8th December - Scotland

December 17th, 2006 by Billyb | Posted in Road Blog |

Stung into action by a comment left here, I realised that I’m almost a week behind with my tour blog. Apologies all round but I am a firm believer that this shouldn’t be like homework, rather something done in idle moments between gigs – and unlike in north America, there just haven’t been enough idle moments. Why not? Well for one, the distances are shorter obviously and we tend to drive them so no hanging about in airports. Then there is the availability of the Guardian, which often takes an hour or so to read and digest. Finally there are political events to take part in.

Best of these so far has been on our way to the Perth show. While I was in Glasgow, the government announced that it intended to renew Britain’s nuclear weapons, Trident missiles currently deployed on four submarines based in a Scottish loch at Faslane. A friend and fellow singer/activist Roy Bailey noticed that I was performing in Glasgow and called to invite me to a picket at the nuclear weapons base in protest against the renewal plans. Although Faslane isn’t on the way to Perth, it is just 40 minutes north of Glasgow, allowing us to take part in the picket and still make the soundcheck on time.

As we arrived, the rain that had been sheeting down for days suddenly broke and a bright patch of blue sky appeared. The crowd outside the base were outnumbered by police but spirits were high, tea was being handed out and songs being sung from a makeshift stage beside the gates. When my turn came, I played Great Leap Forwards and Between the Wars – which is in danger of becoming topical again. I finished by inviting Roy Bailey to join me for ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ as it was seeing him and the song’s writer, Leon Rosselson, singing it at a miners benefit in 1984 that inspired me to record my own version.

We left the picket to carry on with their 100 day vigil for peace at Faslane, hearing later that many of the protesters had been arrested for blocking the road in a sit down action that afternoon. If Labour do go ahead with renewing Trident, their places will soon be filled by thousands more.

The show in Perth was in a brand new theatre which produced a bit of a laid back gig. Sure everyone had a good time – myself included – but it didn’t have the adrenalin highs that come with playing loud and fast. The next day en route to Aberdeen we tarried a while in Forfar looking for Pictish stones before putting in a great show at the Lemon Tree. This was an adrenalin gig, helped by the fact that I was playing to a standing audience in a club with a very low ceiling.

I am aware of the arguments that rage around the debate about stand-up shows vs sit-downs and have to say that I enjoy both and this tour, with its mixture of seated halls and standing clubs has forced me to vary the set and so bring different songs into play.

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