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Adams View - Day of Days

 

Day of Days, the fourth live album from Runrig, had as much of a statement to make as the first, Once in a Lifetime. That album was about saying "here we are, you'll be hearing more from us", and Day of Days is the coda to this, with the opening swathes of Going Home and Hearthammer saying "we told you so, you heard more from us and we aren't stopping for anything."

OIAL's striking quality was its sheer vibrancy and raw power. In the intervening time period Runrig have endured a great deal of turbulence, so this time the concert's edge had a definitive air of relaxation and flexibility, perhaps most notable in the fluidity of Malcolm Jones' guitaring, which is a contrast to the clinical yet no less moving performances of Stirling Castle 1997 and before. Runrig were doing exactly what they had done before, only this time it seemed more effortless.

The CD opens with Going Home, not normally used as a show-opener but highly effective nonetheless. It was the penultimate song of Donnie's Stirling gig in 1997, and Bruce's arguably more haunting rendition of it here was a way of picking up where Runrig had left off the last time they played Stirling.

Malcolm Jones is an expert at blending between songs, and the weaving of Going Home into the booming speed of Hearthammer shows this brilliantly, with the guitar and drums signalling the stirrings of a roaring concert with a roaring song, their first top 25 hit way back in 1991.

The songs that follow have been tried and proven successful in live situations many times before. Big Sky, for example, has always sounded good live, but like every other 'older' song on the Proterra-born Day of Days a newcomer to the Runrig scene could have been forgiven for thinking this was the first time any of them had been played, such was the freshness of their sound. Again, Malcolm Jones seemed on top form, practically stealing the show.

This was the first live album with Brian Hurren behind the keyboards and he has already arguably unseated his parliamentary predeccessor in terms of stamping his mark on some songs from the In Search of Angels era. The opening to Maymorning seems to have Hurren stamped all over it, while his intro to Siol Ghoraidh did justice to Pete Wishart's various experimentations over the years.

The Stamping Ground and Running to the Light spoke for the album that came before Proterra. TSG was the true point at which Runrig re-ignited, and their performance on this night symbolised that very message- that the spark was as bright as it had been when they found that drive again in 2001.

Perhaps the most unusual thing about Day of Days is the inclusion of a ten minute Maymorning, unedited so as to keep the band introductions and a fun Gaelic lesson with the 8,000 strong crowd in. The effect is a fitting tribute to the added fun and energy brought to the band by Bruce Guthro, and carries the concert's best statement on the band's composition and longevity, also capturing the fun and celebratory mood that Gaelic culture involves, which is highlighted superbly by A Reiteach as one of three bonus acoustic tracks, which come after an emotional Book of Golden Stories, on which Brian Hurren's vocal cords once again get a splendid airing.

When Runrig toured for the first few times after 1997, they called it The Next Stage tour. Had they not used this tagline then, it could easily have been placed under this event and upon this CD. Instead, though, "The Next Era" will more than suffice.

Adam