planet vegan scotland

so, i lied about more mills. i mean, there are more mills, but i never did wrote that blog post. so, anyway, amy and i went to see mumford & sons at the ABC (i think it’s prefixed by O2 or something pish these days). because of the way the space is laid out, we were pretty far back where the bar section is raised slightly. the best photo i could get looks like this:

they were brilliant. beautiful, technical and charming, their performance can’t be criticised. they covered their most popular material and introduced some new songs, while bringing in some old material for their encore. the only thing is this gig revealed to me why i don’t like going to them anymore: other people.

i did my time going to see bands where i was either alone or with a small group of teenage girls in a room of middle-aged men in leather jackets and tennis shoes. not always pretty, the venues of my youth were a proving ground for gig etiquette – my mum is a pretty cautious soul but let me go out pretty much as i pleased because someone always waited for me to be picked up afterwards. it wasn’t child-friendly, but it was friendly and respectful.

so, anyway, gigs these days… teenagers these days… jeez, what can i say? people pushing their way in front of each other, hollering mid-song and waving their arms around in everyone else’s faces? ah, it weren’t like that when i was a lass, i can tell you. but seriously, there is just no bloody etiquette these days. it’s all me, me, me: “i want the best view,” “i want to enjoy myself,” “it’s my right to do as i please.” what about everyone else who paid exactly the same amount for their ticket? what about the band, the artist? “nah, let’s clap loudly through every song, regardless of its tone or tempo, and cheer loudly during reflective instrumentals, because they should feel honoured that we’re here to see them even if we don’t value their creation.” frustrated, much?

so, i’ll end this with a photo of my city on a still night:

listening: the eiffel tower and the BT tower by the voluntary butler scheme