“Ladies and gentleman we are currently experiencing engine problems, which is why we’ve basically stopped moving. We are trying to repair this and hopefully we’ll be on our way again soon.”
Not words you’re keen to hear on a Ferry being battered by Atlantic waves miles from anywhere. But true to their word they got the ship moving again and we eventually came into the port at Stornoway, the hub of the Western Isles of the Outer Hebrides.
They know how to welcome you in these parts – a lift from the port, a clean bed for the night and a plate of food on the table. A far cry from the battery-farming approach of many London venues.
Thank god for Jori, a cross between the interviewer from Spinal Tap and Rick Rubin, and Keith, doing the sound for us whilst waiting for a call from his 6-day overdue pregnant girlfriend.
This blog will never be a place for pissing about or embellishing the truth – it was a challenging gig. We played to a small handful of people in the corner of a pub.
But there’s just something inside us that has the stomach for this fight. We never went “screw this I’m not playing to 5 people”. We do what we always do – treat the music as sacred, and play our hearts out like it’s the last gig we’ll ever do. By the end we’d sold CDs to 60% of the audience (you do the maths…)
I’d like to think we’ll go back sometime and play the Arts Centre, and if we do we’ll know we’ve bloody well earned it.
Postcard sent to: Ashley Mackay
Next postcard to: Jori
Thanks to: Moray, Jori, Keith, The Star Inn, Hub Hostel.