Blog update: Glasgow, King Tut's, Thrum and all that ...

If any of my reader (hi Mum!) has been wondering just what has happened to this blog over the past couple of months, then let me assure/warn you that my prolonged period of inactivity is just as likely now over. I say “just as likely” because in all reality, I really can’t be sure!

What I can say for certain is that since my last post here, life has certainly been busy – August and September being months that found me (and my family of five) completing a 25,000-mile round trip across the globe, or more specifically to Scotland and back. I probably could have carried on posting up the odd piece here and there, but frankly life is too short and as one of the heroes of my misspent youth once famously said ... “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it” (thanks Ferris, sage advice, as ever).

So anyway, given that this entire blog has been about music so far (though I do intend to expand those limited horizons at some point in the not too distant future) it would be remiss of me not to mention the one music-related highlight of the aforementioned trip:

Rewind: King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – St Vincent Street, Glasgow, circa 1994 – my beloved and I witness a smashing gig by local outfit Thrum, a country/indie band of some repute. Thrum, magnificently fronted by the talented (and somewhat gorgeous) Monica Queen, had - at that point - developed a strong following on the back of a successful single, ‘So Glad’, and my soon-to-be-wife and I counted ourselves as definite converts. Not long after that gig, we married, moved to New Zealand, lost touch with Glasgow and its vibrant music scene, and heard no more from Thrum.

As it turned out, Thrum broke up around 1995, Monica went on to work for the likes of Belle & Sebastian and Snow Patrol ... and then, some 16 or 17 years later ... Thrum reformed.

Fast Forward: King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, 10 September 2011 – my beloved and I were celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary with a night out in Glasgow, and thanks to the marvels of the internet we found ourselves pre-warned and armed with tickets for a Thrum gig at the very same venue we’d caught the band at 17 years earlier! We were late in arriving thanks to over-indulging in the delights of old friends and a Turkish restaurant down the road, but we still caught the rousing finale, still heard ‘So Glad’ again after all these years, and if anything, the band – and Monica’s voice – sounded better than either of us could recall.

Our evening was complete when I caught up with a few more old friends at The Griffin (a pub round the corner) and the lovely Manuelle (hi darling!) and I then stayed the night (as guests) at the very hotel we had originally met at as workmates (The Marriott on Argyle Street) all those years ago ...

Small things and all that ... a series of coincidences, some planned, some just spooky, but it was a great night of nostalgia for both of us, and definitely one of the highlights of a great stay in Scotland.