IF CARLSBERG DID WEEKENDS........

The three-day period from Saturday 7th – Monday 9th August 2010 will go down in history as one of the most momentous in my time on Planet Earth. Please bear with me as I share the details:-

1. Raith Rovers v Partick Thistle
3pm on the opening day of the new league season. I’m in my usual seat in the stand watching my beloved Rovers really unsure about what the next 90 minutes holds, nor indeed how the entire season will pan out. Last time round, the team surpassed the expectations of probably every single supporter, more than holding their own in a competitive division and reaching the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. But as every football fan the world over knows, what happened last season is usually a total irrelevance when the new one comes around. And in Partick Thistle, we were playing a team that a few pundits have quoted as being there or thereabouts when the title is decided come May 2011. Rovers?? The pundits have us in 7th or 8th place for the most part.

4.45pm on the opening day of the season. I’m out of my usual seat in the stand jumping around high-fiving Jacques the Kipper stunned at what I’ve just witnessed. A 4-0 win which sees the Rovers go top of the league. What do pundits know eh?

Surely the weekend doesn’t get any better than this…….

2. Geordie Munrovers FC v The World

Another day, more football in Fife.

This time I’m standing at the side of a public park watching a team made of Raith Rovers supporters give their all in aid of a charitable cause that is really close to me.

They are raising money for Leukaemia Research by playing four 90-minute matches back-to-back against four different teams. They’re doing this cos a really good mate of mine, who is a former Raith Rovers player, is battling back from the disease which threatened to take his life at the age off 44. My mate, who had a bone marrow transplant last September and is doing well in his recovery but still has a long way to go, is standing beside me and we are accompanied by my mate’s 19 year old son (and my godson) who has been blind and in a wheelchair since the age of 5 after a medical procedure went tragically wrong. The Rovers supporters have already been playing football for 4 ½ hours on a hot and sunny day.

They kicked-off their last match just as we arrived. Most of them were in agony, suffering from cramp, muscle strains, blisters and bruises. It looks as if it is a game too far as they reach half-time 4-2 behind. My mate gives them a few words of encouragement and tells them how grateful he is for all they are doing and that even when he was at his fittest as a professional football player, he could never have done what they were doing. The word he kept using to then was ‘phenomenal.’

Whether it was those words or whether it was the fact that they knew this was the final game, the Rovers supporters clawed their way back into the game and eventually took a 5-4 lead with about 10 minutes to go. And they defended like they have never defended before. Every one of them gave their all and when that final whistle went with no further addition to the score, I shouted and clapped as loudly as I had done just 24 hours earlier.

The boys set out hoping top raise maybe £500 with £1000 being as much as they dreamed of. At last count it was nearer £2500…..

Phenomenal is nowhere near enough to describe what these boys achieved. But it will have to do for now.

Surely the weekend doesn’t get any better than this…….

3. Wow…..I Can’t Believe This Is Happening

Four hours later, I’m in CaVa Studios in Glasgow and I’ve just had the privilege on hearing the playback of the new LP by Butcher Boy – a record which had only just been completed around the same time I was standing in the public park. Some of the band members are there along with the studio engineers. There’s a few spouse/girlfriends/boyfriends and at least one mother in the 16-strong gathering. I’m there because the band have given me the opportunity as a wee thank you for all the positive things I’ve said about them in time gone by.

Anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that even though I was in an environment where it wouldn’t have been easy to offer some negative thoughts about what I’d just heard, I’m not the sort who shirks away from confrontation. If I hadn’t liked the new stuff, I would have said so…..

But I’m again clapping as loudly as I had done at the two football events. Only the intimacy of the setting stops me shouting and demanding high fives.

Ten songs and two instrumentals that lasted somewhere in the region of 50 minutes. Every single one of which was quite stunning.

This is a record that will blow you away. It’s a huge leap forwards from their first two LPs, both of which were outstanding.

This time round, the string sections get more prominence, while there’s even a hint of beautifully understated guitar and keyboard solos. One of the songs even opens up with a brief bit of drumming that reminded me of Ballroom Blitz by 70s glam rockers The Sweet…..

Many of the songs had sections that I can’t wait to hear in a live setting for they will afford the band the opportunity to show how brilliantly accomplished they are. I’m almost tempted to say it will allow them to rock out as that is taking a wee bit too far – but hopefully you’ll get my drift.
The thing that stood out most however was just how more confident John Blain Hunt was in his vocal delivery. I’ve always reckoned he’s had an astonishing voice – a past review of a live gig said there were hints of Bryan Ferry, Lloyd Cole, Stuart Staples and Paul Quinn in his singing.

And without wanting to take any of that back, I reckon its now worth saying that on the evidence of this LP, John is as fine a vocalist as any of the fab four mentioned in the previous sentence…..and TVV readers of old will hopefully recognise that there is no higher praise that I can offer.

