ally McCrae and myself had to run from Madhatters to the Ironworks as they had a curfew (we weren’t in Kansas anymore Toto, us city girls don’t have those sorts of things!) I say run; Ally jogged leisurely and I sprinted along side his 6”6 lanky frame.
And that was that. Go North was over for me. The festival/showcase/discussions about the industry continued on to the Friday but alas, I had other places to be…
We went straight into Rockness. I would have loved to be working at that, but alas, I was given the weekend off to party with my friends. Which I did. A lot.
I saw as much music as I could, whilst hanging with my amigos, and I paid £17 to wash my own hair in cold water and then blow dry and straighten it myself, but sometimes you just have to do these things.
So, shall we just list the bands and give one word descriptions? I had far too much fun to be reciting exactly what happened with who and what not, so here goes…
Friday: Nero- amazing, Zane Lowe- inspiring, DJ Shadow-mindblowing, Kasabian-meh, Erol Alkan- messy…
Saturday: Japanese Popstars- hungover (me not them!) Oooh! I went on the Big wheel on Saturday and saw Annie Mac- dance-inducing, Sons and Daughters- gooooood, Example- bouncy, Frightened Rabbit- amazing, Chemical Brothers- disappointing… Pan Pot- blurry…
Sunday: I slept in for The Twighlight Sad which I was gutted about, We are Scientists- rocking, The Wombats- alright, Simian Mobile Disco- awakening, Glasvegas- *blows raspberry*, Boys Noize- mental, Paolo Nutini- fireworks… literally there were fireworks, we only saw his last song.
And that has been my ramblings about just four days I had in June.
