Roger McGuinn- Live in Edinburgh

ROGER MCGUINN

Tonight I was very honoured to be in the presence of a true legend- the Byrds frontman , Roger (Jim) McGuinn . It is the first time I have seen him live , and although it is highly unlikely we shall ever see a reformed Byrds (original members Gene Clark and Michael Clarke both now being dead) , McGuinn was the main singer / guitarist , and wrote most of the songs . Also , he founded the band and was the only original member to stay in the group through all their various incarnations .

Latterly , McGuinn has been involved in producing the splendid Folk Den - an attempt at cataloguing folk music via his website. Each week he posts a new folk song , along with lyrics an chords on his website . You can download the tracks for free.

It was a very intimate gig (no more than 300 people) , and I was sat at the side of the stage getting an excellent glimpse into the genius that is Roger McGuinn . He opened the show with My Back Pages , and played a set that was crammed with Byrds classics - Mr Tambourine Man , All I Really Want To Do , Chimes Of Freedom , Turn Turn Turn amongst others . Being in Scotland he performed what he called a 'Beatles beat' version of Wild Mountain Thyme. All of this was performed solo , without a backing band . It gave me goosepimples when he set down his trademark Rickenbacker 360 12 string next to me , and he was also using a 7 string acoustic , the first time I'd ever seen one.

For an encore , he did Feel A Whole Lot Better , and Eight Miles High . An amazing end to an amazing night. I met his wife Camilla , who was really nice , and wish to thank her for introducing me to the great man himself - I even got a signed copy of his latest album Live From Spain.

Here's the Byrds on the Ed Sullivan Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHstR6ndus

Bellshill band Teenage Fanclub doing their own tribute to the Byrds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tcl2jGiY98

Recent clip of Roger doing Eight Miles High:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmE4tQAGV6E

This is the Beach Boys , but features a cool cameo from Roger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ThPN8ZY4I

Roger McGuinn's Folk Den:

http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/php/search/

Happy Norway Day!!

Today is May 17th , Norwegian Constitution Day . It commemorates when the Norwegians signed the constitution at Eidsvoll in 1814 , declaring themselves an independent nation from Sweden .

At the end of the day though , it turns into a massive boozefest , so it's pretty much guaranteed that there will be sore heads and inactivity aplenty on the streets of Oslo and Bergen tomorrow.

It is fitting that Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision for Norway in the early hours of the morning , yet more cause for celebration . Norwegian music used to be a joke , especially at Eurovision - regularly scooping 'nul points' . Check out this classic entry from 1980 , by Sverre Kjelsberg and Mattis Haetta - it was actually a protest song about a hydroelectric station , and the tune drew heavily on our Lapp heritage with a spot of 'joiking'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9xLMWBZh_Q&feature=related

Capercaillie

Capercaillie

I've seen this band a few times before , but bearing in mind that the last time I saw them was in 1992 at an international music festival in Valencia (where I think I might have been the only Scot present) , I wasn't sure what to expect . Sure there have been changes (most notably the addition of Deacon Blue's Ewen Vernal on bass) , but they still performed well . Karen Matheson looked as if she was frozen , though . My biggest gripe is that they didn't do an encore , and that they didn't play their biggest hit , Coisich A' Ruin . Still , the fireworks display cme soon after and that was an amazing end to the evening.

http://www.capercaillie.co.uk/

EMPRESS AYEOLA

Empress Ayeola

BIF's second reggae act of the weekend was the Rastfarian act Empress Ayeola . Although it was sill quite sunny , it was bitterly cold , and like Saturday's Eperanza , their style of reggae succeeded in working the band up to a heat . The Empress was dressed in such bright colours that would not normally be seen in Falkirk , save at a football game . Brilliant set .

http://www.myspace.com/empressayeola

DAY OF DAYS

Day Of Days

Crieff's Day of Days were my highlight of the day . I've seen them before , but I'm struggling to recall where and when , but they did a spectacular set . The opening poundin bass and synthesizer made them sound like Hawkwind at their best , but any Hawkwind comparisons soon disappeared , to be replaced by a sound that is a cross between Muse , Bloc Party and Placebo . The vocals even sounded uncannily like Brian Molko . Jim Gellatly was stood by me , and if that's aything to go by hopefully we'll hear more great things from them.

http://www.dayofdays.co.uk/

BIG IN FALKIRK - DAY 2 (SUNDAY)

Sunday's BIF felt a lot more sedate than Saturday . As the headlining act was Capercaillie , there were more folky acts on such as Ben Sturrock , Andi Neate and Braebach . The crowd was a lot smaller also , but its numbers swelled towards the end of Capercaillie's set , full of people coming along to witness the excellent Homecoming 2009 inspired firework display . Here's a brief rundown on some of my favourite acts of the day :

Stereo MC's

STEREO MC'S

Nottingham's answer to the Happy Mondays were on top form last night . Vocalist Rob Birch was an excellent front man and it was difficult to keep up with him as he bounded around the stage . All the hits wee there - Step It Up , Connected... Could go on forever about this set . At one stage a girl took her pants off and threw them at the stage . They landed between myself and the securityand she asked if I could retrieve them , but that was impossible .Even managed to blag a free promo copy of their new EP - Show The Light. Amazing end to an amazing night.

http://www.myspace.com/stereomcsofficial