Band On The Rum

After a rather low-key gig in Glasgow the other week, we returned to the Isle of Midgies, sorry Rum, last weekend for the annual Sound of Rum festival. If you haven’t been then we highly recommend it, only bring some anti midgie cream if you can get it. Just in case. And alcohol, we hear that's popular these days, especially among the kids.  The festival was twice as big this year and the sheer quality of the bands is outstanding e.g. Croft No. Five, Peatbog Faeries, Salsa Celtica; simply amazing. Not to mention archery, chainsaw sculpting, face painting for the kids and at least forty thousand pounds worth of alcohol for the adults.

And then there’s us, somewhere between music and chainsaw sculpting.

We travelled up on Saturday, through Glencoe, Fort William and then caught the ferry at Mallaig. It was a beautiful day to be traveling through some of the most spectacular scenery in the country. From Mallaig the boat goes around all the islands; Muck, Eigg, Canna and then Rum. No cars are allowed on the island except by special permission so our gear was trailered on. Once we had built a small shanty town on the outskirts of the festival, that we named New Wester Hailes, we made our way down to check out what was what. What a great night. All the bands were excellent, a definite celtic/ traditional edge to the whole thing, which suits us down to the ground because our music traditionally hails from the Scottish/Jamaican border, an area that is known for its heavy drinking and smoking. After enjoying the music we had an excellent night of heavy drinking and smoking, and also barbecuing around our campfire in the woods, all twenty or so of us. And nobody was murdered in the night which is always a bonus.

Last year when we played they put us on the stage on Sunday, and we were the only band to play all day. At first we thought it was a joke, a cruel, despicable joke but no joke. This year we were preceded and followed by bands all of which were outstanding. Although we were all still more or less drunk we pulled it together enough to go on around two thirty I think. Who can tell?  I think the crowd were more impressed with the fact that we went on wearing our suits and shades after spending the night in a ditch in the woods. We played well I thought and we really enjoyed playing too. Sometimes I have seen bands (usually indie/emo moan-fucks) that don’t seem to be enjoying playing live. Well on Sunday you could tell we were enjoying ourselves. I tell thee, it’s the most fun you can have with nine other men. Ask Arsenal! We didn’t have a set list so we played off the cuff and at one point I remember the crowd shouting song titles out as we were deciding what was next, at which point I started berating the crowd for thinking this was a democracy. I mean, really! It’s bad enough that we are a bunch of unprofessional steamers! After all of that we came back for an encore. The crowd was great and the response was amazing. I think we have a few fresh converts.

It was a great day and a great weekend. We arrived back on Monday night, with soggy amplifiers and sore heads but sore faces from smiling so all’s well.   Still no Coloursound and our album is still on ice, or more accurately, in the deep freeze, until at least next month. Writing continues apace. Next week we are off to Leslie. Should be interesting.

 

Dundee to Glasgow Non Stop

Busy week in camp Bombskare. Although not as busy as we would like, we would prefer to be swarming across Europe with divisions of tanks of course, but we compromise with Ska. Coloursound, our rehearsal haunt, is no more, it has been demolished to make way for another bank, because that's what Edinburgh needs, another bank because of our crippling bank shortage. So new improved Coloursound, just down at Haymarket, isnt actually new and improved as yet, but soon hopefully. So cut a long story short, there has been no rehearsal for the last few weeks.  I can actually feel my Ska bone stagnating as a result.  Also, our recording has been on hold for the last and next wee while, as the studio is physically rebuilt from scratch, so we have been focusing our efforts into writing new material. It can sometimes be hard to rehearse new material when you have a busy gigging schedule but the break from recording the album gives us the opportunity to write another album.  If only we were harder working and talented.  Or perhaps cloning is the answer, except then we'd have to deal with another ten idiots.  Should have thought that one through.

First gig this week was a return to the Doghouse with the mighty Big Hand probably our seven hundredth gig with the boys. Man, that's getting boring.  I kid of course.  Seriously though, it's boring.  The Big Hand chaps have been busy recording the third part of their EP trilogy in Glasgow, and so it was a welcome return to Dundee with them. Luke insists that Dundee is not the home of marmalade as I have insisted somewhere before, but as I said before it is definitely the home of Dundee marmalade, quod erat demonstratum, which is Latin for I'm right, so fuck off.

Anyway the Doghouse on Saturday was a good night. Kick off from homegrown Fife heroes Mr Greenfinger who played a good set, and I do mean homegrown.  Those guys are pungent.  We played with them last year at the Linkylea Festival and will be again later this month in Leslie.  Every song seems to be about weed or getting wasted, so they were obviously a big hit with us.  Big Hand played a great set which included a fairly new track about pirates, which was also obviously a big hit with us. Aaarrggh! They didn't play the track Big Hand which has been the backbone of their set since Postillion days, which I was mildly disappointed about it.  They often let me sing it so I took it personally.

Our set included the groove twistin 'Hand of Fate' and live favourite 'Inspector Gadget' which was a hoot as always. I love watching peoples faces as the realisation sets in, 'hey I know this'. We also threw in a cover of 'Pressure Drop' after someone in the audience claimed they had never heard of Toots and the Maytals. How can you not have heard of Toots and the Maytals?  Sort it out.  It was also the debut of my new Schecter guitars. Hmmm. Lovely lipstick style pickups and a ying and yang two tone finish that reflect my Manichean personality. And they sound huge, almost too huge.

Monday night was a mayday ska special at the Bongo Club back in the burgh. With just us and Big Hand, I was worried that it would be just another wet Monday night in the toon, but I was wrong. Not often that happens.  The Bongo was respectfully busy considering it was relatively short notice. We opened for a change and played more or less the same set as Saturday but with the inclusion of 'Panic Button' and 'Trying To Grow A Chin'.  And for laughs we did a cover of 'Long Shot Kick de Bucket' which is fun because this time round we featured Colin on lead guitar.  He can play it after a fashion. Big Hand followed and played a huge set and this time round they played the track Big Hand, just as well, with yours truly storming the stage and commandeering the lead vocals. It was the high point of that particular fifteen minutes that's for sure. Then for the last song, the russian one, we had a proper stage invasion with the bombskare brass, young trumpeteer Jen, and old Big hand veteran Joe, on yet another trumpet, so it really was horntastic. It was a great night and judging by the response everyone had a ball.

Our next outing is this thursday at nice and sleazies in glasgow, with our friends Dick Dangerous and the Love the Bastards. You heard me right.