Calgary Highland Games

Calgary Highland Games yesterday. Woo-hoo! Always fun, and this year they've got a new venue - superb. More people, more space and a beer tent that could comfortably have housed something very, very big and funny.

I was booked for a couple of stage shows and MC-ing the ceilidh in the evening. Mother Nature decided that we couldn't reasonably have a Highland Games without our share of black skies and pelting rain which chilled things down, but the die-hards that stuck around pendant la deluge got their money's worth.

The headliners for the ceilidh were Celtic Spirit, three Glaswegians who flew in at 2pm the day before, propped up the bars around the city until 2am and then spent the next day gigging at the Games. Frankly I'm amazed they were still upright by 9pm. And so were they. And they're up at the Canmore Games today which means a two-hour drive and no respite from jet-lag. If downtown Canmore gets trashed by a trio of rampaging sleep-deprived and delusional Weegies, I won't even be faintly surprised.

Two highlights: bumping into old friends from the Buccaneers (now also playing with Staggered Pints - the name says it all) and being introduced to Third Reel, a local band who ought to be far, far bigger and better known than they are. Get a CD out, guys! You're too good not to.