Midges
of Rock
(Live
Appearance,
1983)
Collector's
Item : A
genuine
hand
made
original
unnumbered
ticket
for the
Midges
of Rock
83,
"Designed"
by CJ -
or was
it
Wattie?
Personnel:
Derek (Brue
Cornwell)
Macleod
:
(Vocals)
Roddy
(Got any
Plectrums?)
Huggan :
(Vocals,
Guitar)
Ken (The
Cozy of
Cac, The
Paice of
P**s)
Livingstone
:
(Toilet
Pan
Drums)
Alasdair
(Bod)
Mackay :
(Guitar,
Bass)
Iain
(Liberace)
Livingstone
:
(Zing-pop's
Casio VL-tone,
Bass)
Unless
you
believe
that the
Guireans
really
were at
the
1982
Winter
Feis, this
is their
only gig
of the
20th
century,
not to
be
repeated
until
the
alleged
"Deadstone
&
Fiona's
Wedding"
incident
of July
2001.
AGOFR
impresario
Wattie
and his
henchmen
had been
running
the
"Midges
of Rock"
festival
in the
Scout
Hall
since
1981,
and for
some
reason
someone
(probably
Huggan,
who was
also
playing
there
with the
notorious
Cyclefoot),
decided
it would
be a
good
idea for
the
Sandwick
maws to
come to
Town and
show
these
city
slickers
what
AGOFR
was
really
about.
The
Guireans
arrived
fresh
from
recording
"Olacs
Volume
79",
not the
most
immediately
accessible
of their
masterpieces,
and
proceeded
to play
it
pretty
much all
the way
through.
Portcullis's
History
of AGOFR levels
the
accusation
that all
the
Guireans
songs at
this
gig included
15-minute
solos.
This was
scoffed
at by
the
Guireans
themselves
in later
years,
as they
knew
they'd
never
have
been
able to
hold
a 15-second
solo
together,
let
alone a
15-minute
one.
Sadly
the
tape,
recently
recovered
from
under
Roddy
Huggan's
stair,
reveals
that
both
Wattie's
accusation
AND the
Guireans'
explanation
of why
it was
impossible
were
actually
true;
The band
couldn't
play
solos
but did
anyway.
For an
exceedingly
long
time.
The line
up was
fluid at
this
gig,
with Roddy "I
wanna be
David
Maclennan
Mean
Time Axe
Hero" Huggan taking
on
duties
on the
opening
"Toilet On
The Sea",
Derek
"The
Obsession"
Macleod
on
Vocals, Alasdair
(Jean
Cac
Burnel) Mackay
on Bass
and the
Junior
Livingstone
on Casio
VL-tone.
For the
rest of
the set,
(I
think)
it was
pretty
much Bod
on
Guitar, Roddy
on
Vocals
and
Deadstone
on Bass.
Ken "Hellew,
Ladies"
Livingstone
played
"drums"
throughout,
having somehow
rejoined
the band
despite
his
undisguised
scorn at
their
efforts
on
previous
occasions.
Ken's
reappearance
was
clearly
in the
mistaken
belief
that a
"gig"
meant
"looking
cool",
"money"
and "burds".
Having waxed
his
Mexican
moustache
and
donned
his best
John Travolta
suit
with big
flares,
he
discovered
that the
drums in
question
consisted
of a
toilet
pan plus
various
disconnected
bits of
plumbing.
This
blew the
looking
cool
bit. He
then
discovered
that the
audience
consisted
entirely
of
the impatient
members of
the
other
bands,
waiting
for the
Guireans
to get
off so
they
could
go on.
And none
of them
were "burds".
Furthermore,
there
was to
be no
pay for
the gig
and he'd
shelled
out for
the
petrol
to drive
the
Guireans
there
in the
infamous
Ford
Escort
Mk II
Popular
"Ken is
Cruisin"-mobile HJS
666P.
The bookkeeper
of bop
was not
impressed.
"Toilet
On the
Sea"
- which
appears
on the
Greatest
Hits
compilation
C****y
Al*n*
Picks
The
Guireans"
(1985),
and "Bodach
Eat
Marag"
are the
standout
tracks
here.
The rest
go on
and on.
Evidently
merit
badges
for
endurance
were
dished
out to
those
scouty
types
who
actually
sat
through
the
whole
thing.
On the
tapes,
various
characters
can be
heard
demanding
after
each
song
whether
that was
the last
one, or
how many
more
songs
were
left to
go. But
to their
credit,
nobody
pulled
the plug
or threw
the
Guireans
off.
On the
other
hand,
they
never
played
the
Scout
Hall
again.
Tracks:
-
Toilet
on the
Sea
-
Hotel
Callanish
-
2 Pissed
Drivers
-
Bodach
Eat
Marag
-
Black
Mucus
for
Sabbath
People
-
Motorhead
( In Dub
)
-
Last
Night
a DM
Saved My
Life
-
The Boy
from
Leurbost
City
-
New Face
in Dell
-
Back
Disco
-
Om