"The Return of Haddington Bear, 2006." by planxty

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Fish and Frank Usher, Haddington.

A weekend of fun, revelry and very good music.

As I have mentioned elsewhere on my homepage, I am a great fan of the music of Derek Dick aka Fish, former lead singer with Marillion and now a wonderful solo artist. I also have the privelege of knowing the guy, as well as members of his band.

Every year, he hosts a Convention for members of his fan club (known as the Company after one of his songs) and this year it was in his adopted hometown of Haddington (he's from nearby Dalkeith).

What a wonderful weekend we had - quite possibly the best of my life.

After pitching my tent on the local playing fields, I headed into town for a few drinks, met the band after the soundcheck and then went to the first of two magnificent concerts in the very atmospheric St. Mary's Church, which is apparnetly the largest parish church in Scotland. As you can imagine, the acoustics were tremendous, as was the music.

This first picture shows the Big Man, as he's known, with the very talented Frank Usher, who not only plays a mean guitar, he also makes them.

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Tony Turrell, Haddington, Scotland.

This second photo shows my good friend Tony Turrell, another superb musician and all-round nice bloke.

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Fish, Andy Keddie and friends, Haddington.

After the Saturday night church gig, we all took off to the local hall (the Corn Exchange) for a rocking night woth the Border Boogie Band, Frank Usher's other outfit. Naturally, the Big Man got up for a couple and you see him here duetting with the excellent Andy Keddie.

The photo also features guest backing singers Heather and Angela from Mostly Autumn, a very good prog rock band and, on the left, Anne-marie Helder, another excellent musician in her own right.

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Jo McCafferty, Tyneside Tavern, Haddington.

After a second nights hard partying on the campsite (thankfully there were no houses nearby), a sedate Sunday lunchtime was called for. A whole group of us had booked Sunday lunch at the excellent Tyneside Tavern, and we were very well-entertained as well. First up was Emma Forman who I must admit I'd never heard but impressed me, and secondly yet another good friend, the excellent Jo McCafferty. Jo really is a favourite of mine, and was even good enough to credit me in the "thanks" of one of her albums, although what exactly I did to deserve it I've no idea.

The photo shows Jo performing.

By the way, don't ask about the penguin - it's a very long story!

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Fish and his Band, Haddington.

After a few post-prandial drinks, it was back off to the Corn Exchange for the soundcheck where Fish had very kindly given me access for photography. This shot shows the band going through their paces.

I don't have any shots of the gig itself, as I was too busy partying, and had wisely sent the camera home with mrs._planxty!

Suffice it to say that of the literally dozens of Fish gigs I have seen, this stands out as one of the absolute tops, it was stunning.

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planxty and Gipsy, Haddington, Scotland.

After a serious (and I mean serious) night partying at the campsite, Sunday morning meant the usual round of packing up, clearing the rubbish etc. etc. but the best was yet to come.

To my absolute delight, Fish had invited mrs._p and myself to the crew party at his home / studio a few miles out of town. You really can't believe what a thrill this was for me. To be invited to the home of your musical idol for what was an excellent party was a dream come true. The food was excellent, the drink flowed, the Border Boogie Band (and friends) played again.

I simply love this photo. It is me with my dear friend Gipsy. OK, so he looks like the scariest man in the world, but he really is one of the nicest blokes you could meet. Even mrs._p, who is by no stretch of the imagination a rock chick, got on famously with him.

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Fish and Frank Usher, Haddington, Scotland.

I like this photo. It shows Fish apparently trying to strangle Frank during a lull in proceedings.

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planxty and Fish, Haddington, Scotland.

And this is my absolute favourite. I realise the quality is pretty poor, but this was just such a lovely moment. Fish and I were both a little "hors de combat" by this stage, and this was just before we bade a fond farewell and mrs._p and I headed off in a taxi.

What a weekend! If you like what you see, why not come to the next one? It's probably going to be in Holland next year.