Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Dancing On The Tables
by Russell Turner - 15:00 on 25 June 2017
City Limits returned to the stage on Friday at the Cairn Hotel in Carrbridge – possibly the smallest venue we’ve played. Maybe it’s just as well that Jenna’s still on maternity leave. The place is more a pub and restaurant with rooms than a hotel, an old place in the middle of the village, filled with tourists and locals when we arrived.
Fortunately, after the pool table had been pushed to the side and we’d squeezed a reduced PA and cut-down drum kit into a corner of the main room, it stayed that way. The standing crowd was appreciative but undemonstrative – it’s hard to clap with a pint in your hand; the seated one, behind them, made more noise.
Most appreciative was one of three women who stared at Keith with undisguised invitation for much of the set. They didn’t stay for the second set, perhaps because our happily married guitar hero kept well clear of her.
The second set went down even better. That a drink or two had been taken probably helped, and also explained the shirtlessness of a couple of the punters (male) dancing on the tables at the end. Playing the Scottish card with Caledonia and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) doubtless helped too.
Landlady Norma was a happy hostess at the end of the evening, especially as she’d already booked us for Hogmanay on the recommendation of a regular who saw us in Foxes. It will be a great night.
I was home around 2.30am, with the first light already in the sky, but had no time to laze on Saturday – a day spent taking open garden photos for Chatterbox in Rosemarkie and Fortrose before meeting up with Keith and Duncan at 4.30pm for another Transit trip, this time to RAF Lossiemouth where City Limits Lite was one of the attractions at the Summer Ball. Others included laser shooting, bucking bronco and a piano bar. No face painting though.
So a night of dress uniforms and glamorous frocks followed the traditional route of a quiet start and a raucous finish with a stage invasion by two female would-be singers, one of whom displayed some impressive dirty dancing in front of Keith who struggled manfully through the solo to Sweet Child Of Mine. He’s a pro. Shame there were no cameras to capture the moment.
Gyrating and air guitar-playing officers were also a sight to behold. Good job there were no lower ranks to observe them.
A bonus was an enquiry about us playing at a wedding, which partly compensated for an arrival back home at 3.30am, although I spent a further twenty minutes in the garden watching two hedgehogs cavorting on the lawn. Whether their dodgem car-style charges were tussling or courting I don’t know, but they were engrossed enough for me to stand ten feet away without bothering them.
We’ve two more gigs next weekend: Foxes on Friday and a wedding on Saturday. Jenna’s back home now so all being well her maternity leave will be over by then. If she’s not we may have to call on Keith’s dirty dancer.
ELO update: Someone posted this to Facebook recently. I'll see the band on Wednesday in Glasgow with my stand-in wife (Mrs Tweedy) and her husband (Mr Tweedy). Can't wait!
Add your comment
© Russell Turner 2008-2024