SNOG IN THE PARK – PART 3

Iain MacPhail continues with tales of the road, in the build-up to T in the Park this coming weekend. Warning: this blog contains images of a stretched limo nature.

We got a surprise sneak preview of our stage at T in the Park on Saturday, just past. We had a gig near Aberdeen on Saturday, and we stopped at Kinross services on the way up ... only to see in the distance that our tent and stage for next Sunday’s performance had already gone up!

Paying for the petrol, we remarked to the older lady behind the counter that next weekend 'might be a busy one', given Kinross Services are about all that is nearby the festival campsite. In particular, I bet they sell half a year’s worth of fags and Monster Munches in those 3 days.

The lady just looked back at us. It was a vaguely haunted look that suggested she had asked for a holiday next weekend, because she knew what would be coming. But it was also a look that suggested her boss had turned down her request on the grounds that all leave is cancelled because he/she knows exactly what’s coming their way too. 'We’ll see some sights, do you want a VAT receipt?' was all the lady said. And so we were gone, for a week at least.

The place we were gigging at this past weekend was called Edzell – a world removed from the 85,000 sell-out festival we’re playing at next weekend, in many respects. However, being in the band, you get to see a lot of places you otherwise wouldn’t experience (in particular a lot of castles, and private events in the homes/estates of the rich and famous – if you're at all nosey and/or judgemental, it's a pretty dream job really).

We liked Edzell. I like playing the game where you visit somewhere and you have to describe what that place would be if it was a colour or if it was an emotion. It can be a lot of fun. For example, if Fairmilehead was an emotion it would be smug (on account of having more pampas grass than Argentina). If Fairmilehead was a colour I suspect it might be magnolia. But Edzell was different. If Edzell was a colour it would be like good-quality Harris Tweed. If Edzell was an emotion it would be stoical. We liked it. It was somehow reassuringly posh, and yet unchanged from the days of Culloden.

On these trips, and the overseas ones we’ve been lucky to get, you end up spending a long time together with the rest of the band, and our dancers too when they're involved. Most people who encounter us tend to remark on how well everyone gets on, and how much fun we seem to all have together. We have a great group and the dynamics are excellent, with everyone really doing this because they enjoy it, because they like the opportunity to be creative and to do something different and modern with our rich traditional cultural inheritance. In short, it’s a lot of fun!

However, saying that, we have a few younger members of the group who come from all parts of the Highlands, from Newtonmore to Tain to Killin. Some of the conversations we overhear from the young Teuchters in the group are quite a window on the world today. One recent one went as follows:

'Where were you last week?'
'I went to Gala.'
'What, you went to the bingo?'
'No, ya divot, Gala’s a place.'
'Dinnae be silly, it’s a bingo hall, everyone knows that.'
'I’m telling you, it’s a place, it’s in the Borders.'
'Dinnae be daft, no it’s no. Next you’ll be telling me Mecca’s a place an’ aw.'

Good people of Broughton, you have to believe me: I really wish I was making this stuff up, but unfortunately it is horribly all too real!!!

Keep checking the Spurtle this week for more from us in the build-up to TITP.  You can also keep up to speed with the band on Facebook.

Whisky Kiss play the Ceilidh Tent at T in the Park on Sunday 10 July, 5– 7pm.