Blog: A Day Trip To Glasgow

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On Sunday morning I headed NORTH, off to play at the Pop South All-Day-And-A-Halfer in glorious GLASGOW. As I set off I thought "I appear to be travelling for nearly seven hours to do a gig, and then travel seven hours back. It's basically a day trip to Scotland."

It was a LOVELY journey though, hours and hours sat READING and gawping out of the window only slightly marred by a MAD DASH across Edinburgh Waverley to make my connection to Glasgow, where i LEAPT on the train with my backpack, guitar, and wheely suitcase of PROPS and knocked over a plate of Complimentary Shortbread... which i then PARTOOK of five minutes later. Well, it would have been rude not to.

I was met at the station in Glasgow by Mr S Hewitt, who was gradually recovering from the exertions of the previous day's ROCKING. We went to the Ibis (usual suite) then hopped into a TAXI for the Glad Cafe. On the way Mr J McGee rang to see where we are - i think he may have been waiting for us before he started!

The Glad Cafe hides behind a tiny door in the side of one of those MASSIVE granite tenement buildings they have up there. You go down a corridor to the large cafe itself, and then further inside the building to find the venue. Mobile phone reception was ZERO! We got in to find The Bobby McGees just kicking off, with Jimmy getting heckled by his Mum and Dad! "I wonder which one is Jimmy's Dad?" i thought... for about ten seconds, before spotting a man who was CLEARLY Jimmy's Dad, GRINNING!

They were GRATE, as indeed was Mr David Leach who was on just before us. As ever he was DELIGHTFUL, and made me even more determined to get Totally Acoustic going again, so I can get him ON! There was also quite a bit of wandering around chatting to people, like a subterranean indietracks or something, also BEER, but not too much for LO! soon it was time for US to hit the stage.

We'd decided NOT to use the microphones, as everyone seemed to be being very lovely and patient (NB and hungover!) and we made a big point of saying how LONG the show would be, as it always seems a big ASK for people have to stand up all the way through. It all worked LOVELY though, we had a THOROUGHLY enjoyable time, people seemed to like it, and we gave away loads of CDs at the end - WINNZ!

The rest of the day was more beer, more chatting, and an AMAZING band - "A New International", who totally blew my MIND. They were the best Band-I've-Not-Heard-Of-Before that I've seen in about a DECADE. Very very different to the NORM, like a cross between a folk band and Orange Juice, but also AMAZING. There were huge songs and trumpets and accordians and everyone singing and violin and a really unusual singing style which, all put together, sounded GRATE. I liked them a LOT, and SAID so to as many people as I could find - it made me wish I had the EAR of Important Rock People, so I could tip them off!

When all was done we all strolled round the corner for a PINT and a WHISKY in a nearby pub, then it was home to the IBIS and their SUPER comfortable new beds. OH but they are delightful!

Next morning we regrouped and got the train to Edinburgh, where we found ourselves with an hour or two before our next train, so popped out and up to The Halfway House. This is one of my FAVOURITE Edinburgh pubs and is a place of Importance in MY LEGEND, for it was here that Steve and I sat at the end of our very first Edinburgh watching the Olympics and a) I told him we'd be doing Dinosaur Planet next, and b) he declared his intent to be part of the 2012 Olympics. That all worked out pretty well, and the Winter Olympics were on the telly , so I was waiting to see what would happen THIS time, but in the end we simply RELAXED with a delicious pint and watched the curling. It was GRATE.

We toddled down the stairs and got our train, and reflected on what a lovely weekend it had been. Who says a day trip to Glasgow is a daft idea?

posted 12/2/2014 by MJ Hibbett

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