Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Ska's New Wave
An emergency text message from my pal Craig, who I was meant to be meeting after work for the Ordinary Boys gig, revealed he was laid up in bed and unable to progress further than his lavatory. Bad timing indeed, and not for the first time he has insisted I get him a ticket only for gastronomic problems to interject. Or 'outerject' as the case may be.
This of course left me with a problem. The plan was to meet Rob Wardlaw at the venue, which is at the other side of Edinburgh. Me and Craig were to wander into a few bars on our way out there before enjoying the gig. I was now left on my own, with a spare brief, so the plan was beginning to look increasingly unlikely.
I asked Gail first. It looked she was on for it but she declined as she is swamped with work and that was even before the baby-sitting problem that would arise. So I started sending out messages to my mates. With no takers by half past three, it was looking more and more likely I would be on my tod, and Craig would be footing the bill for a concert he was never to attend.
I ended up going alone. I stopped into Filthy McNasty's for a pint before hailing a cab out to the Corn Exchange. I met up with Rob and we sank a few in the bar next to the venue, catching up on old times. I didn't realise but it is almost a year since we last saw each other. Far too long, we agreed, and promised it wouldn't happen again.
The gig was most surprising. I'm not going to go into it in too much detail because the May issue of The Scruffy Dog Review is going to be a live music special of which this gig, Embrace, Rab Howat, Neville Staple and The Beat will all play a part.
All I will say is, it was a great concert. The influence from The Jam, The Clash, Madness and a touch of UB40 was plain to see. They had attitude, energy and put on a stage performance that went against their stereotype 'boy-band' image.
I made my way home afterwards happy that I went, but the unfortunate thing was the amount of beer consumed. Rob had attained a major thirst during the day and was knocking them back like they were going out of fashion. I kept up, but there are to be sore heads and tummies in the morning no doubt.
For more information about Fringe Fantastic, please go to the website: http://fringefantastic.colingalbraith.co.uk
This of course left me with a problem. The plan was to meet Rob Wardlaw at the venue, which is at the other side of Edinburgh. Me and Craig were to wander into a few bars on our way out there before enjoying the gig. I was now left on my own, with a spare brief, so the plan was beginning to look increasingly unlikely.
I asked Gail first. It looked she was on for it but she declined as she is swamped with work and that was even before the baby-sitting problem that would arise. So I started sending out messages to my mates. With no takers by half past three, it was looking more and more likely I would be on my tod, and Craig would be footing the bill for a concert he was never to attend.
I ended up going alone. I stopped into Filthy McNasty's for a pint before hailing a cab out to the Corn Exchange. I met up with Rob and we sank a few in the bar next to the venue, catching up on old times. I didn't realise but it is almost a year since we last saw each other. Far too long, we agreed, and promised it wouldn't happen again.
The gig was most surprising. I'm not going to go into it in too much detail because the May issue of The Scruffy Dog Review is going to be a live music special of which this gig, Embrace, Rab Howat, Neville Staple and The Beat will all play a part.
All I will say is, it was a great concert. The influence from The Jam, The Clash, Madness and a touch of UB40 was plain to see. They had attitude, energy and put on a stage performance that went against their stereotype 'boy-band' image.
I made my way home afterwards happy that I went, but the unfortunate thing was the amount of beer consumed. Rob had attained a major thirst during the day and was knocking them back like they were going out of fashion. I kept up, but there are to be sore heads and tummies in the morning no doubt.
For more information about Fringe Fantastic, please go to the website: http://fringefantastic.colingalbraith.co.uk
Colin 10:22 am