DONALD MACLEOD
As the dark nights of autumn beckon, it’s worth celebrating an absolute belter of a summer for lovers of live music.
In Glasgow, a UNESCO City of Music, all the right notes, musically and in pounds sterling, were hit over three nights at the TRNSMT music festival on Glasgow Green.
It was a fantastic financial boon and addition to the city’s musical events calendar, which this year had more than 150,000 excited music fans slavering over headline acts such as Stormzy, George Ezra, Gerry Cinnamon and, of course, our delightful homegrown superstar, Lewis Capaldi.
And don’t forget around 80 other acts hotly-tipped for success such as Tom Grennan and Stephanie Cheape.
In Invernessshire the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, continued to prove itself one of the coolest and most popular festivals in the UK, again selling out with a veritable feast of live acts on offer, from Chvrches to Jess Glynne, Lewis Capaldi to Tom Odell and many others beside.
Scone Place, Perth, again had its immensely popular and fun retro Rewind festival, with Bryan Ferry, The Stranglers, Lisa Stansfield and Midge Ure all on the bill.
Back in Glasgow, we have just had another fantastic 12 sold-out Summer Nights at the wonderful Kelvingrove Bandstand with legendary artists Suede, The Human League, Patti Smith, Echo & The Bunnymen and Burt Bacharach.
And this week in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens and at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park there are the Summer Sessions with global superstars The Cure, The Foo Fighters and The 1975 headlining Glasgow and Florence + The Machine, Lewis Capaldi (he likes to gig) and Primal Scream all topping the bill over in the gardens.
Finally, this weekend sees another very successful, albeit a bit wet, Party At The Palace taking place in Linlithgow Palace featuring the Charlatans, Wet Wet Wet, and Fun Lovin’ Criminals among many others.