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Ted Buckleys view - Blackburn

And now to The Last Night (of the UK leg of the tour). Blackburn, last night. What can I say? The scene was set by a couple of Riggies down from Edinburgh (hi Malla & Scott), who arrived Friday night, so much RR music had been played, in between a visit to Blackpool, in the rain! The first rain for two weeks. Off we went to King Georges Hall full of the usual excitement, and Duncan & Ivan did their bit. As excellent as York, but several set changes, as far as I can recall. The audience were quieter than at York, and the theatre was not as full, and I thought, oh dear, surely the last night's not going to be a let-down for the lads.

Prior to the concert, I had given out directions / parking instructions to several other Listers, so it was great to meet folk at the interval. So hi to Liz & Barry, and to the (in)famous Becky & Martin! I was even asked to sign their flag! And not forgetting Judith from down the road at Darwen.The security guards allowed those who wanted to, to stand in the quite spacious area between the front row and the stage, and the numbers were about right, not too cramped, but plenty of atmosphere. The stage was elevated, so those standing would not block the view, even from the front row. Of course, just about everyone downstairs stood up as soon as the Band came on. I was told by friends upstairs that by this time the hall was completely full. On the smallish gallery, there were quite a few empty seats, so I guess anyone downstairs who didn't want to stand could have made their way up there.

Folk lead to other folk, so also hi to Jersey Martin, Skyeman, and his two lassies, one of whom said 'so you're Ted' much to my wife Elaine's puzzlement!! That was a story, one of the lassies, a red-haired one, was at her first concert, and sported a huge sash with 'Runrig Virgin' emblazoned accross it. Apparently she had been listening to albums for weeks learning the words, and scored 19 / 20 in a test she had been set!! Pretty impressive, better than me I should think!

The set-list was as at York. The band played with gusto, it was marvellous, and the crowd rose to the occasion. The sound glitches apparent at York had been ironed out, although the engineers still had to mess with Iain's drum set occasionally. Calum had had plenty of practise(!), so didn't drop a drum stick during a frenetic Neil's Barn, and Red Iain's Lament was in tune this time from the first note. Most significantly, Malc's pipes on the intro to The Message came thru loud and clear, at just the right level, and at just the right moment. That's the first time I have witnessed that done so perfectly. Running to the Light was first class, with Duncan playing his electric violin almost throughout. Bruce stretched out May Morning even longer, by getting alternate choruses going between the women and the men. He even had us singing some lines from Siol Ghoraidh at some stage! Leaving Strathconon went off very well, with half a dozen by us, including Skyeman, and his virgin, performing a dance routine that would have graced Pam's People (remember them?!) But why the cloth caps, guys, was this an allusion to the shipyards and the mines? All I managed was a few reels wife friend Fiona in Dance Called America, to the security guard's consternation! Reels? At a rock concert? You should have seen his face during LL!!

Young Brian's getting more confident - during Neil's Barn, with only Calum, Iain, and Malc on stage, he left his own kit, and popped up first on Iain's drum set, then a few minutes later on Calum's! Oh, for those from over the Pond, the current positional line-up is, front row, left to right, Rory, Bruce, & Malc, then behind, Calum, Iain,& Brian. Just before the first interval, Ivan came on carrying a tray containing rather large whisky tumblers for all the Band, and said a few words in thanks for the terrific time they'd had over the last 10 days. That was the last we saw of them - no Ivan in Summer Walkers, and no Duncan in Red Iain, so doubtless they were already on their way home to Scotland. We were told that Bruce was to fly off to Canada at 9am the very next morning!

When Bruce & Rory came back on alone to sing Summer Walkers, Bruce first finished his own whisky, then made a show of pouring most of Calum's glass into his own!!

And so to the finale, LL & BOGS. Brian sung his line much more confidently than at York - a good voice is coming on here, believe me. Rory gave a little speech, in which he said that it was only the second time RR had been to Blackburn (& Bruce's first) but they couldn't wait to return, we had been such a good audience. It appeared heartfelt, too. That was very satisfying.

And the red-haired Runrig virgin? Well from the broad smile on her face, she thoroughly enjoyed losing her...er...experiencing her first concert. Even Bruce got the message, striding over with a big grin, and holding up one finger. Doubtless he had that line from The Ship in mind 'You take your chances with.....' (Look it up!) When the reviews have died down, and the ArdList is scratching around once more, how about a feature entitled 'My First Concert'?

So that was it. We drove the three miles home exhausted, wringing wet (no air-con) but very, very happy. Some other Riggies came back too for beer & pizzas, and on went first the Koln Xmas concert, then AAA2, so it must have been near on 3am before nine tired but happy Riggies dispersed.

And the First Anniversary? Bruce told us that it was 12 months to the day, 18th May 2001, that Brian played his first gig! Isn't it so incredible how fast time flies? The Xmas tour is just around the corner, folks!

Bye for now, and congrats to Anne once more