The Great Outdoors feature at the front of this issue highlights just some of the wild and wonderful things to be done in the wide open spaces of Scotland. Other suggestions or accounts of personal bests (or worsts) on land, sea or air could win you a bottle of Senor Jose Cuervo’s tequila.
Tak Tent
Mayfest is with us again, and the great new idea of a multi-purpose marquee- type venue in the guise of Beck‘s Tent. I thought. ‘that’s different' and promptly bought tickets for five of the events.
Arriving at ‘the Green’ last night (29 April) for the first gig (Horse), 1 was immediately impressed by the hugeness of the place. It appeared to be ideal. Alas I was soon brought down to earth with a bump. (a) We had to trek through mud to get in. (b) The toilets were a disgrace. (c) The bar was understaffed and over-priced. (d) No drinks were allowed outside the bar. (e) Almost half the auditorium faces a black wall. (D The acoustics were awful with the band sounding as thought they were playing behind a wall somewhere. (g) We could hardly see the band for the first half hour (whoever was in charge of lighting should have been shown where the spotlight switches were). And to top the lot. the over-zealous Gestapo tactics of the security staff meant that we had to sit very still and not appear to enjoy
LETI'ERS
any of it for fear of being ejected from the tent. One poor soul was bodily man-handled out for daring to click her lnstamatic!
I can‘t find fault with the band. They were superb! But I felt as if I‘d paid £10 to see them and wasn’t being allowed to see. hear or enjoy it!
Lyn Taylor Clifford Street Glasgow.
W'll. we would like you to enjoy tlte bottle oft/1e very wonderful liquid which is waitingfor you in The Lists Clasgow office. lllt’ Beck 's lt’lll is a good idea. but we 've had other similar emnplaints and May/est do need to sort out tlte details to make the place work as a live venue.
Wean’s World?
Ta very much for the excellent Eating Out Guide which 1 arm pleased to see will become a hardy annual. However. it would please the greatly if you could include a section on child and baby- fn'endly eateries.
Having recently been blessed with a joyous bundle of snot and shite, my social life has been drasticallycurtailed and when we do manage to venture out en masse I am amazed at the lack of provision about town for the family seeking to avoid the nightmarish fast— food joints.
Although many places do not exclude children, there are very few that actually welcome them and make provision for them. Perhaps purveyors fear that kids will scare away the smart- set punters so maybe we all need to loosen up a bit and get a little more continental in outlook. Listing the child-friendliness of each eatery on a scale ‘not welcome‘. ‘tolerated‘. ‘welcome' and ‘provided for‘ would indicate to proprietors that this is an important, even overriding. factor for some would—be munchers looking for their green stuff.
I live in hope.
Micky Anderson Allison Street Glasgow.
Cover stor
Nothing out of t¥n for the cover of the latest List mag (issue 226). If it was meant to be humorous or even idly amusing. it wasn't.
A tnuch more honest cover for a magazine wanting to protnote its Eating ()ut Guide would be a picture of animals in the slaughter house, for there tnust be millions who eat animals who. to their shame. still don‘t spare even a moment‘s thought for all the cruelty and suffering that their eating habits cause. Or, if you only wanted a ‘ftshy‘ cover. them how about a pic of a lobster being boiled alive or fish being tossed into a machine with sharp blades to be chopped alive. which is also routine practice.
Also. restaurants which serve fish should not have been included in the vegetarian section. irrespective of how they describe themselves. Vegetarians do not eat fish. Fish is meat and meat means murder.
We are. tnost of us, so brainwashed frotn childhood unless lucky enough to have vegan parents. as to regard animal—eating as normal and therefore acceptable. that we grow tip often still not even questioning it. But that does not excuse us frotn continuing to remain in a brainwashed state. There should come a time in all our lives when we are old enough to think for ourselves. to stop and question whether something is right. especially when it is something that not only causes so much cruelty and suffering. but which is also totally unnecessary.
Sandra Busell Lutton Place Edinburgh
Opportunity Knocks
Re: the letter in your previous issue of The List (225) concerning Sound City. we are concerned about the image portrayed of money-grabbing. ‘reptilian’ promoters with a closed ears approach to new music.
We can, of course. speak only for ourselves. For our part. the week of gigs organised by R & A Music for Sound City at Grand Central was. in fact, at the cost of considerable outlay oftime and effort by ourselves for no financial return. No funding was made
‘ NEXT ISSUE OUT THURSDAY 2 JUNE . g g _ g >_ . ‘SThe World Cup: Armchair guide to the L‘SA‘s bettttlll‘ttl' L" f. ‘ game four-week festival. The beer's' in' the fridge. the3 '
telly’s warmed up.-sit back and zone out.
available to R & A froru Sound City and it was up to us to persuade the venue owners that the week of gigs was a worthwhile investment. As it transpired, things worked out far better than we could have hoped for, with large crowds and considerable music industry focus on ourselves. the bands and the venue fora week at least. Proof that Sound City was very tnuch what the individual groups and businesses chose to make of it -« an opportunity rather than an excuse.
If the GMC is content to make a loss on gigs. good luck to thetn (if it's a band collective. doesn't that mean pay to play?) We‘d soon be. out of business if we tried it. It's worth bearing in mind that if promoters/yenues cannot make a degree of return on their investment in live music, then they will not be there at all to support the considerable talent the city has to offer. As regards musical policy, we have put on 100 bands at a dozen different venues and have 250 detno tapes currently in our office. Care was taken during Sound (‘ity to retlect a range of musical styles with electronic pop mixing with rap mixing with avant~gartle guitar music and Hugh Reed! I don‘t believe that we have received a tape from any of the bands mentioned in the letter. lain Rankin R & A Music Services Suite l()2/ll 36 Washington Street Glasgow
Address your letters to The List Letters at:
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We will not print your/all address or phone number but you must include them. Deadline is the l’riday before publication. Keep them pithy. as over/orig letters may be cut. The best letter next issue will win a bottle of Jose ('uervo tequila and a natty baseball cap.
The Festival Theatre: It‘s big. it's shiny. and it‘s in the capital. Your inside story on Scotland‘sexciting new
VL‘llUL‘.
Serial Mom: .lolm Waters on his murderous matriarch.
PLUS: Martin Millar (left). Derek .lacobi. The Village l’eople and a £300 llMV giyeaway competion.
ORDER YOUR COPY NOW
so The List 20 May—2 June 1994
Printed by Scottish County Press, Sherwood Industrial Estate, Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. Tel: ()31 663 2404.