Hah hah hah brilliant! That's gotta be the most honest and down to earth review I've ever seen heh ehh. And the description of the over-hyped "chilli pipers" couldn't be more right!

Actually, I laughed so much I think it's cured my beast of a hangover!

Brilliant review (unlike the one in the Sunday Mail!!).

Hello folks.

I'm Andrew Dunn, one of the writers on Shovelling Smoke, that music blog whose review was linked. Glad to see some like-minded people around, and very glad that you enjoyed the review. It was just such a fantastic experience that I had to put it all into writing somehow, and not just the festival, but the whole rigmarole surrounding it.

Thanks for the compliments, once again.

Three cheers for ANDREW DUNN!

Hip hip...hooray!
Hip hip...hooray!
Hip hip...hooray!

I second that!

Great bit of writing, Andrew. Wit and perception. Stick around!

rig

PS: do you really look like your pic on the site?
If so, may have seen you there.

Andrew a big Highland welcome to you, and thanks for such a funny read!!! Great to see that some reviewers are like us and LOVE RUNRIG!!!

Hah, no, that's not me at all. I'm Lewis born and bred. If you were keeping up with the news over the past few months, you may have seen that fellow, though... Don't ask me why I used his picture, I don't rightly know myself.

Incidentally, if any of you know where I could lay my grasping teuchter hands on a Beat the Drum festival t-shirt, I'd be very grateful. They'd run out by the time I went to the merchandising stalls at the end of the day.

That's a relief - you had me worried!

Can't help with the shirt, though - didn't manage to get one myself either.

Shame... It seems wrong to have been to such an event and not have anything to show for it.

I have a pair of muddy hiking boots to remind me of the event, oh and a Borlum Beat The Drum T-Shirt!!!

If you get in touch with the office you might find they still have some left for sale. There was word that the Shinty shirts were going out on the online shop soon, so maybe the BTD one too!!

Brilliant review Andrew...I still have mud on my car a week later...that Drumnadrochit mud is hard stuff to get off...the car wash in Morrisons in Inverness the following day was pretty busy

Oh, I brought a lot of Scottish mud with me back here to Denmark!!
On my boots and raincloth!!
I think I will grow tatties in it!
And then I will have a good harvest that reminds me of a day in the Highlands!!




Mette the tattiesfarmer!

Andrew you're review was excellent mate.
Borlum was my sons 1st Runrig gig and he loved it!
He's used to the rain as he hails from Wales.
He hasn't stopped listening to Runrig since the gig.
Tempted to go to Newcastle in October.
Would i do it all again - of course, great music, great people!
I spent some time in the Blas tent listening to the Ceildh bands- fantastic.

Hey!

We are also use to rain here in Denmark!
And it always rains when I`ve been to Runrig Gigs here!! I believe the guys have some kind of Rain-magnet, ha,ha!!

But I would admit that I was hoping for a day like "Day Of Days"!
But....That wasn`t the way the weather desides to be on that day, and so be it!

We got a lot of good soil to bring home, ha, ha!!


Mette!!

My son loves them, too!! He`s only 12 and had loved the guys since he was 9!!

Got to add my bit. Had a great time, arrived from 2 weeks on Raasay, from the south direction and no hold up at all, put my tent up, and then went looking for others, who I found in a bar just before they were about to leave. Nice to meet you Tiz, Fraoch, Annie, Jinty + man, and others whose names I can't remember. Spent AGES queuing for the loo, and then a hot drink, and then could,nt find any of you after. So wormed my way as far to the front as I could get (still not too close though), and waited patiently through the support bands, thought Julie Fowlis and Wolfstone were very good. But Runrig were definitely great, well worth the wet wait for, and I agree with the lady who said Bruce is so SEXY!! Pity they didn't go on singing for much longer!

After the long slow trek back to the campsite, I had a reasonably good night's sleep, from what had been written on here before, I was expecting loads of noisy singing all through the night, but it was very quiet, apart from the generator providing the lights all around the field making a noise all night! Had no trouble getting out of the campsite on Sunday morning.

But I must admit that I preferred seeing the band at the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway in July 2005 - not as big (about 5000?) in an enormous tent, although the weather was wonderful, with a lovely pink sunset sky that evening. Maybe it was just because it was the first time I'd seen them at an outdoor gig.

Looking forward to seeing them again at Basingstoke in October (indoors, definitely not so many people!).

Frances