Onward to Glasgow

Glasgow.

Skye was pretty, but due to weather, nothing to really write home about. Another case of being up on top of a mountain in weather that I probably shouldn't have been. Snow, rain, and high winds, but quite beautiful. As with all the weather of this sort, it's also peaceful with not too many tourists around.

So it was straight on to Glasgow. I'm rather glad I've allocated it as much time as I have. It's an interesting city. It's certainly not the neat and clean city that is Edinburgh (or most of Eastern and Northern Scotland, for that matter), but it has it's own flavor. It has a great music scene, as well as some interesting art exhibits and old cathedrals.

As for the music scene, I went out last night to check out a music club last night. I just sort of picked one rather randomly using the following criteria: first, that it was close; second that there were at least three groups playing - more bang for the buck; last, that it was cheap - not a lot of bucks.

I ended up catching the middle and closing bands at a bar called King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in central Glasgow. The middle group, which appears to be the headliner, was a guy named Charlie Winston and band. Mr. Winston played acoustic guitar or keyboards, while singing vocals. While the tracks were hit and miss, for me there was more hit than miss. The best numbers had a complexity of lyrics and great vocal change-ups. Mr. Winston's stage presence was great, with good audience interaction and high energy.

Particularly good numbers were his opening number with a political song about, er, well, the war ("Gone, Gone"), a song called "Finding Home" (simple, but good), and "Yes, Yes", which was a very high energy and humorous look at the male sexual response. There's a lot of potential in Charlie Winston's work. I'll have to keep an eye out.

As for the rest of the weekend, I'll try to see another few more shows. And hit up a tango workshop...

Yeah, I know. What the crap is that about? Tango in Scotland?

I wonder if they'll have some in Poland...