Borlum review

QUOTE (JUNE @ August 19, 2007 11:59 pm)

A fantastic time had by all. We were queing for a along time and feel that for us the security men had our best interest in mind at all times. We have never been treated that well ever before at a concert.
Luckily being at the front we didnt experience any of the drunkeness.
We felt that the campsite and car parking were well organised and only fell apart due to the inclement weather which yes we all knew was coming a couple of days before but cant be predicted 6 months before when organising such a big event.
We saw a couple of tractors and farmers on site helping cars out of the mud, doing their best to help but unfortunatly couldnt help everyone at the same time which meant some people had to wait. What people must remember is that if the tractors had gone in ealier than they had they would have churned up the ground and made the conditions worst.
As far as we could see every precaution was taken by many organisations to ensure our saftey at all times. We saw many behind the scene organisations including police officers, health and saftey officers and other dept. before and after the show checking all the arrangements and assisting the security officers by checking water levels at the bridge and covering up barbed wire fences with tape etc.
Now about what we really want to be talking about THE SHOW....WHAT A SHOW
The show was fantastic and we agree with what everyone else have written about the bands, what a fantastic choice of support and in a perfect order of appearence and each and every one of them helped us get through this wet and cold day and kept our spirits high.
Was it raining when the band came on stage

we didnt notice!!! We were to caught up in the fantastic sound, lighting, back drop and positive energy coming from the stage. The surrounding hills provided natural acoustics and atmosphere.l The set list was perfect and they gave an absolutely brilliant performance which we loved every minute of. They gave everything to make it a special experience which we cant wait to repeat.

Thanks to everyone especially Runrig for a memorable night.

June Donny Annika Jessica Katie and Alice.

Well for us it was brilliant night, like June we had been in that queue for A LONG TIME..... and it was worth every second. I have to agree with all of Junes post theres nothing I can really add to it. The mud and rain just added to an unforgettable night.

Kate, Alona and Jo.

i only saw 1 or 2 that were realy drunk and a litle anoying.the thing that was (nearly swore) was all the huge umberellas in the way during most the time everyone was wet and mudy yet ppl with waterproofs stil had bloody umberellas.
sorry i am a winge(not)

still enjoyed the gig.leaving was a bit of a shambles tho

Flew up from London on Saturday with a bad cough and cold. Drove through the rain to get there and then stood in the rain and mud for hours. I would do it all again just to hear Every River. It has always been one of my favourites and Saturdays version was amazing.

Not sure Hertz will be impressed with their rental car! Really sorry some people had their days ruined by others. Big events and getting drunk seems to be the order of the day for some people now.

Can't wait for the tour. My cold might be better by October, it's certainly worse right now.

After the weekend, I have a great feeling of empti-NESS.....

Ironicaly runrig had quite a hands on approach to running this festival so a lot of your concerns should be directed at them personally. I was back stage all day and i didn't see any members of runrig until about 1 hour before they went on stage ( all nice and dry and tanned). The weather was unfortunate but it didn't seem to dampen everyones spirits(HE HE) and most of the people i spoke to ejoyed themselves despite the mud. Also i feel i must stick up for Aberfeldy as they seem to be getting a raw deal from a lot of the hardcore runrig fans.Ok they may have been a poor choice for this sort of event ( runrig fans don't stray far from the teauchter path) but runrig asked them to playbecause they wanted a bit of variety. Also they kind of saved the day as Julie Fowlis's giutarist ross martin was still in a warm pub 2 miles away 5 minutes before she was supposed to go on!! Aberfeldy rallied round and amazingly unpacked all of thier equipment and (with the expert help of the stage crew Ahem Ahem!!) managed to get on stage and play in 15 mins without a line check so cut them some slack eh? Just shows how one unprofesional folkie can cause a lot of grief for cast and crew!
Anyway i had a great time and hope to see you all next year ( ihear a heatwave is coming) i'm off for ma breakfast pie on a roll!! rock animal!!!!!

What a great weekend!

Arrived in beautiful warm evening sunshine on Friday to a dry campsite, set up the tent and headed into the EYS karaoke and met Fiery, Dotaman, Craig and Sandra. Blasted out YOTF, but thought I'd done such a bad job of it I wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of making the final 5. My friends Gary and Alison arrived so headed back to the tent and got the BBQ lit. Bumped into Fiery at about midnight, to be told by him that I'd made the final 5, but cos I wasn't there he'd got my spot!!

Rain started on Saturday morning but wasn't bad at first. Gary and Paula arrived on site about 11 and erected their "Hotel Grande" tent (which proved a god-send later on), followed by Davy, Jayne, Fiona, Rudi, Alex and Harley about 12. By this time the rain was full-on, but spirits were high, waterproofs donned, and the beverages were flowing. Headed to the arena about 3, and caught some of Aberfeldy's set. Met up with a few regulars for some good chat - Sam, John, Anne, Heather and her goldfish brolly (Mike - you softy!!), Jinty, Colin, Kate, Graeme, Mark and Tiz. If I've missed anyone out, my apologies due to my state of inebriation.