The new LP will hopefully be released in early 2011. It’s a shocking state of affairs that Butcher Boy don’t have a label. The band members have paid for the studio time and production/engineering costs out of their own pockets and all took time away from their day jobs to work on the record. This is a piece of work that deserves some serious promotion to take it to as wide an audience as possible so that Butcher Boy get the kudos and acclaim they are long-overdue.

Oh and if you’re lucky enough to have got your hands on a ticket for the Belle & Sebastian gig at Glasgow Barrowlands on 21st December, then make sure you don’t miss the support act……you’ll be among the first to hear these new songs played in a live setting.

4. When Imaginary Friends Become Real

I didn’t sleep much on Sunday night – I was still on a high from all that had happened over the weekend. But it was also the fact I was tingling with anticipation about Monday morning……

9am. I’m not at work. Instead I’m in the foyer of a Glasgow hotel waiting to meet someone who up until now has been an imaginary friend – well that’s the phrase I give to members of the blogging community the world over until I finally meet them in the flesh.

Past imaginary friends who are now very real friends include Colin, Liz, FiL, Drew, Matthew, Ed, Son of The Rock, Jeff in Chicago and ANCB, some of whom are past and current bloggers and some of whom are folk who leave behind the occasional comment at TVV.

But I’m now waiting to meet Trish whose voice I know very well thanks to her participation in the Contrast Podcast series and who has been a long-time reader of TVV as she is on the final leg of a two-week vacation in the UK along with her other half and four kids. And just as on every other occasion when an imaginary friend stands on the cusp of being re-designated, I’m as nervous as a kitten in a room filled with teenagers possessing ASBOs.

But just as on every other occasion when I’ve met an imaginary friend, I needn’t have worried as Tricia, just like everyone else, turns out to be more charming and friendly than I had dared imagine. And her other half and her four kids, aged 6-12, are equally wonderful.

We have a blast over the next 11 hours. I showed them some of my favourite bits of Glasgow, all the while bearing in mind that part of the fun is keeping the kids amused and safe from roaring traffic that they’re not totally accustomed to. We wander round the West End of Glasgow, visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, eat ice-cream at the University Café in Byres Road, dodge a heavy rain shower by riding the subway, do a bit of shopping in the city centre (the girls go to the fashion stores while the boys go to a sports shop), have lunch in a pub where the kids are made welcome and walk miles along the River Clyde taking in all the changes and improvements brought in over the past 15 years before taking the subway back to their hotel. All the while we are talking and talking and talking about the important things in life, some of which, but not all, centred around music.

Later on, the kids and dad went one way while I took Trish on a whistle-stop tour of some of the famous musical sites in Glasgow that we hadn’t already seen during the earlier meanderings.

Being fans of Frightened Rabbit, we went to The Captain’s Rest, scene of the recording of their live LP. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day for some minor refurbishment.

Nevermind, we can go round the corner to West Princes Street and stand outside the tenement close where Postcard Records were founded. Only to discover that the building in question is behind all sorts of scaffolding and the number to the close is obscured…..

But we more than made up for it when we got to King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. Not only did we bond over a bottle of wine and shared all sorts of musical memories, but we went upstairs to the actual concert venue where Trish was able to get her photo taken on the actual stage in front of the famous backdrop.

From there we paid a visit to Stereo and then the Flying Duck, scene of TVV’s lame efforts at being a DJ. Not a bad runaround in just over 90 minutes…..

So that’s me got another real in-the-flesh friend who has evolved from what is a big list out there in cyberspace. Hopefully, there’s many more who will also evolve in the months and years ahead.

And that dear readers, is how the three days panned out. And I haven't factored in that it was also a period when a number of readers got back to me with an mp3 of the Kid Jensen session version of Wonderful Woman by The Smiths after the latest posting in the new Saturday series.

Kind of makes up a tiny bit for the rough few days a few weeks back……

Oh, but it was a real comedown being back at work on the Tuesday, but I did have the consolation of hooking back up with Trish and the family on their last night in the UK. She’ll now be going home with both Butcher Boy LPs in her luggage, as well as some books, including a copy of Grace Maxwell's fantastic tale of how Edwyn fell but laughed his way back from death's door. It was the least I could do to round off a damn near perfect few days.

Only seems appropriate to leave you today with these tunes:-

mp3 : James - Goal Goal Goal
mp3 : Aztec Camera - Phenomenal World
mp3 : The Field Mice - Fabulous Friend

And while I dont have a copy of the new Butcher Boy LP to share with you (and even if I did there is no way I would dream of leaking anything onto the internet), here is something which has been adapted to make its way onto the new record:-



While here is a promo of a song from their second LP:-



And if you dont already have either Butcher Boy LP, do yourself a big favour and visit here where you will pick them up for £5 plus postage.

Happy Listening