This recording represents what I think was an absolutely, had been an absolutely incredible year for us. We had started off the year playing in clubs in England, just trying to kinda build our following up as a band and kinda get out there and let people see what we were doing and what we were about. At that time in England, most of the music that was being successful was a kind of synthesizer orientated pop music which is kinda very light weight and very kinda...just kinda...sort of a artificial sound that almost......I had always wanted a band that kinda played live rock music, but did it without having to wear spandex trousers and have explosions on stage and all that kinda stuff. I wanted to make a kinda rock music that had integrity and that was about subject matters that rock music normally didn’t deal with; songs about real people and about the way they lived and the frustrations they felt and their hopes and fears and how things went for them.
And the year, as I said, kinda started off playing in clubs in England and suddenly, with the release of the first album we just kinda broke everywhere around the world. People jumped all over the first record and we went from kinda being a band who was trying to build up a following in clubs to suddenly being in demand everywhere at once...and things kinda just went crazy the whole year was kind of a blur of touring and doing promotional work and just kinda an endless round of that.
We did our first major tour in the United States towards the end of that year and it was just absolutely fantastic. Audiences reacted unbelievably towards us and people just seemed to really catch up on the spirit of what we were doing and what we were trying to achieve. And musically and lyrically, I think that guitar music has always been a kinda real source of rock and roll and we were a guitar band. Still are.
And this show...in fact it was two shows in fact at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow in Scotland. The Barrowlands Ballroom, to let you know, is like this kinda really old place from when goin’ out dancin’ was goin’ out dancin’ has a big huge sprung wooden floor which means when a crowd starts gettin’ into the music, the whole building just rocks out. It’s a fantastic place to play. Maybe one of the best rock venues in the world. And just the people there really get into the music and the whole scenario is just really exciting. And sometimes you get so caught up in it, you forget you’re actually on the stage in a band. You just think you’re part of this whole atmosphere that’s goin’ on. It’s an unbelievable place to play.
So we felt that at the end of the year, it’d be great to capture that kinda spirit. The kinda spirit that had followed us around during all our tour. And we decided that were gonna not only tape the show for a live recording but it was actually gonna be videoed, too. So, I guess it was kind of a lot of pressure on the band to perform that night and we obviously decided, because of the licessing...licessing...licensing laws in Scotland, that we would do two shows; one in the afternoon for kids who were like under the legal drinking age, so they could get in and see the band, and then one at night, to kinda celebrate the New Year and to be the one that would be shot for the video.
So the day was a real long day. We had just come back from a kinda fairly grueling American tour and the day itself seemed to take forever to go by. It was a really long sound check because we had to check not only for the sound in the hall, but for the sound going to video and the sound going to the live recording. And by the time it came time to actually go on stage, I think we were so keyed up, that it was a real release for us to actually get out there and to actually make the recording.
The New Year in Scotland is a real special time. I think it’s always been a time when people take stock of where they’ve been and what they’ve been up to and where they hope to go to in the future. So, it’s always seen as a real time of rebirth and a real time for being hopeful and being optimistic and just kinda celebrating that well, thank goodness that’s that year out of the way, let’s get on with the next one.
The actual scenario itself was fantastic. The crowd was really up for the gig. We were really up for it. And we had a kinda special thing going on where we had a pipe band come in just after the bells had rung in the new year and they kinda played some real traditional Scottish tunes and the crowd really got up for that.
I remember coming off stage after the show and just kinda feeling really drained. Quite often, when you come off stage after a show you’re kinda pumped with adrenalin and you’re still really up and excited about it, but I remember even this far after the time remember feeling kinda really drained and thinking about the year that we’ve had and how unbelievable it had been and just that for me had been the culmination of a kinda a long period of kinda wanting to put this band together and what the style of the band was going to be and the music that we wanted to make. And I really kinda look back on the year with a lot of satisfaction and a lot of pleasure and subsequent to the Barrowlands show we were to go back to America and tour again and be nominated for Grammys and actually appear on the Grammys shows and perform there. It was just an absolutely unbelievable period to have so much happen to us in what seemed like such a short space of time.
