Saturday 1 April 2023
Well, that was an entertaining and interesting night. We had not been out in the evening since moving to Scotland and certainly not driven home after 23:00 in the dark. Neither had we been to a gig here before, nor one in an old community hall surrounded by fields, sheep, hills, water and trees. I have no idea why Heyzeus decided to play here – they have played at a local pub before, and again in three weeks, so they obviously know how remote this area is. They only played one of their own songs, the rest were very well-chosen classics that we all knew, from Sweet Home, Alabama to Fleetwood Mac to Eurythmics – they clearly had an idea of the kind of audience we’d be. For a while, I was the youngest audience member, but I was usurped by a twelve-year old and then maybe a couple of other people. They really were very good, far better than a gig at a village hall in the middle of nowhere would suggest. It is clearly Jamie’s duo, and he is brilliantly grungy and rocky. Jess, his partner and the drummer, is also amazing. Talk amongst the locals was of how she managed to play, largely on one leg (the other pedalling a cymbal) and continuously ‘banging’ her hands on a drum-but-not-as-I-know-them. She played a Peruvian cajon. I’m amazed at how big-drum-kit just using her hands could sound.
The tickets cost £6.50 each and a generous glass of wine and a sparkling water came to £3.
I would have spoken to Jamie and Jess while they were packing up, but it would appear that Chris and I were actually the interest of the night. There were about thirty of us in the hall. I imagine it would have been a bit dispiriting for Heyzeus to have such a small audience but there was a comfortable, friendly, appreciative atmosphere. Anyway, we ended up staying on an extra hour or so, meeting a fair proportion of the community. I have never chatted to so many people I didn’t know, been invited round to so many houses or felt so welcomed anywhere. Without doubt, our ears will be burning for days, though ditto, their ears will probably be burning too. There were so many people to chat to that we mainly spoke to different people. I love that we got a real sense of the community, stories, changes to the area and genuine invites to people’s homes. It was all kind of overwhelming and very surreal. We left the hall just after eleven, very dark and very quiet, and drove home, looking behind us as we pulled away and realising that we could hear the scraping of the last few tables and chairs being put away and people chatting. The music must have travelled all along the valley. Kind of otherworldy really. Loved it.
