last day in Glasgow

Last full day, that is.  A Saturday, full of promise of mild or even warm weather.  A chance to hang out with Allison again (and Catriona along with us).  I was looking forward to it.

I started out the morning after staying in bed a little longer - it was a lot of time on foot the day before.  I went to the usual Starbucks I had been visiting and had my decaf latte and breakfast.  I wanted a bit of a walk, but I didn't want to go far afield given how fatigued my legs and feet were.  I also wanted to see some place else.  Hello Google Maps.  I quickly landed on a visit to the Mitchell Library.

Ah, yes, trust the librarian to go to a library on vacation, right?  But it is a very fine building that functions quite well as a community space and resource.  It wasn't super busy before 10:00 on a sunny summer Saturday, but there were people there.  I wandered through it a bit, then headed back to the hotel to relax and change for meeting Allison.

I met up with Allison and Catriona easily, and we took the subway right way up to Partick, which was where Allison's parents had had a flat decades ago.  Funnily enough, I was essentially in the same part of the city and on some of the same streets as Theo had taken me to days earlier.  We walked around a bit, poked into a shop, and then found the street and set of flats where Allison's parents had lived. 

Happily for them, they were at the bottom of the hill!

We then wandered down in the direction of Kelvingrove Park. 

Catriona asked that we stop into a venue that had a museum but also kids' activities, such as a climbing wall, so we did that, only to find that she would have to come back to climb the next day.  Onward to the Park, then and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

I really liked the museum.  The first collection we saw was of the Scottish Boys, as the school of artists was known.  Some wonderful pieces, and they led into some collections of decorative arts that very much put me in mind of the Greene and Greene among others of that time and style.  After that we headed down to see the Mary Quant special exhibit, which was very well done.  They had curated a terrific collection of original pieces loaned to them by some very careful owners.  Lovely!

After that, we were hungry.  We made our way back toward the subway station we had arrived at, and on the way stopped in at Bag O'Nails for linner.  Or dunch.  I'm not sure which.  Steak and Bovril pie for me, and, like Allison, I enjoyed a couple of pints of the Voller Veizen by Glasgow's Drygate Brewing.

And then it was on the subway back into downtown where I sent Allison and Catriona off on the train to the suburbs and walked myself back to the hotel.  I had packing to do.  I did go to the hotel bar later for a small bite and a couple of drinks that don't merit photos or much further mention.  And then off to bed.

I didn't have an early departure on Sunday.  The weather was clearing up after rain overnight. 

I headed to a different Starbucks for breakfast, came back to check out, then got myself on a bus to EDI. 

A long wait there (better safe than sorry), then the flight to EWR where there was a long delay again.  At least the view was nice. 

I made it in the door at home at 2:15.  Glasgow was already more than 24 hours behind me, a set of memories to hold dear.

TRNSMT 2023

So here it is, the big long post about the main event in Scotland.  Lots of ground to cover here.  Shall we begin?

I hadn't seen Allison in over five years.  By our recollection, it was spring of 2018 when last I was through Toronto and managed to connect with her.  So odd for someone who at one time lived two floors below me in Montreal.  So strange for someone who was my best woman at my wedding.  But the magic of messaging and Zoom have kept us in touch regularly these past years, happily.  So when I finally saw her outside the John Lewis in the Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow, it didn't feel like so much time had passed.  No, instead it felt like two friends heading off into the city to go hang out together.

And for almost ten hours, and with much music to enjoy, that's what we did.

Thanks to Van, I've now been to a couple of music festivals, but this was kind of new to Allison.  Going to a festival in another country was new to me, for sure.  I didn't know much about the TRNSMT festival prior to this - Allison was the one who told me that it is the successor to T in the Park, and some online reading since my return showed me that TRNSMT has not had the best reputation.  Glad I didn't have that to fret over until after the fact!

Unlike Coachella, I was able to buy for me and Allison a one day pass each (and VIP+ at that!),

which was good because we really were there for the Friday headliners, Pulp. 

Oh, we saw more than just that group, and if we'd been there all weekend, we would have made the most of it.

