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Leah
Seator
Diary,
Notes, Thoughts & Stuff....
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your comments, questions - whatever - and I'll answer them
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FOGGED
IN OR OUT AS IT HAPPENS
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5th July 2006
We were supposed to get the boat on the Thursday, and three
of us did, but our guitarist, Stewart Shearer - got
stuck south because of work, so it was a bit of a drama to
start with.
Over to plan B - he would get a flight from Aberdeen at
12.30pm on Friday, while we set up and made sure everything
was ok for our gig in Baroc at 6pm.
Meanwhile, Graham (drummer), Ian (bass), myself ('the
boss!'), Mark (tag-along), and uncle Stew (tag-along- two)
got on the boat, full of optimism. It was a beautiful night
to sail. The trip from Kirkwall takes 8 hours, but it was
flat calm - bonus.
When we got there on Monday morning, we were under the
assumption that Stewart would need picked up from the
airport at 1.30pm. Plenty of time, given that our first gig
was at 6pm. We went straight to the venue at about 11pm, and
got set up. Organsiers Steve and John, along with Ian and
Graham went out to Sumburgh airport meet Stewart who was
meant to be arriving alongside a Norwegian band, and another
musician from Edinburgh, who was playing with Lights Out By
Nine.
Anyway, we noticed that the fog was rolling in, and was
obvious that the flights might not make it. It was a real
roller coaster after that- we were getting calls from the
airport every five minutes, as our soundman, Owen Tierney
was also supposed to be flying up from Orkney on Friday's
tea-time flight. At one point, Stewart's plane circled
around the airport in Shetland with him on it, but decided
not to land, and went back to Kirkwall. You can guess that
the phone calls finally stopped when they decided to cancel
all planes for the day.
It was clear that the festival organisers were getting
stressed out - basically three of their bands, including us
as the opening act were missing from the programme, and none
of us knew whether the fog would lift at all over the
weekend. Would we play any gigs at all?
A major re-shuffle had to take place, so we just went and
watched other bands. We took in Roy Mette who covered for us
in Baroc. He was fantastic. Really soulful blues, belted out
by a fantastic solo performer. I clocked a photographer
snapping his picture, and felt pretty jealous though....not
that I like getting my picture taken at all, but it
should've been us!!!!
Despite the worry that we might not get to play at all, we
carried on around the pubs in Lerwick, taking in some of the
other music. Admittedly, I wanted to hiberbnate back at the
digs at this point, but there was nothing else for it - get
drunk and hope for the best. The highlight of that
night was when we heard that Stewart had managed to get on a
boat - YIPPPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!! We drank to celebrate, and went
and took in fellow Orcadians Mean Business, and Lights Out
by Nine from Fife at the Legion. A grand show
altogether.
DANCING IN THE STREETS - SHETLAND STYLEEE...
On Saturday morning, a little bleary eyed, I got a text
from Stewart saying that he had arrived, HOOORAYYYY! We got
up and headed to our first venue of the day - 'Da Noost,' a
tiny little pub in the middle of Lerwick, with plenty of
character.
We got word that the big event that was meant to be
happening down the pier was cancelled because of the weather
- rain, rain, and more rain. Bad news for the already
anxious festival organisers, who had received word that the
Norwegians had gone home.
Met Stewart who had travelled all night, and immediately
emptied the van into the pub. This was at 11am, and soundman
Owen was sitting waiting at the airport in Kirkwall for word
of a flight. No chance. But the phone calls continued until
1pm. This was my job while the boys, mark included, set the
whole thing up - it took ages, as we had a lot of Owen's
stuff, and weren't 100% sure what to do with it.
I finally got word that Owen wasn't coming. It was now 1pm,
and we were to start at 2pm. I was being interviewed by
Jimmy Carlyle for a podcast, and the pub was filling up. We
realised we had no reverb unit. Not a major problem, but
makes for dry listening. So we were nearly there, and just
as poor tag along Mark was about to get a ten minute crash
course in sound engineering, the PA decided it wasn't going
to work. What fun.
Another 15 mins and we got it going, and mark was going to
stand and move the faders as required - I would like to add
that he did a fantastic job, and saved our bacon. And he
spent the rest of the weekend taking the piss out of the
other soundmen, thinking he was a pro. Bless his little
cotton socks...
We went into the gig cold, as we hadn't been altogether for
a month or so &emdash; kind of hit and hope! But it was
fantastic. We really pulled it together, and the place was
packed. The door was open, people were coming in off the
street, and there were teenagers dancing in a big group
outside. It was really good. We sold 8, out of our 30 CDs
which was brilliant.
We had a host for the weekend - a committee member called
Maggie, and her job was to come to every gig - she seemed so
excited when she first heard us, and said that when the rest
of the organisers came in, they all agreed we were the best
they'd seen at the festival. True or not, it was the
motivational push that we all needed, and we felt it was a
job well done.
The only catch was they wanted us to play an extra gig that
day to fill in for the missing Norwegians. That would make
it three gigs. I can remember a time when I wouldn't have
attempted three gigs in a week, never mind a day, but
considering we'd not played the night before, I didn't even
hesitate to say yes.
WOOLLY PIGS AND CHIPS...
