Our only Scottish show was hosted by a lovely lady by the name of Christine. We arrived at the venue which was high on the hillside overlooking Polmont and Grangemouth, with the mountains on the other side of the Forth making a great backdrop. We soon loaded in and were ready to play.
But first, something to eat.
We noticed a parade of shops including a Chinese takeaway and a chip shop back in the town, so we drove back down again.
We arrived as two policemen were trying to disperse a group of teenagers who were hanging around the parade of shops. I looked at the desperate lack of any kind of facilities and realised that that was all there was- hanging around getting drunk and, in the case of the girls, pregnant.
The scene is replicated all over the country. There are places in our town where you could see exactly the same thing- even our parade of shops has its share of bored youth just hanging around.
We ordered our fish and chips and I went and sat in the van. As Chris arrived with the food, it all kicked off around us.
A foolhardy fifteen-year-old youth attempted to light up a cigarette in front of the officers and was told to put it out, because he was under age. He attempted to argue that his mother said it was OK and began to struggle with one of the officers. Soon a crowd gathered around our van which was parked next to the police car. Then an adult drove up and added his two pennyworth, followed by the boy's older brother who was on a short fuse and wanted to wade in with fists flying. He had to be restrained by his friends as the boy was driven away in handcuffs.
Another typical Friday night in the urban desolation that is post-industrial Lowland Scotland. No work. No hope of work, ever.
After all that excitement we drove back to the golf club and played to a small but very vocal audience, mostly women, who danced beautifully to our songs. The men were drinking in the other bar. (It's a cultural thing I think)
It was one of those nights when we could have done with a backdrop. You can see what I mean here-
It would have been ideal to have had an early finish, considering the distance we had to travel the next day, but it was not to be. Our last set finished at about midnight, and we had to pack up all the kit ready for a long day on the road.
We got back to the hotel just before 1 in the morning.
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