The top 20 Scottish gigs of all time

Published on Wednesday 7 March 2007 01:35

9. GRANGEMOUTH ROCK FESTIVAL, GRANGEMOUTH STADIUM, 29 SEPTEMBER 1972

THE GRANGEMOUTH Festival, held in the glare from the flares of BP's oil refinery, was Scotland's first major outdoor showcase for an eclectic mix of international rock, pop and folk music. Another outdoor show, the Festival of Progressive Music, featuring Taste, If and Black Widow, had already been held in Inverness, but Grangemouth was the blueprint for the future.

It was promoted by Great Western Festivals, whose directors included the star of Zulu, Stanley Baker, who could be seen grooving to the sound of a bill which saw barnstorming sets from Status Quo (The Doors' Roadhouse Blues, anyone?), Lindisfarne (promoting their new album Dingley Dell), an explosive funk set from the anything-but Average White Band, English folk-rock from Steeleye Span and a long, labyrinthine excursion into Scottish prog-rock madness from Beggar's Opera.

What set Grangemouth apart, though, were one-off appearances by the Everly Brothers, replete with soar-away harmonies for a sunny afternoon, and the mighty, rumbling rock power trio Beck, Bogert and Appice, who played a chaotic set in a rain and beer-sodden finale in which Beck removed his jacket while still playing mindbending guitar. And, yes, Billy Connolly, John Peel and Marsha Hunt were there, too. Grangemouth? It truly rocked.

STEWART CRUICKSHANK

10. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, PINK FLOYD AND OTHERS, GREEN'S, GLASGOW, 5 DECEMBER 1967

THE last date of this epic package tour was the first, last and only time these kings of soul, underground and psychedelia came to Scotland together. Scotland just didn't know what had hit it.

In 1967, all were at the peak of their awesome powers, each one determined to upstage the others. Revolution was in the 1967 air and, by the end of the Floyd's set, in the minds of the audience - for all the wrong reasons. The Outer Limits and Hendrix protgs Eire Apparent set a suitably trippy tone. Next up came the gin-house soaked vocals of Amen Corner, the guitar-smashing Move tearing into Night of Fear and The Nice, whose knife-throwing Keith Emerson almost toppled his Hammond organ into the crowd. Many in that crowd (but not this boy) were singularly unimpressed by Pink Floyd (with Syd Barrett), who chose not to play their hit See Emily Play but, instead, veered into hyperspace with Interstellar Overdrive.

The result? They were bottled off and drowned out by catcalls for the headliners: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, who tore into Hey Joe and Purple Haze with truly brutal force. "Move over Rover, let Jimi take over," quoth the great man. And he duly did. I was 16 and a gibbering wreck.

STEWART CRUICKSHANK

11. THE BIG DAY, GLASGOW, 3 JUNE, 1990

JUST how big a day it was became apparent immediately on arrival at a jam-packed Waverley Station in Edinburgh that morning. Even with extra trains laid on for the event, standing room was still at a premium. We set off west towards the European City of Culture, to join a crowd that would total between 250,000 and half a million - adding up to the then-biggest ever musical event in Scotland, the UK or Europe, depending on your sources. As inroads began on a brewery's worth of carry-outs, these unanimous high spirits were abetted by the garrulous lady who took over the conductor's Tannoy to regale us with her own running commentary.

We spilled out at Queen Street into George Square, teeming with "the denim brigade" - so dubbed next day by this very organ, in contrast to the classical and opera buffs widely seen as being over-indulged by the Year of Culture programme.

With four open-air stages around the city, plus legions of street entertainers, The Big Day was billed as a free people's festival to rival the Notting Hill Carnival, Mardi Gras and Woodstock rolled into one, and on this occasion the 1990 hype did not prove overblown. Headliners Deacon Blue closed the night before a totally loved-up sea of people on Glasgow Green, with Ricky Ross delivering an impassioned anti-Tory tirade and dedicating Orphans to unemployed miners.

REM's Michael Stipe prompted the biggest scrum at the smallest Riverside Stage, on Customhouse Quay, and other top turns came from acts as diverse as Aswad, Nanci Griffith and Les Negresses Vertes. A powerhouse Scottish contingent also included Hue and Cry, Wet Wet Wet, Love and Money, and Big Country - although Sheena Easton was booed offstage for declaring "it's great to be home" in an American accent.

SUE WILSON

12. FREDDIE BELL AND THE BELLBOYS, GLASGOW EMPIRE, MAY 1957

LATE in 1956, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys had a top-five hit with Giddy-Up-A-Ding-Dong. A tour ensued during which they became the first American rock'n'roll act to play in Scotland. As some city dance halls still prohibited "Edwardian dress", this showed the times were indeed a-changin'.

Noteworthy alone for that reason, the gig also proved crucial to Scotland's nascent music scene. Glasgow's leading band, the Ricky Barnes All Stars, consisted largely of jazz refugees, and within weeks they were using elements of the Bellboys' stage routine and sported suits cut without lapels. Barnes's conversion was complete, and he would later front the house band at the Top 10 Club in Hamburg.

The previous month to the Bellboys' date, Alex Harvey had won a talent contest to become "Scotland's Tommy Steele". As Steele was on the Empire bill it was logical to photograph the two singers together. From this point Harvey's career began its ascendancy. Little wonder he would cover Giddy Up... with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band on Next. Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were ostensibly one-hit wonders yet the chain of events their appearance set in motion helped shape Scottish rock and pop.

BRIAN HOGG

The top 20 so far

20: Pete Doherty, Burns an' a' That Festival, Ayr Town Hall, 28 May 2005

19: Miles Davis, Green's, Glasgow, 18 November 1973

18: The Unusual Suspects, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 26 January 2003

17: Belle & Sebastian, Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, 12 June 2004

16: Son House, Leith Town Hall, July 1970

15: Nirvana, The Southern Bar, Edinburgh, 1 December 1991

14: Blur, Manic Street Preachers and Pulp, T in the Park, Strathclyde Coutry Park, Hamilton, 30 July 1994

13: Duke Ellington, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 27 November 1973

• View the full list if the top 20 Scottish gigs of all time at www.scotsman.com/top20