Enjoyed Wolfstone's set, first time I've seen them live since Ivan left in 1996, and although I think they're not the same without him, Stuart and Duncan do a good job of keeping the flame burning. Didn't think much of RHCP, apart from the fact I thought they were a novelty act, I mean only the Quo can pull off the syncronised moves!! A bit of a joke really with their "komedy kilts". The bimbo that was doing the comparing would've been better staying backstage applying her fake tan and drinking her Blue Nun. You're not doing the X Factor dear, so stick to your Merchant City wine bar!!

What can I say about Runrig? They were superb. Great set list, quality sound and Malky on fire (and in sensible shirt!). Brian's keyboard playing is getting better and better, and good to see he's employed a Hammond on stage. His vocals on SGTG were the best I've heard from him. Hearts brought tears to the eyes, and Clash rocked. Who was the fiddle player? She could've done with a good coat on!

There were a few drunks that tried to barge past us, and it got a bit claustrophobic, so G, A and myself moved back a bit, and it was fine from there. I was glad of the tattie soup when I got back to the campsite. My hands and feet were numb but it didn't bother me.

Was up early on Sunday morning. Tent was ditched in the bin - never again will I buy a single skin wee tent. Didn't have much bother getting the car out as I'd parked at the back of the field and got out the back exit. Was glad of breakfast and coffee at the Little Chef in Spean Bridge.

Ok, it was wet, but these things are sent to try us, and it certainly didn't spoil the occassion for me and the folk I was with.

QUOTE (rab @ August 20, 2007 10:15 am)

The bimbo that was doing the comparing would've been better staying backstage applying her fake tan and drinking her Blue Nun. You're not doing the X Factor dear, so stick to your Merchant City wine bar!!

Hi guys

I'm a newbie today on this site, although been a Runrig fan for eons. Just had to add my views re the concert on Saturday. It was absolutely fabulous. Like everyone else was soaked to the skin but it was well worth it.

Many thanks to all concerned for putting on an excellent show and I hope that this becomes a regular event. Keep up the great work.

Scraggi

The blonde bimbo is Diane Knox an MFR presenter!! Loves herself so very much and is plastered naked across the back of practically every service bus in Inverness!!

Having read all the negativity about the festival on this thread I do have to agee the organisation of it left a lot to be desired. I don't blame the police, with what resources they had they did a great job (yeah I would say that wouldn't I

). But the security failed badly. But how anybody could afford to get drunk at those prices is beyond me.
Lionel and myself were wandering around the village looking for access to the arena unaware that the only sign was at the back of the car park!

But apart from the security niggles I have to say I thought Runrig were as good as I've ever seen them - and they seemed to be enjoying themselves especially Rory. The grin on his face as the crowd were singing along was memorable.

Bruce doing Every River was superb, and Ocean Road sent a tingle up my spine.

And did anyone notice the security man standing on the road overlooking the arena, he was jumping up and down and really giving it some.

I could write all day about the concert as a whole. Forget the negative views on here, if you didn't go I think you missed a great gig.

And as for the rain - well it happens doesn't it

QUOTE (realconon @ August 19, 2007 06:35 pm)

My only down was I couldn't find Martina!!

I found her, she was at the bus station in Inverness at 11.30am

QUOTE (realconon @ August 20, 2007 11:09 am)

The blonde bimbo is Diane Knox an MFR presenter!! Loves herself so very much and is plastered naked across the back of practically every service bus in Inverness!!

Really? That's it I'm heading to Ness lol!

Anyway hearing you lot moaning about the weather - our bus broke down halfway back to Inverness

2.30am I got back to my guest house

Then up at 7am for breakfast and the drive back to the West Midlands, AND got stuck in slow traffic for seventy miles on the M6

Just to say, what a fantastic weekend we had! The Friday night campsite karaoke/ceilidh was a blast. Achnasheen Airport had the place bouncing and I hope that they release the "previously-unseen footage" shown behind the stage of Runrig in New York at some point.

As for Saturday, made it to the venue just after 2:30. Congrats to the organisers for getting the queues moving quickly. Missed most of Torridon due to queuing to order my Beat the Dram whisky in the Fanzone tent from Mike. Sounded good though. Enjoyed Vatersay Boys. I saw Aberfeldy in a small gig in Edinburgh last year and they were very good but I agree that they're not the sort of band to have an impact on a day like this. We took a breather during Julie Fowlis and GBS, sheltering in the Fanzone tent with some Taliskers to heat us up and recharge for later!

As for Runrig - definitely one of if not THE most professional performances I've seen in almost 20 years. The stage was fantastic and great idea having the 2 big screens...something lacking all those years ago at Loch Lomond. Highlights were the techo version of the Engine Room and new arrangement of Pride of the Summer ("We stopped for a rest on the banks of the Ness"...nice touch!). It's on the souvenir DVD along with a message from the band, a montage of clips from the day and the video for Clash of the Ash.

No negative experiences apart from the weather (obviously!) and a soggy sleeping bag. Saw some drunk people but no nastiness. Most people appeared to accept the weather and make the best of it.

Sorry some people didn't have as good a day out but don't let it put you off. Saturday's weather was pretty out of the ordinary, even for Drumnadrochit! Well done guys!

Cutter