We should all enjoy the power of partying
THERE are few things in life as exhilarating as a pure unadulterated party. When it lasts for three days and only stops to allow short periods of sleep, it leaves a lasting impression.
Such was the experience of the stag trip to Donegal last weekend.
Over the years, this type of activity has become increasingly rare for me as life has moved from the carefree wonders of being a music student to the more exacting routine of being (slightly) grown-up.
I am not for a minute advocating a society that spends all its free time in this euphoric mode of celebration, but I do think we should do it a little more often.
In what used to be normal circumstances, I would not dream of writing publically about such activities, but with the curse of Facebook, it’s like having a correspondent from News 24 reporting candidly on events throughout the duration, so all is in the public domain anyway.
To give some context to my ramblings, we left the Park Bar in Glasgow at 7am on Friday and returned at around 5pm on Sunday.
The stag himself is my best friend from school and, as I am a secondary best man at the wedding, my fully partaking in the activities at the weekend was not optional but a duty to tradition and custom.
By bus, we travelled to Cairnryan, where we boarded the ferry for Belfast, from where we drove on to Dungloe in County Donegal.
The brother of the groom and primary best man had organised with military precision a schedule of proceedings that elevated him to being the finest event planner I have ever seen in action.
On board the bus was a finely- chosen crack team of elite ‘scattermasters’ with most islands and mainland districts being featured on the passenger list. Music was a main ingredient to the trip, with representatives from the Vatersay Boys, Skerryvore, Crooked Reel, Trail West and Skipinnish as well as many unsigned performers.
The entire crew was well-trained in backing vocals for all choruses and many unique chants and verses were developed as we went.
The weekend was filled with nonstop highlights too numerous to list, but a few were particularly memorable for me – music from Hughie, Charlie and K T Boyle on Friday night, meeting the legendary boat builder John Gaff in Girvan, Jonathon Gillespie’s singing of the tragic love song Grace, and the Facetime Live broadcast to West Hynish were all stand- out components.
There is such richness in spending time with those whose company we enjoy, playing music for pure pleasure and collectively honouring an important milestone in life progression of someone who is obviously very much loved and liked by the group celebrating.
I am certainly guilty, as I’m sure most of us are, of not giving enough time to this type of leisure activity and it is very easy to justify delaying or dodging involvement but, as last weekend showed, we must not underestimate the power and sheer enjoyment of partying.