I'll take the high road....Scottish Tour with Emerald Armada

I have been ever so excited about the trip to Scotland and in particular Inverness as I have never ventured that far north.  I had to set off at 7am as I arranged to meet Rob at Junction 27 of M6 in a lay bye, but my duff information had me turn right at the roundabout and lay bye was left.  I ended up parking in front of someone’s house.  I didn’t have to wait long before Rob & Kev came to fetch me. 

Sat in the back seat I was convinced that I would be asleep in no time, but alas not.  We stopped at Tebay Services which looked like a lovely country house hotel complete with pond, etc.  Food was still shite as is with most services.

We drove through the Cairngorn National Park with some breath taking scenery, lots and lots of snowy mountains and beautiful valleys.

Inverness looked really lovely.

We arrived at Hootenanny’s which is the first venue on the Scottish tour.  

It was pretty packed when we arrived but basically it was a bar with a stage.  We met the Emerald Armada who are on tour with us.

Rob was on first and played a blinding set, but unfortunately people were talking loads, so it was not ideal gigging situation.

Kev was enjoying it though!

Then came the Emerald Armada, who had a couple of really catchy tunes.  Some a bit Mumford and Sons'esq but different because you can hear the Irish accent.  They got the crowd going as I think it was probably more fitting music for pub goers on a Friday night.

Rob and Kev enjoying the Armada.

Having a little post gig chin wag

Back to the hotel for some interesting sleeping arrangements.  I grabbed the couch, whilst Kev took the bed and Rob took the pull out underneath the sleeper couch.  Safe to say Kev's head hit the pillow and he was snoring.  It was quite amusing listening to Rob complaining about the snoring.

They were up at the crack of dawn and it was another beautiful day.  Kev decided to take us to Edinburgh via Loch Ness, Fort William and Ben Nevis...in other words another 7-8 hours on the road.  

Loch Ness

Urquart Castle

Going up Nevis Range

Lovely view from the top.

Man with some seriously crazy eyebrows, I had to ask him if I could take his photo.

After some serious navigation issues, we finally managed to find tonight's venue.  Kev dropped us off and then went to park the car.

Opening act was rather weak, so weak that I can't remember the name of the duo.  Next on was Rob.

Attentive audience. 

Emerald Armada on stage.

 Some photos with the fans who drove up all the way from Hartlepool!

It was a really early finish to the gig and then Kev collected the car and we went back to hotel.  I decided to stay behind for some me time.  Ordered a pizza and some cider and watched TV after a long soak in the bath.  I was really impressed with the Edinburg Learmonth hotel as it was an old Victorian building and the rooms were HUGE.  

Rob and Kev went out for a few and came back in the early hours a little intoxicated.  I got woken up by Rob, "Kev ah for the love of God, Kev, Kev, ah stop snoring, Kev" lol it was so funny.

Up at the crack of dawn to another beautiful day and time for breakfast and a drive around the city centre before heading to Glasgow.

Edinburgh Castle

Arrived in Glasgow and I left the boys to their own devices whilst I walked down Sauchiehall Street and straight to the cinema.  I went to watch "I give it a year".

Lovely Glasgow building.

Tonight's line up:

New Town Tryptych opened up tonight and they were very good, in particular the girl singer had a really amazing voice.  The other songs and male vocals paled into comparison.

Rob doing his thing.

Then came Stu Larsen whom I saw a few weeks ago supporting Passenger at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham.  I thought he sounded a bit like Chris Martin and remember him doing a fabulous cover of "Fix You".  He was very good again.

Then came the highlight of the night.  The Emerald Armada went on stage and about 4 songs in they called Rob onto the stage and they all played a foot stomping version of "The Passage".  It was a great way to end the tour.  Pity we had to leave after that song. 

Just enough time for a quick pose with Stu Larsen.

We then hit the road and it took us about 3.5 hours to get back to my car.  I arrived home around 4am not knowing how I managed to drive those last few miles as I was falling asleep behind the wheel.  Now a few weeks off and then the start of Simon McBride support tour :-D