On Sunday I went along on to Scotland’s very own ‘Mardis Gras’ to catch some of the parade at Glasgow’s West End Festival. This weekend marked the start of a whole host of activities over a 2 week period.
I’ve been visiting the festival way back when it was held in the car park at Ashton Lane and it has fairly grown since then.
This year however, I was surprised the course of parade through the streets of the West End had been altered (as reported in the press due to council funding cuts) and instead of heading down the vibrant street of Byres Road it started at the University of Glasgow and headed through Kelvin Way and in to the park. Whilst I think the move to Kelvingrove Park was good idea, I feel there was something amiss from the parade not going along its usual longer route through many streets in the West End.
I tried in vain to catch some of the parade at Kelvin Way – but the overcrowding on this narrow stretch with prams, Zimmer frames, Rottweilers, and balloons, aswell as being hemmed in by park fences on the pavement, meant that I could not move to a position to see it properly. Still everyone enjoyed themselves and I did manage to get a snap of some of the performers, notably The Stormtroopers, Darth was just out of view. Excellent.
As part of The West End Festival I will be playing at The Liquid Ship on Friday 19th, I am also poorly attempting to partly emulate Status Quo’s 5 stages in 1 day record with my 2 shows in 12 hours. I will be (without the aid of a helicopter) playing at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on friday 19th 1pm and then hot footing it to Liquid Ship in Glasgow for a gig that night. If the trains are on time this will be achieved.
Rock n Roll