Bonnie Prince Billy, No Smoking and the False Economy of Cheap Flights

Very, very, very early one morning last week I got myself out of bed, took a cab to Birmingham airport and took a white-knuckle ride on an 'plane to Edinburgh in order to see Bonnie Prince Billy play at The Queens Hall...

The gig was amazing and definately the best I've ever seen from him. He was backed by Harem Scarem, who provided wonderful three-part harmonies and an array of instruments that complimented the songs perfectly. It truly was something else.

Whilst in the venue I was told two things that put the cherry on top of the experience.....Firstly, that the gig was recorded by the BBC for a future broadcast, and secondly that rehearsals for the gigs (part of a mini-tour of Scotland) had been recorded with a view to a possible future release as an album. It's all good..

I also learned two things whilst in Edinburgh......

1) The Smoking Ban ain't all bad. It is about 3 weeks old up in Scotland and in the post down here in England. My 48-hour tour of Edinburgh's pubs tells me I'll cope just fine when it kicks in down here.

2) The phrase 'Cheap Flight' is an oxymoron. Leaving and arriving back in Brum at stupid o'clock meant the expenditure on food, fun and the inevitable beer or 17 totally outweighed the 'saving' on the ticket. You live and learn, eh kids...

That said, it was a great trip and long live Billy.