We got ourselves into the VIP entrance quickly,

made our way to merchandise so as to avoid missing out on things (I've had that happen, darn it), and then decided to pop by the second stage, the King Tut Stage, to see the act that was finishing up there, Hot Milk.

We caught the tail end of one song and then their last song of the day, which is probably their big hit, or perhaps "big hit".  I don't think they've actually charted a single.  You know, I liked the energy they had, but it's not music I'm inclined to listen to otherwise.  Still, happy to catch at least a quick listen.

From there we headed back to the VIP enclosure to take a short break and have a drink from the gin truck. 

Yes, a food truck that only served gin drinks, essentially only G&T of various versions.  It was nice to do.  We took those with us over to the main stage and from there caught Paul Heaton.

Back in the 90s, I was a fan for a while The Beautiful South, which, in turn, was founded by former members of The Housemartins.  Paul Heaton was one of the main songwriters and vocalists for The Beautiful South, and he's gone on to solid solo success in the UK.  Or perhaps "solo" - he's done a lot of work with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott.  She, alas, has had health issues, and so for this set he pulled in a local artist, Rianne Downey.  They did a great job of it together, and while I only knew the Beautiful South songs that dotted the set (plus Happy Hour by Housemartins), I enjoyed it through and through.

We stuck around for the next set, and that's when all the very young folks - mostly girls - streamed in.  Niall Horan, formerly of boy band One Direction, was up, and his fanbase was very present.  But you know, I've heard him interviewed on Q with Tom Power on CBC, and he sounds like a really good guy.  I'd heard a few songs before, and they were fine.  He delivered a decent set,

which sounds like damning him with faint praise, but it's more a reflection of not knowing his catalogue well.  I liked it, I have checked out more since the concert, but honestly?  I was more into the Harry set I saw at Coachella last year.  Sorry, Niall!

Allison and I had the great food truck dinner after that, and then decided that instead of catching any of the George Ezra, who we didn't really know at all, we would go over to see Dean Lewis. 

Apparently Catriona, Allison's daughter, really likes him.  I was startled to find when I got back home this past week that I had a song of his in my playlists because I didn't recognize his name or the music at all.  But we stayed for the last few songs of his set on the King Tut Stage, and then headed for the main event.

Ah, Pulp.  I am far from an expert on modern music (or any music), but I had my big Britpop phase back in the 90s.  Blur were my tops, and I liked Oasis (it doesn't have to be either/or), but Pulp were probably the third pillar of that musical time and trend, and I would put them second in my heart behind Blur (and I would move Oasis below some other groups like the Manics and Supergrass and perhaps even Echobelly and Sleeper, all depending on what we want to call Britpop).  I am sure Pulp came to North America multiple times, but I never got a chance to see them.  Now I did.  And, as an early landmark birthday present to Allison, now so did she.

We got deep into the front pit area, though not super deep.  It was fine enough for us, though.  The crowd had shifted to being a bit older.  We later found out that there were upwards of 50,000 in attendance. 

And it seemed we all knew all the words.

The curtains parted, and we heard the opening strains of I Spy.  Jarvis came down the stairs on the stage,

and we were off.  I knew every song, some better than others.  I sang along like everyone else.  There were surprises (Like a Friend and Sunrise) and some songs I wish they had done (Mile End, Joyriders).  They leaned most on the Different Class album, and that makes sense.  It was the big one, but it was also such a critical success.  And everyone had a good time with the whole set, start to finish.

TRNSMT was staged in the Glasgow Green, a park immediately east of downtown and adjacent to residential neighbourhoods.  As such, there was a curfew.  Pulp finished at about 10:51, I think, and we joined the thousands of people streaming out of the venue.  I walked Allison to the Queen Street station so that she could catch the train to the suburbs where she was staying with a cousin, then I headed on back to my hotel.  I genuinely had Pulp songs in my head, and even the next day I found myself singing out a few lines now and then.

It was a short trip - three full, non-travel days in Glasgow and that's it - but so worth it.  Sharing such an awesome concert experience with Allison?  Happy birthday to her, but hooray for both of us getting that.  I had a fantastic time.