This is an old joke on people from Edinburgh. The idea being that Scotland is a largely welcoming place but in the snootier parts of the capital they will welcome you on the doorstep with the above greeting. Of course we should never let the truth get in the way of a good gag and Edinburgh is a actually nothing like that. Sometimes Glaswegians get mildly offended if I suggest some of the best audiences we’ve had have been in Auld Reekie – but it’s true.

There are audiences and then there are Liverpool Audiences…then I realised too at the weekend there’s another level again. The T in the Park audience…but more on them later.

Firstly Liverpool. Deacon Blue sneaked me out of the Lounge to do a show at the Liverpool Pops. Wow. It was really a great night and the warmth of the Mersey welcome was wonderful. One thing I love (amongst so many) about being in that city is the way they know they are the best. I was exhausted at the end of the night when I was asked to do an interview with a local film crew about their year of culture. “Ricky…tell us what you love about Liverpool? Tell us three words which some up how brilliant it is here. Can you tell us your favourite Liverpool album…apart from the Beatles?”

I wanted to tell them I can hardly stand up, but they smiled so engagingly I didn’t dare refuse. The answer should have been Stephen Fretwell’s – Magpie, but I forgot in the heat of the camera’s gaze. Anyway to those of you gave us such a welcome, thank you so much.

From Liverpool to T in the Park. I promised my daughter I’d deliver her. So my brother-in-law and I took our respective daughters up for the day. As I’ve made perfectly clear in this blog, this Rock fest type even is really not my bag. I was dreading it and making quite reasonable excuses on Saturday morning. Nothing could get me out of it. Here’s a thing: I had a great time. Loved it.

I’ll tell you more about who I saw tomorrow but let me say this for now. It’s a really great event. There are thousands of very young people, lots of them have clearly enjoyed a wee drink but there is a great spirit there. People go out of their way to have a good time and really enjoy themselves. They were so friendly to John and me. (we looked like a couple of dodgy blokes trying to hang with the kids so all credit to the liberal polis for not arresting us). One or two indie kids even asked to have their photie taken with me. Don’t ask me why. We really had a great time so thank you folks. You tolerated two old geezers with style and grace. I hope you have another fab day today and come back home safely.

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