Off to Latvia

I’m just about to go out and meet Justin at the station.  We’re off to Latvia tomorrow morning, and I’m looking forward to it.  I’ve still managed to do no research about the place and so really don’t know any of the basic information about the place or what to expect.  I don’t even know how to say the all-important phrases like “hello”, “thank you” or “two beers, please”.  Justin has a city guide to Riga though, so that should be something to read on the plane.   If we’re allowed such lethal weapons on board these days.

But as if to remind me that this trip was only the replacement for our now postponed journey to the Faroes, this article raises the prospect of an interesting way of getting there next year.

A couple of gigs

On Saturday past, I went to see Mogwai live at the Barrowlands. It was an excellent gig. Mogwai are a Glasgow band, and their music is a dark, brooding and energetic rock music, that snaps between quiet, tense melodies and heavy, crashing rages of noise. Their music is a cross between the Smashing Pumpkins and Arab Strap – they’re a bit like Sigur Ros in a bad mood, I suppose.

A really enjoyable gig, spoiled only by the fact that it was the same day as the Old Firm match, and there were Celtic fans everywhere. Right next to the Barrowlands is a well-known Celtic pub, outside of which were various fat, ugly Celtic supporters, who’d probably been drinking since the midday kick-off, who were all shouting and pushing each other around, no doubt arguing over who was the fattest and ugliest of them all.

A couple of fights broke out while I was waiting for a friend. The Mogwai fans outside – mostly middle class darkly-dressed grungey and indie types – looked on with some bemusement at the cacophony of green, white and occasional flashes of red broke out next to us on the pavement. Not a pretty sight, and a reminder of the vicious, nasty side of the west central belt. And I dread to think how they would have been if Rangers had won.

Then on Thursday night I was in King Tut’s seeing Banco de Gaia. He (it’s a one man outfit) was absolutely excellent, playing some of his heavier and more upbeat tracks in a non-stop set that lasted over an hour and a half.

King Tut’s is a very small venue so there were no more than 50 people at the gig, making for a very intimate and energetic atmosphere. Banco de Gaia is pretty much the first dance music I ever got into, and so it was great to finally be able to see him live.