So, we went to Glasgow. I spent my teenage years in the suburbs, heading into the city at the weekends on the Blue Train and getting myself lost in the city centre for as many hours as I could manage to reasonably escape for.
In those days the city was not as cosmopolitan as it is now and I spent time mooching on Byres Road and Sauchiehall Street and treating myself to puff candy in Lewis's (not John Lewis). I also spent endless happy hours fondling the fabrics in the treasure trove which was Remnant Kings.
These days Glasgow city centre is much more sophisticated and I much prefer the city to the rather staid old lady which is the capital on my doorstep. We were through to go to the Proclaimers concert at the SECC. Going "through" is a linguistic peculiarity where one travels "through" from Glasgow to Edinburgh and vice versa. This is on occasion shortened to
"Are you going through?"
with no requirement for the actual destination.
We went through with enough time to go to Wagamama for tea.
Choices, choices...
We parked the car and walked the last wee bit to the concert venue. This is the new BBC Scotland building on the opposite side of the Clyde. The plum coloured lights at the top change colour which is rather striking, though I do wonder (quietly) about the lights being left on... I mean do they need to have those satellite dishes lit up all the time? Interestingly the next building but one is the STV offices, slightly smaller (but still with every light blazing)... and with MUCH smaller dishes. Perhaps a case of "mine are bigger than yours are"?
Then we walked around the Armadillo. I'm not sure if this is really what it's called, but it was beautifully lit.
This is the inside of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, a huge building used by everyone from Take That to the Knitting and Stitching Show.
You'll just have to take my word for the fact that it was brilliant!
The performance was a mixture of new and old... and "500 miles" brought the house down.
I was also hugely impressed by the security/marshalling/yellow jacketed staff. One particularly large and muscular gentleman, the sort you would not want to mess with, bore the legend "Ask Me For Assistance" which, given his size I took more as an order than a suggestion.
We were in the seated area and in the banked sections on either side of us, at two separate times, two people collapsed. Well boy did these guys move. They RAN, they had First Aid people on the scene in under a minute and they extricated the injured in almost-darkness with an expertise which was seriously impressive.
We drove home in pouring rain. I would see The Proclaimers again in a heartbeat. If you get the chance to go, grab it with both hands!
n
