What The Doctor Ordered

Image: Fat Sam’s

Those two days off were badly needed. There comes a time when the only thing that can help me unwind is a stonking gig from a great band, so the Stiff Little Fingers annual kick-up in the Glasgow Barrowland on St. Patrick’s Day came at just the right time. Hair fully let down and brain suitably numbed, I can now return to normality feeling like me again.

I arrived in Glasgow around lunchtime on Wednesday and headed straight for my sister’s flat on the south side. After a great lunch of filled rolls, we spent the day catching up, listening to some tunes and drinking Guinness.

The day passed quickly, though, and soon we were in a taxi bound for the Barrowland on Glasgow’s Gallowgate, unchanged in any way over the past 50 years, which makes it perfect for an annual celebration that has been going now for the past 19 years.

Stiff Little Fingers were told two decades ago they could have the venue on this night for as long as they wanted it, and it’s still as popular with their hard-core followers as it is for the mere musically intrigued. It’s not a place for the faint hearted, though, as the people that make up this audience are largely a bunch of nutcases who absolutely love the Fingers. I seem to fit right in.

It was a great gig. They played all the songs I wanted to hear, Suspect Device and Strummerville being my top two, but they also played a couple of new numbers so it looks like a rumoured new album could be about to come true.

After the gig we headed home. I had my customary Donner Kebab and Irn-Bru, watched an episode or two of The West Wing, and was in bed by 2am.

Yesterday I felt fully rejuvenated after a lengthy sleep and trip along to our favourite local eatery, Ludovic’s cafe. Their all-day breakfasts are a joy to behold and their freshly ground coffee sublime. I miss the old place they had—it was much smaller and bijou in comparison—but financial progress and diversification hasn’t in any way hampered their ability to deliver top class fry ups to Glasgow’s hungry punk and ska loving patrons.

Back home to Leith by Scotrail and taxi (I’ll be back in Glasgow on Sunday for the Cup Final), my mind turned to writing the gig review of the night before. I had a lot of it mentally written already so it didn’t take long to get it down and submitted to the paper. Hopefully they will have room for it in the Sunday edition. I’ll keep you posted. It’s my first review in a little while due to various reasons, but it could be my first of two this month alone.

Peace, out!