We packed up straight away at 4pm, and got on route to our
next gig, which was over an hour's drive away, in Eshaness -
the middle of nowhere. But it was fantastic. When we
arrived, we still hadn't eaten, and had been told we might
get a sandwich. This is despite the fact that we were
playing in a cafe! We hauled all the stuff in - there was
nothing there - for miles all you could see was sheep (wooly
pigs according to Stewart) and hills. The cafe was huge, and
we walked in on a family gathering - a group of about 30
around a huge big table, obviously celebrating something.
They obviously hadn't expected to hear any music, and didn't
pay us that much attention, which made us nervous.
Having heard our story from Maggie, the owner of the cafe
offered to make us some chips, and served us up a fantastic
and gorgeous meal. Food has never tasted so good. It was now
7pm, and we were glad to sit down for a minute. We started
pretty much straight away after that. They sat with their
backs to us at first, but there was nowhere to hide in a
place like this. Big open space, and lots of noise. They
clapped from the start, but gradually they started to really
listen, and by the end of the gig, we had their attention.
They were raving and shouting for more, and some were even
threatening to come to our next gig. Great result, and
another great gig.
We packed it all up again - it was now 10pm, and we were
meant to be starting our third gig at 11pm. This was
becoming unlikely, since it took another 40 mins to get
there, but we made it in time, and there was a PA set up
from Shetland's Rumshack Blues Band who had just finished
there - another good band with a bolshy attitude - super
stuff. It was just a case of setting up the drums, and
getting the guitars rigged up and off we went. The place was
called Da Mish, and we had been warned that it was like two
or three portacabins stuck together! Not quite me thinks .
Just another of Shetland's middle of nowhere bars - full of
life, and zany characters. These are often the best gigs,
and the locals were out in full force, obviously
hoping for a rock band I felt. When they didn't do much more
than clap for our first few tunes, we got the electric
guitar out and belted out a few old classics, including P.
Green's Stop Messin' around, and ZZ Top's Tush! But it was
late, they were pissed, we were tired, and anything goes
when it's like that. They were all up dancing by the end of
the night - we finished at 1am - we packed up and got home
at about 2.30am. I have never wanted my bed so much! Having
said that, we'd had a belter of a day, and enjoyed the trip
back to Lerwick, getting time to yap about the events of it
all.
I believe that Graham was given a pair of Superman Pyjamas
to wear that night, and he took a picture of himself in
them. The mission to find this picture is on, and I will
post the picture here if it is discovered!
SHMOKIN!
Got up on Sunday morning, and I avoided cigarettes and
alcohol like the plague. Considering that our gig was at
11.30pm, this was not an easy task.
In Lerwick, there were so many different things happening,
and the town was alive with people looking for music. We got
to see the Donald Anderson Band that afternoon, who were
really good.
Anyway - we went for a soundcheck at tea time, and then for
a chinese. I have to admit, I was worried, but kept the
cool, and went and got ready for action. I was well aware
that we were the second last band on - by this point, the
crowd would usually want something pretty loud lively, and
we are just not that at all.
We went on, and gave it our best shot anyway. It was only
obvious when I talked over the mic that my voice was a bit
croaky, and we went down well. Loads of people asked where
we were from, and where they could see us again. We sold 18
CDs over the weekend which was really good, considering I
forgot to mention them at all during the last two gigs we'd
done!
Needless to say, we were desperately in need of a drink - or
ten - and drink we did. We went and partied with the
locals, and relaxed for the first time all weekend. I smoked
fags to my heart was content and really enjoyed myself.
Poor helpless Graham got accosted by a crazy woman in a taxi
on the way home - she was trying to make a man out of him,
but all he wanted was home to bed in those superman
pyjamas.
McCOO AND THE PINK NOISE...
So the next day, when we went to pack up, Stewart was
already having 'a cure' in the bar at the Legion, and we
joined him. Then I heard that 'Peedie Willie' was wanting to
see us. I won't explain in too much detail who he is,
because if you don't know, you should. At 85-years old, he
is still said to be among the best guitar players around.
He's a jazzy player, and has plenty of stories to tell. He
really is a living legend - and knows Stewart from before,
so we found him in his local bar, just where they said he
would be. It really made the weekend to meet him,
particularly when he took Stewart's guitar off him and
showed us how it's done - it was pretty special.
That done, Stewart and Ian were completely hammered, so we
left them to it, and went and got on the boat for another
mammoth sailing. They did make it thankfully, and we got
home at 11pm on Monday night, all feeling the same. Ian will
forever be known as McCOO, from now on, and we will know to
keep Stewart away from chocolate in future! That's without
the brandy and port which became known as Pink Noise. You
know you're in trouble when Graham becomes the most sensible
member of the band.... We didn't actually go home
until 6am on Tuesday morning, but that's another story!
With all the good feedback we got, and good responses, we
were keen to see the press, and the radio said that we were
the highlight of the weekend, along with Lights Out by
Nine.
We made some great contacts, and met some fantastic people,
and although we were flat out all the way, we had enjoyed
the experience. It was the first time that we have all spent
a weekend together, and played several gigs on the trot as a
band. By the end of it all, we had really tightened up a
lot, and we've taken a lot of fresh ideas from it.
We will know not to do three gigs in a day ever again, and
also never to rely on planes and boats like that again, but
in all, we were delighted with our gigs, our crowds,
and the hospitality which was second to none.
Thanks to everyone concerned - and thanks to Mean Business
who made the journey down on the boat even more enjoyable.
We will definitely come back to Shetland, and
hopefully we will be welcome.
Email: leah@leahseator.com
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