Homecoming
Oran MORE, and festival fun
What to say about Thursday in Oran Mor? THANK YOU, for a start! Another absolutely brilliant audience, who made the whole experience a pure joy. There were even some repeat customers. I wasn’t anywhere near as nervous as I was in March, nor was I full of the cold. And without the pressure of another show, I had time for a few gins afterwards.
Shout out to the brilliant crew who helped make it happen, once again: Stuart Cromarty on drums; Stevie Hughes on AV; Sophie Rose McCabe as “Sandra” (tickets for Sophie’s Fringe show are currently on sale); Steven Gladman and Bob Hardy for completing my band line-up, Talking Hillheads. And of course, Oran Mor for welcoming us back.
All photographs are by Guy Hinks. Here’s a small sample of the belters he took:
We sold out the rest of Libby Walker’s beautiful “did you hear about Sylvia’s divorce?” badges, which means even more money raised for Medical Aid for Palestinians (£564 total across the three shows). Huge thanks to fellow comic Kathleen Hughes for hosting the merch stall - you can catch the very funny Kathleen at the Fringe this year, go see her! She is also doing a preview in Glasgow soon.
If you’re still after some Aileen merch, then there are a few prints and original paintings (currently on sale - be quick!) left on Libby’s website.
A new festival site in Glasgow
After a day of hibernation on Friday (takeaways for both lunch and dinner *no regrets*), I was sufficiently recuperated to attend the musicARC festival happening outside the ARC on Saturday, as part of WestFest and Glasgow Science Festival.
St Mungo Square is the second biggest square in Glasgow (soon to be the biggest, when George closes for a refurb), which meant ample room for two stages, a hydrogen generator, a solar-powered mobile recording studio, kids activities and hundreds of people. Outdoor event space in the West end comes at a premium; it’s prohibitively expensive to close roads, use parks etc. (probably why the Byres Road parade doesn’t happen any more). So it was great to see the potential of St Mungo as a new site for Big Cool Things, which are free and benefit the community.
The whole festival was powered by renewable energy: solar power via the Phonoautobothy (which also doubles as a recording studio) and hydrogen which powered the main stage. Engineers working on sustainable energy gave short talks in between the music and kids were kept busy making wind-powered cars from recycled bottle caps.
The weather mostly held up but the cagoules came out for The Burning Hell who closed the show. The band - and their Phonoautobothy - are at Mansfield Park (the square where the farmer’s market happens) in Partick on Saturday 22nd June, so if you’d like to make a free, solar-powered recording then this is your chance.
Outro
I think I have something on every single night this week. Exhausted just thinking about it.
And skint. Crawling my way towards pay day. It’s all fun though.
For some reason, ‘woman who is secretly a rat’ has become my most popular instagram reel, ever. Move over Aileen. It’s Rat Girl Summer.
My last gig before a self-imposed summer hiatus is for Material Girl at The Stand on Sunday 30 June. I went along last month and the atmosphere was lovely, Amanda and Susan have built something special. And Sunday afternoon is the perfect time for a gig, IMO. You can grab tickets at this link.
Finally got to see you! You smashed it. 🙌