Aberdeenshire

I only played here once, back in May 2009, and it was quite a strange experience to be honest ! Having been booked to my 'Tribute to The Music Of Tom Jones' show, I didn't know what to expect ....

I arrived and set up very early, as usual, and spent the rest of my time before the gig firsty finding a good Chippy and secondly sussing out the clientele of the venue.

I must say that the Chippy on King Street is pretty good and after the 'glam' of sitting in the car to have my pre-gig meal, I had a couple of hours before the gig so decided to go in and have a soft drink. I was not best pleased at this point because the place seemed to be full of guys who had been drinking all day and that became more apparent as there were a few that were thrown out as time went on.

I was chatting with the Manager and the DJ and they were telling me how they were trying to turn the placeround to make it busier and that the Night Club upstairs was getting busier and busier. At this point, the bar was filling up and it was looking like it was going to be a busy night.

By the time I started, there was a good crowd in and I have to say that my show was very well received and the interaction and appreciation from the crowd were equally as great.

In hindsight, it was a good venue and the facilities were good ..... a decent changing area and a shower for the acts too.

Unfortunately, I heard a wee while later that the venue had closed down .... reasons maybe are apparent but good wishes to the efforts of those who tried to make it work !

It was then back into the car and the 4 hour drive home..... oh the glamour of life on the road !!!

G Casino, Aberdeen

I have played here twice and have another booking for this year. Both times I have performed the 'Tom Jones Show' with a general cabaret set to follow.

The first time that I went to this venue, my wife Denise went with me, so that made it a bit better for me.

I hadn't planned to stay overnight but when we got there and set up, realising that we had loads of spare time, I decided to book a hotel. With diner overlooking the harbour area and a drink in the Chicago Rock Cafe (above), we headed off for the gig to find it being kind of quiet.

Casino gigs are really quite bizarre. I love the fact that the owners try to put on 'Lounge' entertainment for their clients but having did a few casino's before, I soon knew that it was going to be a quite night.

But....it was busier than I thought in the lounge area ahead of my show and I thought 'wow this is good' .... until half way through my first set. I had seen a lot of people sitting looking in my direction and I thought this was great but they were not as responsive as I thought they would be .....

Then ... I realised.......

The crowd were watching the TV at my right hand side which was showing, with the volume down thankfully, the final of Britain's Got Talent with Susan Boyle in the final !!!

Aww well, I did comment on that to the audience, which got a laugh, but hey-ho on with the show .....

The rest of the show was pretty busy, with a table of young women who came trough from the dining area, but there is a bit of a gulf where you are set up between the audience and the passage to the toilets ...

But hey ....this is the entertainment biz so you just need to get on with it !

Show done and gear packed down and a few drinks were had to chill out ... good times !

The second time I was up there was probably pretty much the same crowd wise, atmosphere wise, etc but this time I was on my own so it was 'job and finish' as they say.

The same with set up early and a trip to the Chippy (same one too) and a seat in the car for a couple of hours.

There was a bit of a debate on Facebook about set-up times for this venue but, as always, I stuck to the times and was glad that I did because I manged to just get set up before the customers were coming in to watch a Scotland football game. Had I left it later then I would have gotten a bit of abuse for obscuring the TV's that are at the stage area.

Some acts on FB thought it was ok to ignore set up times and just turn up before the start time, but at the risk of upsetting the clientele, it could backfire quite badly.

Anyway, job done and home with the near 4 hour drive .... part of the joys of this business !!!

I am back in this venue in March this year doing just a general set so will see what that brings .....

Glenaden Hotel, Ballater

I have performed here 3 or 4 times over the last few years...... probably one of the smallest spaces you will ever have to set up your gear to be honest !

The gig here is 5-8pm on a Sunday evening, a gig that is unusual in most places nowadays ! A great time for a venue that is busy !

The first time that I performed here, I didn't know, but the owner's of the Hotel had a death in the family that weekend and lots of their family had arrived on the Sunday prior to the funeral taking place the following day ......

This made the gig a bit different but, in some ways, a bit more special. I did my 3 spots and was asked if I would play on, but having another gig at night in Edinburgh, I had to set off.

What a great gig though and, having let the owner Neil and his brothers sing 'My Way', it was commented from customers that I had handled the whole night in a very courteous and professional way. I have to say it was quite emotional and even though I did not know the people at this time, I felt very much for them.

I have bee back a couple of times since then and had great gigs, having had to stay one night due to the snow and travelling back the other nights, I have had both sides of the coin here.

They are always a good crowd and they always want more ...

I have not been back for the last year, because due to being double booked by an agent (not my current agent), having had a 7 hour round trip .... I, not surprisingly don't work for that agent again !!!

The owners of the hotel, Neil & Angela, are lovely people and maybe soon I can get booked again up there for what is a great wee gig !!!